How do I make the picture clear while the background blurry using a Nikon D50???

by Cecko Hanssen

I just got a Nikon D50 and I am wondering how I can make the picture clear while the background blurry. Anyone know?

Answer by Squarethecircle
If you’re all ears in close, it should work just like that unless you have a large f-digit. For the nicest background, you might want to go to the lower f-facts (larger apertures).

Answer by Tom G
What you are attracted in is making the depth of field shallow. As the poster above said, to do this you need a wide gap (smallest possible f-stop digit.) Increasing the distance between the subject and the background will also help.

check out these links for more info:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

Answer by hangfire
You need to use as wide an gap as possible. The ‘depth of field’ (the range of distances that are in focus) is smallest at widest apertures. With the standard lens, you don’t have a really huge range, though, so it may not make a lot of difference. F3.5 isn’t very wide-open.

If you get closer to a subject, the difference between the distance to the subject and the background will be larger, so this will exaggerate the difference in focus.

Ken Rockwell has a excellent site that clarifies lots of photographic stuff in detail, and he is a long-time Nikon user, including the D50. The link below from his site clarify the ‘depth of preview’ button (unfortunately a feature that the D50 doesn’t have) with some explanation about how to vary the depth of field. There is lots more on his site so just look around.

Answer by George Y
If you’re by the standard 18-55mm zoom, you’ll get best results from setting the lens to f/3.5 at the 55mm range.

This gives you the shallowest depth-of-field, another name for the in-focus area of the photo. For creative choices, you may wish to set the D50 and the lens to manual focus. That way, you can choose what part to focus upon, and not the camera.

Here’s a webpage with some nice demo photos to show you the differences at different apertures.
http://www.pbase.com/sandman3/dof_demo

I hope this helps.

Answer by Tim
There are a few different ways of achieving this. The first and perhaps cheapest if you have the 18-55 kit lens is to simply step in close to your subject with the lens, this will toss your background out of focus. In the following example, I was honestly close to the kangaroo which allowed me to blur out the background nicely: http://www.timaustinimages.com/p1072951496/?photo=h363213F9#909251577

The second way to achieve this is to use a longer focal length, ie a telephoto lens. So if you shoot a likeness at 55mm the background will be less blurred then if you had used 300mm. A excellent example of a longer focal length completely blurring out the background can be seen here: http://www.timaustinimages.com/p1072951496/?photo=h3E73097C#1047726460

The final way to achieve the blurred background is with a lens that has a wider f/stop or apeture (reckon a larger hole in the lens). A f/2.8 (huge hole) you will blur your background out a lot more effectively then with f/5.6 (small hole) for example. Here is a shot of a cyclist at f/3.2 everywhere you can see the hard background is nice and blurry: http://www.timaustinimages.com/p794471434/?photo=h2E7AF4ED#972299689

The issue with this approach is that such lenses are honestly exspensive. Depending on your budget by a long focal length is likley the most effective way of achieving the effect your after.

Finally, you will often find that you use a combination of these techniques to make a blurred background. The examples I provided for instance are shot at large apertures at 300mm.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Nikon D50


Image by Clear Inner Vision
Nikon D50 as taken with Nikon D80, The D80 doesn’t feel as excellent quality built as my D50.

New message 11/07 – I still have this camera
New message 02/09 – I still have this camera

Ok i have a Nikon D50 and would like help on setting it up for long exposure shots. I want to take pics at an intersection or other spot so i can get the trailing illumination effect.
the instruction book doesnt say how nor clarify how. it just tells you how to changes setting and not what its for.

Answer by fhotoace
1) Sturdy tripod
2) Set the ISO to 200
3) Camera in the Manual Mode
4) Shoot some test shots that will give you the length set alight trail you want. Start at 1/15th second. Once you get the length trail you want, adjust the lenses gap to get the most colour saturation or some detail in nearby objects

This is a excellent starting point.

Answer by veito da costa
Look in the user manual that came with it.

Its surprising what you will find in there.

Answer by EDWIN
First, you will certainly need a tripod. Second, you’ll need to have the camera in Manual Mode since you’ll be setting the gap and shutter speed. Third, turn the AF and VR (if your lens has it) to OFF. Forth, have your camera set to its highest resolution and use ISO 100. For exposures up to 30 seconds long you can use the camera’s self-timer to release the shutter.

I use and recommend this site for night exposures:
http://www.calculator.org/exposure.aspx

I chose the Vista ‘Distant view of city skyline or floodlit buildings’ and ISO 200 for these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drifter45h/4048051455/ 100mm lens @ f11, exposure of 30 seconds.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drifter45h/4048796836/ 200mm lens @ f11, exposure of 30 seconds.

I used ISO 200 because that was the ISO of the film I had in my camera. If I had loaded ISO 100 film my exposure would have been f8 for 30 seconds or f11 for 60 seconds. In a previous answer to a similar question someone said that the exposures I used with film would result in overexposure with digital – but no proof was shown. It should be simple for you to determine if this is right and, if it is, then just reduce exposure in 5 second increments in anticipation of you get the results you like.

Give your answer to this question below!

Nikon D50 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

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