Focus & Depth of Field — 60 Terms Defined

Selective Focus Focus & Depth of Field The deliberate use of a narrow zone of sharpness to direct attention to one element and suppress everything else.

Shallow Depth of Field Focus & Depth of Field m A narrow zone of sharpness that isolates the subject against a strongly blurred foreground and background.

Single-point AF Focus & Depth of Field An area mode in which the camera uses one selected focus point and ignores everything else in the frame.

Single-servo Autofocus Focus & Depth of Field An autofocus mode, marked AF-S or One Shot, that focuses once and then locks while the shutter button is held halfway.

Split-image Screen Focus & Depth of Field A focusing screen with a central circle divided in two, whose halves align only when the subject is in focus.

Subject Tracking Focus & Depth of Field A mode in which the camera identifies a chosen subject and follows it around the frame, moving the active focus area to match.

Tracking Sensitivity Focus & Depth of Field scale (−3 to +3 typically) A setting that controls how quickly continuous autofocus abandons its current subject when something else enters the frame.

Varifocal Lens Focus & Depth of Field A zoom lens that does not hold focus when the focal length changes, requiring refocusing after every zoom.

Wide-area AF Focus & Depth of Field An area mode in which the camera considers the entire frame when choosing what to focus on.

Working Distance Focus & Depth of Field mm The clear space between the front of the lens and the subject at closest focus. Working distance = MFD − lens length − flange depth

Zone AF Focus & Depth of Field An area mode in which the camera selects automatically from a defined cluster of points rather than the whole frame.

Zone Focusing Focus & Depth of Field m Presetting a lens to a distance and aperture whose depth of field covers the range the subject will occupy, then shooting without focusing at all.