I am starting to research digital cameras as I'm interested in getting one in the near future. The ones on my short list are the Kodak 290 (I like the 280 but only 2x optical zoom), Olympus 2020 and Nikon 950. One feature that I use quite frequently on my Nikon N50 SLR 35mm is the portrait mode where the background is out of focus. Do any of these (or other) cameras have a "portrait" mode or a means to memorize a depth of field mode for quick access?

-- Lewis Cunningham (lewis.cunningham@worldnet.att.net), February 23, 2000

Answers

I'll answer this at the risk of re-starting an old flame war, and another argument about Depth-of-Field.

Basically, the lenses on consumer digital cameras are too short in focal length to give you any useful control over depth-of-field.

Sorry, but it's an indisputable scientific fact. On average these lenses are five times shorter than the equivalent lens on 35mm cameras, and therefore have five times the depth-of-field. So even f/2 on these pinholes is the equivalent of f/10 on a real lens.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 23, 2000.

The Sony FD91 has a 5.2-72.8mm F1.8-3.2 lens. This is equivalent to 37-518mm for 35mm. It does not have a portrait mode. In one picture of a hummingbird at full zoom, he is in focus while branches behind him and in front of him are out of focus. I had to use manual focus as the autofocus liked the near branch. The viewfinder clearly shows the effect of depth of field. This camera has 1024x768 resolution. The FD95 due in a few months will have 1600x1200 res and 40-400mm equivalent lens with image stabilization. There is a FD91 photo on Steve's site as POTD which shows background slightly out of focus.

-- Dan Morris (dmorris@aol.com), February 23, 2000.

Don't you think that 400 or 500mm efl is a bit long for portraits?

The subject would have to be at least 25ft away just for a head and shoulders.

"Can you turn towards me a bit?", I said, "CAN YOU TURN TOWARDS ME A BIT?". Oh, just hang on while I fetch the megaphone. :^)

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 24, 2000.

Man I wish my 950 had a zoom like the FD91, I'm not the biggest fan of the FD91 but the zoom really kicks ass, especially for wildlife since you need to sneak up sometimes and the lame 950 zoom means I almost have to catch the damn animal to take its picture. Hehe...

-- Cris Daniels (danfa@gte.net), February 24, 2000.

The Nikon D1 ($5000) uses most Nikon 35mm lenses. Due to the smaller size of the CCD compared to 35mm film, a 100mm lens will give equivalent magnification of a 150mm lens on a 35mm camera. However, for the same camera position for a portrait, it will give the same background blur as a 35mm camera. You would have to back up a bit to get the same framing with the D1 as with 35mm, so the background will have slightly less blur.

-- Dan Morris (dmorris@aol.com), February 27, 2000.

Epson has several models which do nicely for portrait work - the 850Z has a portrait mode and my first tests were impressive. There is at least one site which has some very good examples of pro portraits done with the 850Z. In most tests I've looked at the Epson compares well with the Nikon 950 and has more easy to use features. I've been looking for six months and this is my choice. I do own a couple Nikon 35mm cameras so I'm not biased - but in this case Epson is the better choice as far I can tell.

-- Wayne Rasmussen (wlr@ccbr.umn.edu), April 07, 2000.