Re: To Box or Not?

["Paul A. Lehman" <palehman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Point well taken Joel,

Joel Alpers wrote:

> IOW, you are correct, there's a gradient, and a "common"
> definition (related to "circle of confusion") of what is
> considered "acceptably sharp".

Ah, there's the rub. No matter where you focus, only one plane of
the scene is in actual "pin-sharp" focus, regardless of the
camera quality or functionability, the rest is in degrees of
"acceptable sharpness".

So what is the consensus on shooting practice with our group, do
most 1) specifically focus on the key object within a scene, then
select the f-stop and accept whatever the depth of field is, or
2) pre-select the f-stop for the depth of field range so all is
in focus with the key object somewhere within that range. or 3)
other...
The first is a typical SLR approach, the second is a common (but
not necessarily recommended) view camera approach.

Finally, as is the case in most situation, is there really a
perceptible difference in "pin-sharp" and "acceptably sharp"
given the available viewers we use?

Thanks
Paul A. Lehman