D3100 not showing blur on high Apperture

camera64

I just got a 50mm f/1.8g and it did not bother me that the view finder did not show the blur, but now it does. What Nikon camera will show the blur in real time? What is it called when a camera can see the blur in the viewfinder?

Thanks

ohyeahar

Some cameras have a Depth of Field Preview button but the D3100 isn't one of them. It's impossible for the optical viewfinder to show you DOF preview. Cameras with electronic viewfinders often allow real time DOF preview. The easiest solution is to probably just utilize Live View if you want to preview the DOF. Unfortunately, the aperture doesn't change in real time when you adjust it while in Live View. Personally, I feel it's faster to just take the shot and review it, then adjust accordingly.

bruto

There is a trick you can use on manual lenses or those which actually have an aperture ring, but I don't think there is any way you can do it on G lenses. It may not work with older AF lenses, which give an error message when the ring is not locked.

The camera itself has a lever that holds the lens at its widest aperture for viewing, until you push the trigger, whereupon that lever releases and allows the lens to close. It's a mechanical linkage. In the old days, this was the feature labelled as an "automatic" lens.

The DOF preview button (on cameras that have it) actually pushes that lever aside in the same way, allowing the lens to close. On a manual lens, you can accomplish the same thing by releasing the lens lock and rotating the lens a bit as if to remove it. When it rotates a certain amount, it simulates the DOF preview At a small aperture you'll see the view darken and DOF increase. Of course you must re-lock the lens before you take the picture. It's almost always easier just to put the camera in A mode, try it with different settings, and throw away the ones you don't like.

I cheat. My favorite normal lens is a 35mm f/2.8 PC with preset aperture. No meter, no automatic aperture, and clumsy but sharp.