V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 411
70mm Lens
Aperture
Distance
2.8
3.5
4
5.6
8
11
16
22
32
0.5
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
near
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
far
1
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.99
0.99
0.99
0.98
0.98
near
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.01
1.01
1.01
1.02
1.03
far
2
1.99
1.99
1.99
1.98
1.97
1.96
1.95
1.93
1.89
near
2.01
2.01
2.01
2.02
2.03
2.04
2.06
2.08
2.12
far
3
2.98
2.97
2.97
2.95
2.94
2.91
2.87
2.83
2.76
near
3.02
3.03
3.03
3.05
3.07
3.09
3.14
3.19
3.29
far
5
4.93
4.92
4.91
4.87
4.82
4.75
4.65
4.53
4.34
near
5.07
5.08
5.10
5.14
5.20
5.28
5.41
5.58
5.90
far
10
9.73
9.67
9.63
9.48
9.28
9.03
8.65
8.24
7.63
near
10.28
10.35
10.40
10.58
10.84
11.20
11.84
12.72
14.52
far
20
18.96
18.71
18.54
18.01
17.28
16.44
15.21
13.96
12.27
near
21.17
21.48
21.71
22.48
23.74
25.53
29.19
35.27
54.03
far
50
43.91
42.61
41.73
39.14
35.81
32.36
27.89
23.92
19.34
near
58.05
60.49
62.36
69.20
82.83
109.90
241.26
Infinity
Infinity
far
hyperfocal
358.8
287.0
251.1
179.4
125.6
91.3
62.8
45.7
31.4
Note: The Excel workbook used to calculate these tables is
provided on the CD. All distances in the above charts are in
feet, but the workbook also provides tables in meters, as
well. The areas labeled in green are changeable by you,
which mean that you can enter your own distances and
apertures if the ones I provide aren’t to your liking. The
focal lengths in these tables, by the way, are the marked
focal lengths on the lens, not the D300 angle-of-view
equivalents.
Diffraction
Diffraction also needs some discussion in regards to the
D300’s depth of field capabilities. The photosites on the D300
are small enough that diffraction effects now occur at what
some would say are mid-range apertures. Nikon hasn’t
spoken about diffraction on the D300, but says that diffraction
begins to appear in images when using apertures physically
smaller than f/11 on the D2x, which has close to the same
size photosites as the D300. (I concur with Nikon’s D2x
assessment.) On previous Nikon DSLRs, the diffraction break
point was more like f/16 or f/22. Thus, you need to balance
your depth of field needs (sharpness) with increasing
diffraction effects (softness).
For the D300, it appears that f/11 is about the point where
diffraction begins to impact image acuity. I’ll caution that this
is an anecdotal value I’ve come up with based upon
examination of images, both on screen and printed. F/11 is
