Depth of Field example from my AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED

I was able to get out of the house this weekend (8/20/2016), visiting the Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff as part of my day excursion. I've been wanting to go there for some years and finally made it.

Lomaki Pueblo
Nikon D610 + 50mm f/1.8D, f/8.0, 1/200s, ISO 100

I didn't visit all of the ruins; I had my dog Elmer with me and it's just getting hard to get around with him. Dogs aren't allowed on the trails at Wupatki.

Lomaki PuebloNikon D610 + 20mm f/1.8G, f/8.0, 1/160s, ISO 100

The ruins that I did visit were fine and I think I got some good shots of them at sunrise. I wish I'd been there just a bit earlier (the north entrance was open when I got there at a little after 6 AM) in order to try to get a sunburst through a window of one of the ruins. Perhaps next time. 

I took a photograph with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D but soon found out it was too long. So, I mounted the new 20mm f/1.8G ED to give it a go. The images are very sharp - I like it!

Box Canyon Dwellings
Nikon D610 + 20mm f/1.8G, f/10.0, 1/125s, ISO 100

 Depth of Field

When I was leaving I came across some Morning Glory flowers that caught my eye. I decided to shoot them with the 20mm f/1.8G ED to check out the DOF (Depth of Field). The image below shows how shallow the DOF is. It really was my intent to get the entire flower in focus but as you can see, it didn't work out.

Morning Glory
Nikon D610 + 20mm f/1.8G, f/2.2, 1/1250s, ISO 100

I was shooting at f/2.2 on my Nikon D610 with the flower approximately 1 foot from the focal plane. It may have been less; I didn't measure it. I just know it was close to the front end of the lens in order to fill the frame with the flower as much as possible.

According to DOFMaster, for a Nikon DSLR with a 20mm lens, f/2.2 and 12 inch focus, the total DOF is 0.77 inches! A smidge over 1/2 of an inch! That seems about right (DOF is subjective after all, depending on your threshold for acceptable focus) when you look at this image. The far end of the petals and pistils are out of focus.

Here's one more example, taken at Marshall Lake, southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. 

Plant DOF Example
Nikon D610 + 20mm f/1.8G, f/2.0, 1/3200s, ISO 100

If you're interested, you can view the rest of my photographs from Wupatki National Monument on my online gallery at https://randallmorter.smugmug.com/Arizona/Wupatki-National-Monument/.