Pseudo narrow aperture?

[Chapperz]

So the dji mini 3 Pro has a f1.7 appeatue... Do you think infinite focus is a good way to create a deeper depth of field to create a kind of pseudo narrow aperture?

 

[Meta4]

So the dji mini 3 Pro has a f1.7 appeatue... Do you think infinite focus is a good way to create a deeper depth of field to create a kind of pseudo narrow aperture?

Your camera already has more depth of field than most cameras.
It's not possible to have more.
What do you want more DoF for?

 

[Chapperz]

Your camera already has more depth of field than most cameras.
It's not possible to have more.
What do you want more DoF for?

Yeah I just read that so it seems I have it back to front lol.

So that said, I suppose then that using manual focus and peaking, I can create a shallow depth of field?

 

[Meta4]

Yeah I just read that so it seems I have it back to front lol.

So that said, I suppose then that using manual focus and peaking, I can create a shallow depth of field?

Whether you focus manually or not shouldn't make much difference.
There are ways to create a fake shallow depth of field effect, but in my eyes they just make an OK image look worse so I've never looked into them to find out more.

 

[Meta4]

Yeah I just read that so it seems I have it back to front lol.

So that said, I suppose then that using manual focus and peaking, I can create a shallow depth of field?

Perhaps this is what you were looking for?

DJI Guides - DJI Store (United States)

Online shopping for a great selection of at the official DJI Online Store.

store.dji.com

It was flavour of the week a couple of years ago, but the fad didn't last long.

 

[Chapperz]

Perhaps this is what you were looking for?

DJI Guides - DJI Store (United States)

Online shopping for a great selection of at the official DJI Online Store.

store.dji.com

It was flavour of the week a couple of years ago, but the fad didn't last long.

That's pretty clever... I showed it to the Mrs and she said it looks like a model raily lol.

What I was hoping to achieve is something like when someone takes a photo of a flower or a bird when just the subject is in focus. A really shallow depth of field.

 

[SethB]

…What I was hoping to achieve is something like when someone takes a photo of a flower or a bird when just the subject is in focus. A really shallow depth of field.

Physics is working against shallow depth of field with most consumer drones. The smaller the sensor the deeper depth of field. The wider the field of view the deeper the depth of field. That’s a double oops for many.

The Mini 3 Pro has about a 3/4” sensor, bigger than some but still smallish, and a 24mm (equiv.) lens with 82.1º FOV, which is a true wide angle.

To experiment with shallow depth of field you’d need to have a subject close to the drone upon which you focus. There are depth of field calculators online…

 

[Felix le Chat]

So the dji mini 3 Pro has a f1.7 appeatue... Do you think infinite focus is a good way to create a deeper depth of field to create a kind of pseudo narrow aperture?

I think that hyperfocal distance might be your friend here. Basically, that means if you focus a specific distance from the lens, everything from that point to the horizon is "acceptably in focus." Normally that will occur from about 20 feet in front of where the camera is. Like someone has already mentioned, there are free hyperfocal distance calculators in the play/app store.

If you're looking for the " bokeh" effect with close subjects, tap the AF 'button' on the right side of the screen: tap and hold MF until you get the focus slider and slide up until you get close focus on your foreground subject. You'll see the background lose focus as your foreground subject comes into focus.

Different drones have different close focus distances, my Mav.2 zoom can lock clear focus on subjects 6-8" away from the lens, the mini 3 pro seems to focus at about 18" and no closer

 

[Meta4]

I think that hyperfocal distance might be your friend here. Basically, that means if you focus a specific distance from the lens, everything from that point to the horizon is "acceptably in focus." Normally that will occur from about 20 feet in front of where the camera is. Like someone has already mentioned, there are free hyperfocal distance calculators in the play/app store.

If you're looking for the " bokeh" effect with close subjects, tap the AF 'button' on the right side of the screen: tap and hold MF until you get the focus slider and slide up until you get close focus on your foreground subject. You'll see the background lose focus as your foreground subject comes into focus.

Different drones have different close focus distances, my Mav.2 zoom can lock clear focus on subjects 6-8" away from the lens, the mini 3 pro seems to focus at about 18" and no closer

That's not going to help. the OP.
The drone has a minimum focus distance of 1 metre and even with the subject that close, his depth of field will be considerable.
But who is flying their drone just a metre from their subject anyway?
He's out of luck trying to get the images he wants with the drone.
This pair of images demonstrates the problem.

The shot on the left was taken with a full frame SLR and a close focusing 105mm lens at f 6.3 and the subject just a few inches away.
The one on the right was also shot from even closer using a phone camera with a sensor, lens and aperture similar to the OP's drone camera.
The small sensor and wideangle lens have huge depth of field, even at close distances.
If it was shot from the drone's closest focus distance, the depth of field would have extended much further behind the subject

The OP will not be able to achieve the result he wants with the drone, but the Photoshop trick posted earlier could simulate it to some extent.

 

[Chapperz]

That's not going to help. the OP.
The drone has a minimum focus distance of 1 metre and even with the subject that close, his depth of field will be considerable.
But who is flying their drone just a metre from their subject anyway?
He's out of luck trying to get the images he wants with the drone.
This pair of images demonstrates the problem.

The shot on the left was taken with a full frame SLR and a close focusing 105mm lens at f 6.3 and the subject just a few inches away.
The one on the right was also shot from even closer using a phone camera with a sensor, lens and aperture similar to the OP's drone camera.
The small sensor and wideangle lens have huge depth of field, even at close distances.
If it was shot from the drone's closest focus distance, the depth of field would have extended much further behind the subject

The OP will not be able to achieve the result he wants with the drone, but the Photoshop trick posted earlier could simulate it to some extent.

Looks like I am going to have to pony up for a camera... That's just the excuse I needed lol