Blurring the background with panasonic lumix

[glennk]

I am wondering how best to get those shots where the foreground (A Person) is in sharp focus and the background is blurred. I have a panasonic lumix fz8. Does anyone know if there are any focuss presets that will do this ?

I was most annoyed the other day when my friends little cheapo camera produced the shot I would like and he did it unintentionally too. This is his picture below.

Yet my shot seems to have the background more in focus.

 

[Big_Ham]

Chuck it into portrait mode will probably be the closest you'll get, or perhaps sports mode.

 

[fletch5]

or manual and adjust yourself??

 

[Voyager]

Generally, to throw the background out of focus you need to zoom in as much as you can, as the wider the lens the greater the depth of field and shoot at as wide an aperture (or fastest shutter speed) as possible. Dunno how you do that on the FZ8 though.

 

[ozzy38]

fz8 cracking camera,ive got one of these, was my first camera before delving into the DLSR`S!
The easiest way and the best is to switch the dial to A(apeture priority)mode and choose the smallest f number which is 2.8 and you`ll get the desired effect your looking for!
Hope that helps your query

 

[Voyager]

....choose the smallest f number which is 2.8 ....

Isn't that the largest f number?

 

[toonamp]

Isn't that the largest f number?

Smallest number, largest aperature.

I prefer the BG detail you've caught, it adds depth to the image.

 

[ShawWellPete]

have a play around with this

 

[Jayst84]

The main difference there is the first shot is focused much closer than the second. ie the person is closer to the camera.

That has a huge effect on the apparent depth of field (how blurred the background is). To make it a bit easier to think about; the background is proportionally further away when compared to the subject. And therefore more blurred in the first image.

 

[glennk]

Thanks for all your help guys. Its nice to come back and find so many posts. I love active forums.

I will have a play with what you have suggested and let you know how I get on.

 

[swanseamale47]

You could easily add some blur to this in photoshop. Wayne

 

[HoppyUK]

The main difference there is the first shot is focused much closer than the second. ie the person is closer to the camera.

That has a huge effect on the apparent depth of field (how blurred the background is). To make it a bit easier to think about; the background is proportionally further away when compared to the subject. And therefore more blurred in the first image.

^^^

But if you want to regularly produce shallow depth of field effects like that, then a DSLR is much better. Compacts naturally produce much deeper depth of field than DSLRs, due to their very small sensors.