Hey, I am new to photography and recently got an EOS-M camera, from 2012, and I am having some issues with the blur. I personally like an extremely blurry background and get one when I look at the screen. But when i take the photo it is not as blurry. The lens I am using is the Canon ef-m kit lens 18mm-55mm. I understand that a more open aperture and a longer focal length increases the blur strength/ shallows the depth of field. It just seems like the camera is adjusting the blur on its own. I would love some insight. Just to add I was doing some experimenting and when I widen the aperture it seems like the camera doesn't do any correction, but when I narrow it that is when the correction kicks in. First image is before I take the photo. Second is the end result.
] Welcome to the forum you can get blur from a lens with a low ƒ stop like a ƒ1.4 as the depth of field is quite a thin sliver or you can use a higher ƒ stop but you will want to have the subject further way from the background objects you can try this by putting an object in the middle of a room or scene then focusing on it and taking the image then compare it to when the object is closer to the background the other factor is the distance from camera to the subject, if you are further from the subject then the subject and background seem closer together thus reducing the depth of field effect so if you have a lens thats not an instant bokeh monster (ƒ1.4) then your ideal position is get closer to your subject and have the background further away. The image below shows the thin sliver of a ƒ1.8 you can see that anything infront of or behind it is out of focus, the larger the ƒ number the bigger that slice become capturing more stuff in focus M50 with takumar 55mm ƒ1.8 for this one i actually de-focused the camera without a subject to get the background how i wanted it, switched the camera to manual focus so the focus wouldn't change. then i placed the subject in the plain of focus same camera and lens
Thank you for the advice and reply. I am planning on getting a new lens that gets a much lower f stop. I also really like your second image, looks great. For now I will just lower the brightness in photoshop. Thanks again!
I think that you will find that the 18-55mm at 55mm, you are shooting at f5.6 wide open. So you will not get a blurry background. As Caladina suggested, you need a faster lens. Maybe a EF 50mm f1.8 is what you are looking for. Gary
you can still get blury background with higher ƒ stops you just need to be close to subject reletive to the background 400mm @ ƒ7.1
the other thing here is the mention of the difference between the image on screen and the final image taken regards to the blurry This is what depth of field preview button is for, not sure which M you have but in mine its in the menu so you can assign it to a button when you press the depth of field preview the camera will open up the iris / aperture blades to show you the depth of field you are going to get in your image, normally the iris / blades are closed down while you are focusing etc then they open to take the picture. it might not be 100% correct but it gives you the reason why there is a difference btween the two that you mentioned in your original post
I have the first Eos-M. I got it because I am a student with a tight budget. Thinking about getting Magic Lantern for it but I do not want to risk corrupting anything at the moment because I can't afford a replacement. I looked at the setting and found what you are talking about. Thanks for the info.