Reply To: Do I blow big chunks?

[cameraclicker]

Ummm …  Low numbers are wide apertures.  F/1.2 is generally a very large diameter.  F/2.8 is the largest diameter most zoom lenses open to.  By comparison, f/8 and f/11 are sort of middling apertures, and f/32 is a very small diameter.

Depth of field decreases as the aperture is increased (smaller number), as the distance to subject decreases, and as the focal length increases.   Long lenses at short distances with large apertures have a very shallow depth of field.  Very short lenses like the 4 mm lens in a cell phone or P&S camera tend to have almost infinite depth of field because the lens is so short.

An 18-55 mm lens should deliver lots of depth at f/11.

Focus points work with both single shot and servo focus modes.  Single shot works well for people who are not moving or not moving very quickly toward or away from the camera.   Usually one focus point works best if you have shallow DOF.  Otherwise, focus points will select nearest item in the frame.  Lots of active focus points are handy when shooting fast moving sports or wildlife in servo mode where it is very difficult to keep a single focus point where you need it while panning.

Olympus’ page says they can track up to 8 faces and you can choose either left or right eye, to get perfect focus.  My camera has a focus point I put where I want it to focus, then I recompose and shoot.  Possibly simple is better.