What does depth of field refer to?

• A. The amount of light passing through the lens
• B. The distance between the nearest and farthest objects in focus
• C. The color temperature of the scene
• D. The scale of motion blur during motion

Answer: (B)

Depth of field describes the range of distance in a scene that appears acceptably sharp in the final image. It’s about how far in front of and behind the point you focus the lens still looks in focus. The statement that matches this idea is the one that defines DOF as the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in focus. The other ideas relate to different aspects of imaging: the amount of light passing through the lens affects exposure, not sharpness; color temperature refers to white balance; and motion blur relates to how movement is captured, tied to shutter speed rather than the focus range. In practice, you control DOF by adjusting the aperture, focal length, and how far you are from the subject—wide apertures give shallow DOF, while small apertures give deeper DOF.