Your camera is full of all sorts of technical specs and features, many of which can seem a bit arbitrary or strange. This quick and great video explains what one symbol that's on every camera means.
Coming to you from ZY Productions, this video explains the meaning of that symbol on top of your camera that looks a bit like the Greek letter phi. This is known as the "film plane indicator" or "focal plane indicator," and it marks the exact spot the sensor or film plane intersects the focal axis that runs normal to it. This is important, as light rays originating from the same point on an object converge to a point at the sensor or film, not at the front of the lens, meaning focus distance is measured from the focal plane. As the video mentions, having precise measurements of this physical distance is important in filmmaking, but it doesn't end there. Macro photographers also need a precise distance, as this concerns not only focal calculations and reproduction ratios, but exposure compensation, as the closer the subject is brought, the longer the effective focal length of the lens and thus, the smaller the effective aperture.
Oh. Coool!! Thank you :) One more for the trivia box
Useful!!!
Interesting - thank you.
I remember that from the days of film.
What's "interesting" is anyone that considers themselves as a photographer DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW THIS. Next article will be "What's those weird numbers on the ring that rotates around my lenses".
You realize this is primarily an educational site, where people come to learn about being a photographer, right? I've never understood people who mock others for learning; that's such a disrespectful and discouraging thing to do. There was a point in time when you didn't know what that symbol meant either.
Self-taught professional photographer of 10+ years and these are the types of tidbits you may not learn in books and online resources, great to capture details like this on fstoppers.
Clear and concise - thanks!
on an airplane, it's the plane of rotation, or the most likely place the blades of the propeller or impeller will strike the fuselage of the aircraft in the case of catastrophic engine failure.
Jerry Milton...I agree with Alex. But, I differ in what I find interesting. What I find interesting is YOU probably didn't know what that symbol represented, either. Furthermore, if you've nothing constructive to contribute in the comments section, perhaps you should just keep your mouth shut.
Once when I was using film, I tried an experiment, I measured 10 feet from a wall in my studio which is also my dining room, and set the 10 feet at this mark on my camera, I then set my distance scale to 10 feet and took the photo, it was in perfect focus. Which shows you can measure distance with your camera. Just another way of showing how our cameras work.
Thank you, Alex, for including the additional significance of the indicator for macro uses.
Nice... I love learning a new thing everyday!
Thanks!!
It would be nice if they did this sort of thing for lenses where they marked the point at which light rays intersected in the lens. This would be a boon for panoramic work. I'm not sure how this would be done. But, hey, just wondering.