Stopping down

[fevbusch]

Can somebody refresh my memory.  I was once told that stopping down the camera (K100D) will give me extra depth of field.  They said the way to do that is to push the on/off switch of the camera over to the "aperture" symbol.  But when I do that the camera instantly takes the picture.   Am I on the wrong track here.
 I know I can alter depth of field by using large aperture for shallow depth and small aperture for deeper dof. But I think somehow there is something more to "stopping down" , or is there.  Pleading for help, here,   Freddy

[manual_focus]

The "stopping down" where you move the On/Off lever (not the button) to the Aperture position, allows you to see the actual depth of field in the viewfinder because it stops down the aperture on the lens.  It does not change the aperture setting you have preselected. 

It does not give you extra depth of field.  That can only occur if you change the lens aperture.

It is not suppose to take a picture when you move the lever.  Are you resting your finger on the Shutter Release Button?

Does this help answer your question?

[fevbusch]

Thanks for coming to my aid again, Manual Focus.  Sorry for the silly questions but you certainly cleared things up for me.
Don't know what I would do without you guys and this forum.  I'm lovin' every minute of it.  I'm determined to become a much better photographer than I am and what I get from you guys I could never get from a book!   I'll stick to AV adjustments and get depth of field that way.  Regards,   Freddy

[manual_focus]

Not a problem with the question.  Its one of the reasons we are all here.  Keep asking.  And I'm in the same position you are, trying to become a better photographer.

[dayalan86]

The DOF-preview on the K100D is set to take a picture by default, you have to go into the "custom" menu, look for "preview method" and set it to "optical preview", now it will just stop down the lens in order for you to preview the depth of field of your chosen aperture value.

You can look it up on page 152 of the K100D manual.

[fevbusch]

Thanks, Dayalan. I changed to optical preview  I don't notice any real difference looking at dof through viewfinder indoors, when setting various apertures.  But I'll try it outdoors weather permitting
when I will have more light and distance to see differences in dof.  Freddy