Monday, 2 March 2015

What is the use of the focal plane mark on a camera body?



My camera body has a small marking on one side, indicating the position of the image sensor. (The manual even makes a point of explaining that this mark exists, and what it means.)


What possible reason would I have for knowing this? Why would I care exactly where the sensor is? It's buried deep within the body anyway, so...?



Answer



Macro shooters sometimes need to know the distance between their subject and the image (film/sensor) plane, because that's how the minimum focus distance of a lens is measured. The mark gives you an easy way to determine whether you're inside or outside of that distance.



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