Is F/4 at 70mm (on 35mm film camera) enough for shallow depth of field for portraits?

[thelefteyeguy]

i don't like looking at ears...I prefer f/1.4...(if you can get f/1.2 even better lol)

j/k...f/4 is sufficient

[urameatball]

depends on what type of portraits.

headshots, yes, it'll blur the background real nice.

full body shots, it'll blur just a bit, but probably not enough for your liking.


and obviously, you can always increase the distance between subject and background to increase blur.

[2000fordfocus]

ok, can we stop beating a dead horse? F4 is more than enough, end of story. Heck, I've taken portraits at F8 and it's still enough.

Here is proof:

Taken at F4, 78mm, ISO 800, 1/320, +0.3EV. Distance to subject, approximatley 1 meter.

Not to bash your shoot, but the lady from behind is distracting... I would consider this a bad bokeh... As well, I would flash this fellow, seem like a cloudy day...

[CSAgent]

Not to bash your shoot, but the lady from behind is distracting... I would consider this a bad bokeh... As well, I would flash this fellow, seem like a cloudy day...

It wasn't a planned shot, it was a snap in the moment with friends. I consider this one of my junk shots, I posted to illustrate what F4 would give at a distance of about 1m.