You want to reduce the depth-of-field so that the subject is in focus while the foreground and background are out of focus and blurred. Depth of field (DoF) is dependent on three factors: distance, lens aperture, and lens focal length.
The farther the subject, the deeper the DoF. If you take a picture of a distant mountain peak, the mountain behind that and sunlit the clouds on the horizon will also be in focus. If you get close enough to a flower, you might get the front petals in focus while the petals in the back might blur.
The smaller the lens aperture, the deeper the DoF. Landscape mode, for example, will try to use a smaller aperture in order to get everything in focus while portrait mode will try to use a larger aperture in order to blur the background.
The shorter the lens focal length, the deeper the DoF. This is the killer. Due to the small size of the image sensor, the EX-Z750 has a very short lens: 7.9mm to 23.7mm. Even at the telephoto end of the range, 23.7mm would be considered very wide by film photograpers. A 24mm lens would give film photographers a sharp shot from foreground to horizon and, unfortunately, you're seeing that as well.
Note that the DoF is dependent on the actual focal length, not the 35mm equivalent you may have read about. This is a law of physics, not something that lens designers can easily alter.
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Get another camera :-(
You want to reduce the depth-of-field so that the subject is in focus while the foreground and background are out of focus and blurred. Depth of field (DoF) is dependent on three factors: distance, lens aperture, and lens focal length.
The farther the subject, the deeper the DoF. If you take a picture of a distant mountain peak, the mountain behind that and sunlit the clouds on the horizon will also be in focus. If you get close enough to a flower, you might get the front petals in focus while the petals in the back might blur.
The smaller the lens aperture, the deeper the DoF. Landscape mode, for example, will try to use a smaller aperture in order to get everything in focus while portrait mode will try to use a larger aperture in order to blur the background.
The shorter the lens focal length, the deeper the DoF. This is the killer. Due to the small size of the image sensor, the EX-Z750 has a very short lens: 7.9mm to 23.7mm. Even at the telephoto end of the range, 23.7mm would be considered very wide by film photograpers. A 24mm lens would give film photographers a sharp shot from foreground to horizon and, unfortunately, you're seeing that as well.
Note that the DoF is dependent on the actual focal length, not the 35mm equivalent you may have read about. This is a law of physics, not something that lens designers can easily alter.