Michael Fryd
Forum Pro
Sometimes DoF can be too shallow.Often the shallower DOF is desired rather than tolerated. OTOH, the most common beginner mistake moving to a larger format is not compensating for the narrower DOF at the same f-stop, and understanding equivalence is the answer to that.Where the larger sensor helps, is in situations where you can tolerate a DoF shallower than what you can get on your crop body.
If you are shooting a group of people, you may want all the faces in focus, and they may not all be the same distance from the camera.
While this is a style choice, some photographers like having a DoF that includes the tip of the nose and the eyes.
When shooting birds in flight, I often like a DoF deep enough to span from wingtip to wingtip. It can be nice to have a little extra DoF in case the focus was not spot on.
These are aesthetic choices. Sometimes it's good to have extremely shallow DoF, sometimes it isn't.
As has been mentioned, DoF is not an inherent property of the image, how the image is displayed and viewed are important factors. Common DoF calculators make some assumptions about viewing conditions. These assumptions work reasonably well for many, but not all situations. There are situations where the DoF will be deeper or shallower than expected. For instance, print something the size of a postage stamp, and you will have greater than predicted DoF. Print something 8 feet high by 12 feet wide, and stand 18 inches from it, and your DoF will be less than predicted.