![]() There are two primary ramifications for setting your camera at a particular “f-stop” or “aperture setting” (note: these terms mean the same thing). One full stop wider lets in twice as much light Remember, don’t worry about these numbers in relation to one another – it’s best just to memorize them for now. Similarly, f/5.6 lets in twice the amount of light as f/8, and f/11 twice as much as f/16. Thus, if you have your camera set at f/4, you are letting in twice the amount of light than if you set it at f/5.6 (ie, f/4 is one full stop wider aperture). Higher numbers let in less light than the lower numbers. How are these all related? Simple – each “stop” (just a basic term – memorize this jargon, too) going from 2 to 2.8 and then to 4 is allowing half the amount of light into the sensor. It certainly seems arbitrary to have these seemingly-obscure numbers, jumping from 2 to 2.8 to 4 to 5.6 to 8, then 11 and 16. The numbers in the above chart are there for a reason. ![]() Just like a water pipe with a wider diameter allows more water to flow through per second, so does a wider aperture when it comes to letting more light “flow” into the camera’s sensor. This means that you are letting more light reach your sensor than f/2.8. ![]() As you can see, the lowest f-stop number, f/2, is the widest opening in the aperture. ![]() So, you ask, if I’m to memorize these numbers what is the significance of all this? Glad you asked. Just like you would memorize your ABCs from A to G, so should you memorize these numbers above (f/2 to f/16). Rather, you’re going to need to memorize each of the above f-values (aka “f-stops”) as categories. In other words, do not start mentally comparing these whole numbers to decimals, or trying to make a relationship between these numbers using math. The key to understanding this all right away is to immediately disregard these numbers as any sort of actual numerical value in relation to one another. The “whole” stops of f/5.6 and f/8 have two in between points that you can dial your camera for. For example, between 5.6 and 8 there is f/6.3 and f/7.1, too. Between each of these values, most modern cameras will allow you to set values 1/3 of the way between. The above chart lists all “common” aperture values, as denoted by the corresponding f-values. Since this is a profile graphic, it’s a little difficult to understand what the opening actually looks like, so the below graphic shows the head-on view of a lens aperture.Īs you can see, for each diameter of aperture there is a corresponding “f” value. The two small black lines represent the outer openings of the aperture. A camera’s aperture is basically the diameter of the opening within the lens that allows light to pass through to then reach the sensor (or film, in the good ol’ days).Ībove is a graphic of a side profile of a typical SLR camera, with lens pointing towards the right. To start with, let’s define what a camera aperture is, and what the f-stop designation actually means. While we can get the maximum or minimum depth of field by working at each end of the aperture range, sometimes we want a more intermediate level of depth of field, limiting focus to a specific range of distances within the overall photograph. One way to do this is to choose a mid-range f/stop, like f/5.6, and shoot a test frame. In image playback, use the magnifying function of the LCD to zoom in and check the depth of field make adjustments if necessary and reshoot.If you’re an enthusiastic amateur at photography and haven’t yet gotten past the “auto” mode on your camera, this is the best place to begin with in expanding your photographic prowess and understanding – by choosing your own aperture to shoot with. When choosing lenses for landscape photography, we usually want to see as much detail as possible from foreground to background we want to achieve the maximum depth of field by choosing a small aperture (higher f/stop, like f/8 or f/11). This helps direct the viewer's attention to the subject. Aperture for Portraitsįor classic portraiture we separate our subject from the surroundings by using "selective focus." Choosing a large aperture (lower f/stop, like f2.8) creates very shallow depth of field with only the subject, or just a portion of the subject, in focus. Now that we know how to control depth of field, what determines the choices we make in selecting the aperture? We use focus and depth of field to direct attention to what is important in the photograph, and we use lack of focus to minimize distractions that cannot be eliminated from the composition. While there are no rules, there are some guidelines for selecting Aperture priority.
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