Using Aperture

buck19 · 09-20-2008, 06:16 PM

Rule of thumb. F/1.4 is a larger aperture than F/32.
The larger the aperture the more shallow your depth of field becomes.
Smaller gives you a wider depth of field

For example, with a canon zoom lens 75-200mm, F/4.5 - F/32, I zoom in to 100mm as my constant while focused in at 15ft.

If my aperture is set at F/4.5 I would have to have pin point focus cause anything inches away will be out of focus.

Conversely if I set my aperture at F/16 everything between 13ft and 17ft will be in focus given the readings on the lens.
At F/32, everything between 10ft and 20ft will be focused

Stop-Down-Lever

If your camera has it, play around with the stop-down-lever while looking through the viewfinder to see how the aperture is affecting your shots. Keep in mind, the smaller the aperture the darker the viewfinder will be due to less light making it through the lens.

So the smaller the aperture the longer your shutter speed will be. The wider the aperture, or larger, the shorter the shutter speed.

You can easily calculate the adjustment needed for your exposure when you change you aperture. Give a stop, take a stop.

If you go decrease your aperture from F/4 to F/5.6 (one stop) then you will need to lengthen your shutter speed one full stop (1/60sec to 1/30sec).

Notes:
Keep in mind most, if not all new DSLR's apertures are now done in 1/3 stops.
Meaning F/4 - F/5.6 is one full stop. with 1/3 stops it will go in increments:

F/4
f/4.5
f/5
F/5.6
f/6.3
f/7.1
F/8
f/9
f/10
F/11
f/13
f/14
F/16
f/18
f/20
F/22
f/25
f/28

**SorsSalutis** · 09-21-2008, 03:49 PM

I'm going to sticky this thread because it's a great tutorial on aperture settings for beginners.

Good job. I'm going out shooting today...maybe I can hit up some good examples of what aperture does.

09-20-2008, 06:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
buck19 Forever Broke Nissan	Using Aperture Rule of thumb. F/1.4 is a larger aperture than F/32. The larger the aperture the more shallow your depth of field becomes. Smaller gives you a wider depth of field For example, with a canon zoom lens 75-200mm, F/4.5 - F/32, I zoom in to 100mm as my constant while focused in at 15ft. If my aperture is set at F/4.5 I would have to have pin point focus cause anything inches away will be out of focus. Conversely if I set my aperture at F/16 everything between 13ft and 17ft will be in focus given the readings on the lens. At F/32, everything between 10ft and 20ft will be focused Stop-Down-Lever If your camera has it, play around with the stop-down-lever while looking through the viewfinder to see how the aperture is affecting your shots. Keep in mind, the smaller the aperture the darker the viewfinder will be due to less light making it through the lens. So the smaller the aperture the longer your shutter speed will be. The wider the aperture, or larger, the shorter the shutter speed. You can easily calculate the adjustment needed for your exposure when you change you aperture. Give a stop, take a stop. If you go decrease your aperture from F/4 to F/5.6 (one stop) then you will need to lengthen your shutter speed one full stop (1/60sec to 1/30sec). Notes: Keep in mind most, if not all new DSLR's apertures are now done in 1/3 stops. Meaning F/4 - F/5.6 is one full stop. with 1/3 stops it will go in increments: F/4 f/4.5 f/5 F/5.6 f/6.3 f/7.1 F/8 f/9 f/10 F/11 f/13 f/14 F/16 f/18 f/20 F/22 f/25 f/28 Last edited by buck19 : 09-21-2008 at 04:03 PM.

09-21-2008, 03:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
SorsSalutis I B O A B	I'm going to sticky this thread because it's a great tutorial on aperture settings for beginners. Good job. I'm going out shooting today...maybe I can hit up some good examples of what aperture does.