Speaking lens aperture, what is best or better to have in a digital camera?
Posted on Apr 24, 2009 under Digital news and reports |What exactly does the aperture do (I don't want a link to another site)? What is better: a wider range? Bigger? Smaller? Just to compare some: F/2.8-4.5, F/2.8-5.3, F/3.5-5.4, F/2.8-5.7. Which one of those would be best and why, and what exactly does that mean? Thanks in advance.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:19 am
the smaller the number the bigger the apture (blurrer the background can get) the more light it lts in so the faster the shutter speed (good when shooting in low light) aka 2.8 - the lager the number the smaller the apture the less amount of light is let in, and the "whole" scene is in focus. aka 5.7 — you want the smallest apture that you can afford, 2.8's do cost a lot.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:19 am
The aperature controls how much light will go in. If you're shooting outside and it is bright it is best to use a smaller aperature. If youre in dim light it is best to use a large aperature to let in more light.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:19 am
There are a couple things that you may need to know.
First, the ranges taht you gave are not actually the ranges of aperature that the lens is capable of. When you see numbers like the ones you have given what that means is that the lowest f-stop possible for the camera at the wide end of its zoom range is one number (the lower number) but when you zoom the lens in, the lowest f-stop possible is now the other (higher) number.
Say for example I have 17-40 mm zoom lens that says F2.8-4.5. What that means is that when I use 17 mm, I can use as low an f-stop as 2.8 but when I zoom in to 40mm the lowest f-stop I'll be able to use would be 4.5.
In fact, the largest f-stop is likely more like 16, 18 or 22.
Okay so what is aperature/f-stop. The aperature is the size of the opening of the iris in the lens. Think of it this way - it is like the pupil in your eye. When you are in a dark place, your pupils dialate (open up) to let in more light, but when you out in the sun, the contract to prevent too much light from getting in.
So what do the numbers mean? F-stop is generally written as something like f/2.8. The f actually stands for focal length and the number is a denominator. If you have a 50 mm lens set at f/2.8, then the opening of the iris is 50/2.8 17.8 mm in diameter. This then is why a lower number (2.8) is actually a larger opening than a larger number like f/11. At f/11 with your same 50 mm lens, the opening is 50/11=4.5 mm.
Okay so what does it do? As I said, the amount that the iris is open controls how much light gets into the camera, so if you are in a dark envrionment using a lower f/stop will open up the lens more and means you can use a faster shutter speed. But this is not the only thing it does. The f-stop also controls what is called depth of field (the distance between the nearest object in focus and the farthest object in focus). With a lower f-stop the depth of field is very narrow and as such the subject will be in focus but the background will be blurry (good for portraits, pictures of flowers etc…). With a high f-stop (like 22) a lot of the foreground and background will also be in relatively sharp focus which is good for pictures of landscapes for example.
Hope that helps.
Added - oh so to answwer your question - with all else being equal, the lower the number the better (almost all lenses can go to a high f-stop). This means your lens is "fast". Also the lower the range (given as you gave it) the better since it means that even at the long end of the zoom it is still very fast. In fact really really good (and expensive lenses) will only give one f-stop - like 70-300mm f2.8.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Those are all point and shoot aperture ranges, and because of the nature of the optics it really doesnt matter at all. Point and shoots by nature have a gigantic depth of field, so that everything is focus. Aperture would matter more with SLR lenses.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:19 am
A good / fast lens that has a large aperture is useless if you don't know how to use it!
But if it's a zoom lens, a f/2.8 is great. If it's a prime lens, the 1.4 / 1.8 lenses are great too.
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