Hi everyone! Kathy(@myhrhelper) has asked me to host this week's camera settings challenge. I have chosen one of my favorite things to play with during shooting- aperture.:) You may be wondering what all the hype over aperture is and why it will make a huge difference in your shooting skills- no worries; I promise to share! First of all, what is aperture exactly? My favorite explanation comes from the online forum DPS(digital photography school) and here it is in a nutshell:
Aperture:
The main function of a camera lens is to collect light. The aperture of a lens is the diameter of the lens opening and is usually controlled by an iris. The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light reaches the film / image sensor.
Aperture is expressed as F-stop, e.g. F2.8 or f/2.8. The smaller the F-stop number (or f/value), the larger the lens opening (aperture).
[Note: Many camera user manuals today will refer to the aperture in terms of "aperture value" instead of f/value. I'm not sure when this trend started but don't get confused between "aperture" and "aperture value." Aperture value" is simply another way of saying f/value.]
In practice, unless you are dealing with a fixed-aperture lens (many simple point-and-shoot cameras have only one fixed aperture), the aperture of a lens is usually expressed as a range of fstops.
Whew! Now that we got all the technical goobly-gook out of the way, here comes the most fun (and in my opinion, the BEST )way to learn about your camera's function- get out there and PLAY!
I would like to challenge you to shoot with the lowest f-stop number your lens is capable of- often referred to as shooting "wide open". Many cameras have an AV(cannon) or aperture value setting(yep, get out of the green box if you are there:))
which will allow you to control your f-stop while leaving the camera in charge of everything else! Have fun! Here are a couple of examples of shooting wide open:
notice that most everything but where the focus is placed is blurred. This is what gives you a shallow depth of field and in many cases, that wonderful effect known as "Bokeh".
(shot with an f1.8 aperture)
(shot with an f2.0 aperture)
How to post your photo on this link:
1) Go to your page that has the photo you wish to post.
2) Copy the “share” code in the bottom right section of that page.
3) Return to this thread and paste the code under comments
**
Experienced photographers who are knowledgeable in this particular setting are encouraged to offer “kind and constructive” suggestions on the posted entries. Those entering this challenge want to learn and improve.
This challenge starts Saturday, 26th and ends Wednesday, 30 12:00pm Pacific Standard Time. All photos must be taken during these dates to be considered. TAG YOUR PHOTO CSC-4AND post your picture in this thread to receive feedback from other experienced photographers specific to this challenge. (It will be painless, I promise:))
Voting will take place Thursday, 31st and the winner will be announced June 1. The winner of the challenge will select an experienced photographer to host a new challenge. It is the winner’s option on who they want to host the next challenge; it may be someone they follow whose work they admire, or someone who is active offering suggestions on previous CSC challenges. Expect to receive constructive suggests on how to improve your skills.
Here is a great forum for learning everything and anything regarding your camera!
My first attempt...will try more soon, it's starting to storm here.
Hmmmm, I just looked at my exif info. and it listed the aperture at 5.6 and I know I dialed all the way down to 4.5 (the lowest for the lens I was using Nikon 70-300mm and I was shooting in "A" mode. What is going on here?!?!?!
@snipsnap I suspect Ramona that you zoomed your lens after setting the lowest aperture and so the setting increased. The lowest aperture changes at different focal lengths so have a look at the settings when you put that lens back on and zoom it in and out. Beautiful shots by the way :)
@4stories Thank you so much for doing this challenge. It sounds like a fantastic challenge. We did the 5.6 but now we will be able to really see the different effects and what our camera can do. Do you recommend we do this challenge in "A" mode then?
@myhrhelper -yes it is AV mode in canon speak and A for Nikon. I should mention that using a zoom lens may affect the aperture if you zoom after setting it. This challenge works better with a fixed lens:)
@snipsnap - using a zoom will affect the Aperture if you zoom after setting it- in manual you would not have this issue, but you would also have to control your shutter speed and ISO to get the exposure right . A fixed lens should allow you to set and shoot:)
@myhrhelper -no such thing as a dumb question:) both of your lenses are zoom, so find you subject, zoom in and set your aperture:) see if that allows you to stay on the aperture you select. A or AV settings are semi auto settings, so the camera is still controlling much of the decision making, but it should hand over aperture control following the above. HTH!!
@4stories Oh this is going to be more of a challenge than I realized. I thought I saw smaller aperture numbers displayed on my camera in the past but it appears with the 2 lenses I have the lowest number I can go is a f3.5 and that is after I zoom far out. When I zoom closer it is 5.6. For some reason I thought that it is with closer zoom shots you want the smaller fnumber but you only get the smaller fnumber after you zoom out not zoom in for a macro type shot. Hmmm, I think I'm about to discover another unknown. I LOVE learning this stuff, at this point I'm confused on how this works. This was a great challenge, because it is taking me to a new level. What about on my lenses itself? There is an A or M. Can that effect my aperture, should I even mess with those at this point? I have been leaving it on A right now. I apologize for all my million questions
@snipsnap Maybe this has been said before but my way of thinking is you need to set your camera to M (manual mode). In manual mode you control not only your Aperture, but also your Shutter Speed. In most of the digital camera's, I believe, the other settings S, A, P, AV and so on are all semi automatic, meaning the camera makes some of the decision. If you shoot in Manual only, you make all the decisions.
Yay I can do this! Lens still at repair shop, 6 weeks they have said, nothing goes fast over here......so deep breath and I will use hubbies stuff again.....he is so kind .........hehe. I often use the lowest aperture so at least this time I know what I am doing...thanks for hosting.
@myhrhelper The A and the M on your lens will refer to automatic and manual focussing mode. This won't affect the aperture, but if you switch to M mode, you will need to focus the lens yourself, which can be tricky if you've not tried it before.
As you've discovered, most cheap(er) zoom lenses have a maximum aperture that varies depending on the zoom setting. This is because the aperture is, literally, the size of the 'hole' in the lens that the light passes through, in relation to the focal length of the lens. f/3.5 means that the hole is 1/3.5 the focal length of the lens, so if your lens is set at 18mm, the aperture hole will be 18/3.5 = 5.1mm across. If your same lens goes to 200mm, then at f/3.5 the aperture would have to be 200/3.5 = 57mm across.
In order to make lenses lighter, more compact, contain less glass, and hence be cheaper, manufacturers make a compromise that results in the aperture size reducing as the lens is zoomed. This is why you'll see on the front of most lenses something like '18-200mm f/3.5-5.6' -- that means that at 18mm, the maximum aperture is f/3.5, and at 200mm, the maximum aperture is f/5.6. How it alters in between will depend on the lens design.
This means that when you use a lens like this on a camera, the camera obviously can't make the lens do anything other than what it was designed for. The camera will let you set the aperture to f/3.5 at the wide end, but as you zoom in, the aperture must change -- it's not possible for it not to, it's a limitation of the lens. In aperture priority mode (AV) it should remember what you wanted the aperture to be (f/3.5) and reduce it back down as you zoom out again.
Expensive (typically $1,500+) zoom lenses often offer a fixed, and wider, aperture, such as 70-200mm f/2.8, which means that the maximum aperture is f/2.8 at any zoom range. The maths shows us that we need a 71mm 'hole' at 200mm in order to achieve this, which is why these lenses are so big and heavy. (This also explains why it's rare to see a long telephoto with a really wide maximum aperture -- a 600mm f/4 lens requires a 15cm hole for the light to pass through!)
The thing to bear in mind for this challenge, though, is that it doesn't really matter -- you're constrained by the lenses you own. Also, for technical reasons (which I can go into if anyone's interested, but this post is quite long enough), a longer focal length also reduces depth of field. So even if your lens can do f/3.5 at the wide end, and only f/5.6 at the zoom end, you will probably find that you get a shallower depth of field at the zoom end.
@myhrhelper You're doing fine. On a Nikon the A is aperture, as you've worked out. Even when you zoom out and the aperture becomes smaller (say to 5.6) you'll still be able to get the effect. If you need to zoom out it helps to have a bit of distance between your subject and the background so that you effectively are putting the background out of the lens's focus depth.
@abirkill and @4stories Thank you so much for these great explanations. I wondered why my smallest f stop varied from time to time. I didn't realise the zoom would effect it. And I've been thinking about @mikehamm 's explanation of his beautiful lilac flower - F4.5 at 70mm - and I finally understand what the 70mm means (call me slow!). I'll have a play with my lenses tomorrow and try to post something here.
One of my lenses goes to F1.4. I'm not using that aperture often because the DoF is to small for a good picture. But I've made a exception for this challenge:
I wanted to share this one, even though it isn't at the lens's largest aperture. I shot it at f16, but made sure the background was far enough back to fall oof. Those tiny aperture numbers, f1.4, etc sure are cool, but a lot can be accomplished with bigger numbers (smaller aperture).
Unfortunately, I only have my kit lens which is 4-5.6 and rarely goes under 4 (for very special occassions apparently ;)) and a wide angle lens. So I decided to go for a close up to have more of a leeway for playing with the depth of field. This is what I got today.
Lens 18mm - 55mm Aperture 3.5 shutter 160
Need help with the shutter speed - Set in AV aperture comes up at 9 & can change it higher but not lower so I give up on that idea & done it in manual. Shutter at 100 seemed too over exposed
@wenbow The AV mode does not allow you to adjust the shutter speed usually. It is a "half manual" mode where you adjust the aperture and ISO and White Balance but the shutter speed is determined by the camera.
Why would you like to adjust the shutter speed?
If you want to get a brighter image, push the AV+/- button on the top right next to the display. Hold it and go some stops up (1/3 or 2/3 will usually do) by turnign the wheel in front of the ISO button to the right to overexpose it. If you want it darker --> same thing but turning the wheel to the left.
@traeumerlein87 Thank you, I didn't know if it was the right shutter speed to select, so I am assuming it's a personal preference to how light or dark I want the image to be by changng the shutter speed. I understand how the AV mode works but when I used it I couldn't adjust the aperture any lower than f9 , is that because of the lens I used or is it how this mode works itself? This lens goes as low as 3.5 at 18mm in manual mode. Thanks again
And another one. Quite pleased how this came out with f/4. I learned that it is all about the distance between the object and the background when you don't have a prime lens =)
@wenbow Phew, erm, I have no idea why it stuck on 9. Did you zoom in too much maybe? That is a little weird to be honest. For the exposure adjustment, try the AV+/- button and adjusting ISO. This should get you some decent results without being in "full" manual. However, the M setting is allowed in this challenge, too, so if you like it better, just set it on M.
I could only get to f5.6. I'm sure my camera can go lower, and I think it has something to do with the lenses, or maybe the zoom? Will keep reading and playing to figure it out.
My bridge camera setting of -3.0, with the macro setting. Please advise if you know what f stops the settings of +3.0 through -3.0 stand for. Added watermark, but did no other editing. P.S. Make that +2.0 through -2.0.
@onie - Leonie, I'm assuming you have the 18-55mm kit lens that came with your D40. The maximum aperture at 55mm is 5.6 with that lens. Since you made the image at 55mm focal length, you can't go any bigger in aperture than 5.6. The aperture will only get larger if you reduce the focal length. At 18mm the aperture is 3.5, for example.
Now, at all focal lengths you can go smaller in aperture. Say, f16, for example. It's just the maximum aperture that is limited by focal length.
@mikehamm
Thanks for that Mike. I had a bit of a play after I had posted my photo, and by changing the focal length to 18, I could go to f3.5. Learning so much this year!!
@smithak Very nice one with the backlight, giving the silver lining and thereby even higher contrast to the blurred background. So the combination with the high aperture (low figure, high lens opening) works well.
@mortisa I also love the 50mm 1.8 and can advise it to everyone. It's cheap, small and has great effect. I guess you shot this from a distance and cropped it, because the DOF is large enough to make the entire seat sharp.
@onie Indeed has to do with the lens. The lens front always tells minimum and maximum. A 1.8 lens works so fine with it's glass elements, that almost no light is lost. The cheaper the lens the higher the lowest aperture value. But there is an exception! Both Nikon and Canon have very interesting, small and cheap 50mm 1.8 lens. You'll not regret! But even with f/5.6 you got a nice effect, having berries and bokeh almost the same size. Well done.
@traeumerlein87 This is a really top shot! Small detail that the butterfly isn't exactly in the middle, but the composition is great and so is the DOF. Indeed for all aperture values it's all about distance. Even with f/10 you can get a small DOF when the object is close to the lens. In your shot also use of color and light is very nice.
@debrac Just get as close as you can get and then even 5.6 is okay to get small DOF. Tip when getting close: use the manual focus of your camera and use liveview to zoom in and focus.
@djepie Thank you, Jaap! I absolutely agree on the middle-butterfly-issue, didn't pay attention to the piece of pasta itself because I paid so much attention to the fork coming out of the corner and getting a 1/3 2/3 ratio. Will definitely pay attention to that next time. Thank you so much for the feedback =)))
@wenbow The aperture value with standard zoom lenses like yours depend on the zoom. The higher the zoom, the higher the aperture value. On the front of your lens you can see these values, for you it should be 3.5-5.6. So the 9 is strange. And that's a pitty, because the more you zoom, the smaller the DOF and the more beautiful (though personal) the effect. You used the wide angle and therefore almost have no soft background. I just would give it a retry. When you still have the limit of f/9, just switch to M (manual) and then you can set everything the way you want. It'll take some shots to get the perfect exposure, but digital is free isn't it?! Good luck, hope this helps.
@daisy The -3 and +3 is about underexposure and overexposure, so quite a different subject. Your camera expects that all pixels of a photo together are one with another middle grey. So when you make a snow landscape, your camera expects the result to be grey, so the photo will be too dark where you expect it to be too light. In that case you use e.g. +2 too bring more light into your photo, so OVERexpose. Another example: when you make photos of girls in black dress during a gala in front of a black curtain for a photo shoot, you have to UNDERexpose.
That's one. That you can't find the aperture value settings on your bridge camera is a pitty. Just check your camera or Google on it. There should probably be an option, though less easy to find / to use than on a DSLR. Good luck and enjoy!
@chapjohn f/1.4, that's a really low aperture value. You have to experience how to use, because when getting objects too close, it's almost impossible to get sharp the things you have in mind. I also see this with my 1.8. But you succeeded in this with the yellow flag iris.
I've used my 55-300 lens for both of these at 300mm, both with the max aperture of f5.6 (just got my first DSLR last Saturday and been playing with it a lot...especially with the 55-300 lens... I just love making portraits with it too btw LOL)
for the very first time EVER - I put it on full manual, I put the white balance on cloud, and ISO was at 640. I always changed the shutter speed to see the different effect with the same aperture setting. In each case the aperture was at lowest it could go with those lenses 5.3
3 pic's with different settings but ALWAYS the lowest fstop I could go 5.3.
Using the 18 - 55 lens
I discovered how the shutter speed also changes the brightness of the pic's. Please feel free to offer feedback, and comments of observations I should look at. No thought for composition went into these shots, this is purely practice with settings.
These were actually taken on May 29th at about 8pm, I had to post them in November since I do not have an ACE account
@djepie Thank you. I'm not really sure what liveview is. I only have the option of the viewfinder on my camera, if that is what you mean. Mine does not display on the back of the camera like some cameras do. If it does, I haven't found the setting to do so, however, I do like the viewfinder.
@debrac You are right, I checked your camera and indeed the D3000 has no liveview. So indeed, you just can check sharpness after having made the photo.
@myhrhelper Congrats on your first M shot! This will really help you making better photos, because it's no longer 'a fool with a tool'. Indeed you should know the effect of the three tools you can control light with: iso, aperture and exposure time. And for sharpness: focal length (zoom), aperture, distance between you & object, distance between object & background.
In these three photos I think the first one has been exposed rather correctly, where number 2 and 3 are underexposed. I think maybe an overexposed version could have been even a bit better, because there are no white pixel in the photo.
You have set the whitebalance on cloud, giving a bluish tone. Probably this was your intent, else I would make it a bit warmer. Do you shoot in RAW format? Then you can change white balance in the software.
Enjoy this camera discovery!
@traeumerlein87@djepie Figured out my AV Mode but didn't like the shutter speed it was selecting. The images seemed too bright so back to manual with this shot
18mm 3.5 1/400
Thanks for your input
After I figured out that I did not know enough about my bridge camera settings, I took shots of a begonia blossom at various settings. I created a collage to help me study these. The settings in this collage (from left to right) are +2.0, +1.0, +/-0.0, -1.0 and -2.0.
If any one is browsing who would like to give suggestions on my posts here- I would love to hear some. I do like the concept and have had fun trying. Thanks
@4stories Hi If you could post the top 5 for voting that would be good. We try to have Thursday voting and Friday Winner announced and the winner needs to find someone to host the next one to start on Saturday.
@4stories e@djepie @abirkill
Would any of you be able to offer feedback on Jann's photo's @jannkc She would like feedback. Thanks
Not the very max of my lens, 5 instead of 4 to achieve a sharp flower and soft background.
TIP: download a (free) DOF app on your smartphone, choose your camera and play with the settings to see the effect on the Depth of Field. When you e.g. see that it's about 2mm you know that these settings will not work. I just installed simpleDOF for the iPhone.
@debrac Liveview is nice for two reasons. All cameras that support liveview, I think also have HD video. But most important is that it is the very best support for manual focus. You turn on liveview, and with a special button you can zoom in the view (so not the zoom of the lens) 5 or 10 times to see if you focus exactly right. So a simple answer to your question is; yes!
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(shot with an f1.8 aperture)
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Hmmmm, I just looked at my exif info. and it listed the aperture at 5.6 and I know I dialed all the way down to 4.5 (the lowest for the lens I was using Nikon 70-300mm and I was shooting in "A" mode. What is going on here?!?!?!
As you've discovered, most cheap(er) zoom lenses have a maximum aperture that varies depending on the zoom setting. This is because the aperture is, literally, the size of the 'hole' in the lens that the light passes through, in relation to the focal length of the lens. f/3.5 means that the hole is 1/3.5 the focal length of the lens, so if your lens is set at 18mm, the aperture hole will be 18/3.5 = 5.1mm across. If your same lens goes to 200mm, then at f/3.5 the aperture would have to be 200/3.5 = 57mm across.
In order to make lenses lighter, more compact, contain less glass, and hence be cheaper, manufacturers make a compromise that results in the aperture size reducing as the lens is zoomed. This is why you'll see on the front of most lenses something like '18-200mm f/3.5-5.6' -- that means that at 18mm, the maximum aperture is f/3.5, and at 200mm, the maximum aperture is f/5.6. How it alters in between will depend on the lens design.
This means that when you use a lens like this on a camera, the camera obviously can't make the lens do anything other than what it was designed for. The camera will let you set the aperture to f/3.5 at the wide end, but as you zoom in, the aperture must change -- it's not possible for it not to, it's a limitation of the lens. In aperture priority mode (AV) it should remember what you wanted the aperture to be (f/3.5) and reduce it back down as you zoom out again.
Expensive (typically $1,500+) zoom lenses often offer a fixed, and wider, aperture, such as 70-200mm f/2.8, which means that the maximum aperture is f/2.8 at any zoom range. The maths shows us that we need a 71mm 'hole' at 200mm in order to achieve this, which is why these lenses are so big and heavy. (This also explains why it's rare to see a long telephoto with a really wide maximum aperture -- a 600mm f/4 lens requires a 15cm hole for the light to pass through!)
The thing to bear in mind for this challenge, though, is that it doesn't really matter -- you're constrained by the lenses you own. Also, for technical reasons (which I can go into if anyone's interested, but this post is quite long enough), a longer focal length also reduces depth of field. So even if your lens can do f/3.5 at the wide end, and only f/5.6 at the zoom end, you will probably find that you get a shallower depth of field at the zoom end.
I think I am not getting the lowest f on my camera, but after reading maybe my camera has limitations.
A very sad looking chimp shot at f2.8 on a Canon 5d mark 2 and 70-200mm lens
This seems to be the lowest 4.5 I can get it to go, should I have done ISO at a different level than 100?
from this morning's walk. lowest the lens goes .. f/5.6
Unfortunately, I only have my kit lens which is 4-5.6 and rarely goes under 4 (for very special occassions apparently ;)) and a wide angle lens. So I decided to go for a close up to have more of a leeway for playing with the depth of field. This is what I got today.
My first attempt at this challenge..fun fun..
Need help with the shutter speed - Set in AV aperture comes up at 9 & can change it higher but not lower so I give up on that idea & done it in manual. Shutter at 100 seemed too over exposed
Why would you like to adjust the shutter speed?
If you want to get a brighter image, push the AV+/- button on the top right next to the display. Hold it and go some stops up (1/3 or 2/3 will usually do) by turnign the wheel in front of the ISO button to the right to overexpose it. If you want it darker --> same thing but turning the wheel to the left.
Hope that helps?
f1.4 with 50mm
Unfortunately f5.6 is as good as I can get with this lens at 55mm and I felt a close up worked best.
Now, at all focal lengths you can go smaller in aperture. Say, f16, for example. It's just the maximum aperture that is limited by focal length.
Thanks for that Mike. I had a bit of a play after I had posted my photo, and by changing the focal length to 18, I could go to f3.5. Learning so much this year!!
That's one. That you can't find the aperture value settings on your bridge camera is a pitty. Just check your camera or Google on it. There should probably be an option, though less easy to find / to use than on a DSLR. Good luck and enjoy!
f6.3 is the widest for this lens at 250mm.
3 pic's with different settings but ALWAYS the lowest fstop I could go 5.3.
Using the 18 - 55 lens
I discovered how the shutter speed also changes the brightness of the pic's. Please feel free to offer feedback, and comments of observations I should look at. No thought for composition went into these shots, this is purely practice with settings.
These were actually taken on May 29th at about 8pm, I had to post them in November since I do not have an ACE account
.01 10/1000 5.3 640 ISO, 45mm
.004 10/2500 640 45mm
.005 10/2000 5.3 640 45mm
In these three photos I think the first one has been exposed rather correctly, where number 2 and 3 are underexposed. I think maybe an overexposed version could have been even a bit better, because there are no white pixel in the photo.
You have set the whitebalance on cloud, giving a bluish tone. Probably this was your intent, else I would make it a bit warmer. Do you shoot in RAW format? Then you can change white balance in the software.
Enjoy this camera discovery!
18mm 3.5 1/400
Thanks for your input
Bokehpanthus.
f3 at 105mm
@4stories e@djepie @abirkill
Would any of you be able to offer feedback on Jann's photo's @jannkc She would like feedback. Thanks
1/125 th ISO 100 f2.8 @ 200mm, outside date but good example :)
TIP: download a (free) DOF app on your smartphone, choose your camera and play with the settings to see the effect on the Depth of Field. When you e.g. see that it's about 2mm you know that these settings will not work. I just installed simpleDOF for the iPhone.