 Glenn Theal |
Appropriate Apertures for Landscapes Hello: I am wondering what the best aperture settings are for doing landscapes. From my own reading of DOF and hyperfocal charts, I have found F/stops between 5.6 and 11 to be most suitable. Specifically, those settings closest to 8, considering that it has the sharpest focus. Am I correct in this judgement? Are there any situations in landscape photography where I would want to stop down the lens past F/stop 11? Thanks for the help. Cheers,
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doug Nelson |
Sometimes you might want to wring out every last bit of depth-of-field, with the wildflowers in focus, as well as the distant mountains. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot at f16 with a 35- or 28-mm prime lens, and a lens hood, setting the focus at the hyperfocal distance.
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Glenn, so much of it depends on what you want the final image to look like not to mention what lens you are using. There may be times when you want a very shallow DOF and will shoot wide open. There will be times when you want extreme DOF and shoot stopped all the way down. As far as lenses go, wide angle lenses have greater DOF and require less stopping down than telephoto lenses. Depending upon the quality of your lense you may get less softening effects of stopping down than on lower quality lenses. If I'm shooting a landscape and I want it all in focus but I'm not overly concerned about any one item being extremely sharp I will shoot all the way stopped down (f32 or f45). There will be times when the sharpness is the most important factor and you will want to shoot at the optimum aperture but for the most part I shoot at whatever aperture gives me the DOF I require.
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Piper Lehman |
Hi Glenn, I'm certainly no expert--I'm learning the technical stuff from the beginning. I thought maybe if I tried explaining to you what I've learned, it would help me retain the information--kill two birds....as they say. First, a little review -- 2) Shorter lenses have greater DOF than telephoto lenses. 3) The distance between you/the camera and the subject also makes a difference. The closer you are, the less DOF you will have. *The catch is not only having enough light with the small aperture you are trying to get sufficient DOF with, but with the small apertures, you will get a very slow corresponding shutter speed. So....here's what Nat'l Geog. Field Guide says: "In landscape photographs we generally expect extensive DOF, with sharp focus from the foreground to the background. To achieve this effect, select a wide-angle lens, set a small aperture (perhaps f/11 or higher), and focus about 1/3 of the way into the scene before reframing and shooting." I hope I'm not offering redundant information here. I'm quite sure you have this stuff down pat, but I am a little slow and frequently need to go back and refresh my rapidly decaying memory. I also don't have a DOF preview on my camera (rats!), so the "focus 1/3 of the way..." business will have to work for me until I upgrade in the very distant future... PCL
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Piper Lehman |
OH--and don't forget to use a tripod. pcl
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Glenn Theal |
Thanks for all the help, everyone. I have been focusing on infinity using wider angled lens, i.e. 28mm - 50mm. Obviously, the only reason that I would need any more stopping down than f/stop 8 would be to bring in the near focus. I find it very interesting that NG recommends stopping down and focusing 1/3 of the distance into the scene. Considering that landscape shots travel very far into the distance (infinity), I am assuming that 1/3 into the scene would be 1/3 of focusing scale on your lens. Very interesting. Thank-you. Cheers,
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Glenn Theal |
I think that I am finally starting understand this hyperfocal distance thing. Correct me if I am wrong, or just simply say that I've got it. :) If I use a 35mm lens, use an f/stop of 16, and focus on the hyperfocal distance (in this case 8' 6"), everything from the near distance (in this case 4' 3") to infinity will be in focus. If this is true, it is way too cool! Also, I take it that when shooting landscape shots, it is more appropriate to set the focusing distance manually rather than using Auto Focus. I've only been doing this stuff for about 2 months now, and I love it more and more every day. Cheers,
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Piper Lehman |
Glenn, about the NG book--they say to focus 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the frame of your landscape since DOF extends roughly 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the point you focus on. Same basic idea as using the hyperfocal charts. Stopping down will extend the hyperfocal range, thus your extent of DOF. pc
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Piper Lehman |
Glenn, found this discussion going on farther down the page. Plenty of different explanations for DOF and aperture. Here's something from Jeff on aperture choice and DOF: "....F8 doesn't give you more DOF. When you focus on an object you have a critical focus spot and DOF. The critical focus spot is the sharpest point of focus. Your DOF is sharp but still not as sharp as the critical focus spot. F22 gives you a larger DOF but the critical focus point is not as sharp as it would be at f8. So unless you need the DOF provided by f22 you are better off with a wider aperture (ie f8,f11,f16 etc.). " - Jeff 5/24/2001 1:41:25 PM also check out kodak.com, fodors.com and don't forget about checking Canon's (or whatever your camera brand is) Web site for further info. cheers, sorry to be a unsolicited buttinski...pc
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