Aperture setting (Page 3): Excellent useful point. :sm24:...

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

gvarner wrote:

Another good thing to know about the aperture number. The bigger the number the more depth of field you will have. And the bigger the number, the more light you will need to get a proper exposure either by reducing shutter speed or increasing ISO, or both.

Excellent useful point.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

bbradford wrote:

This may sound stupid as I am new to all of this. I have read and read about aperture settings but am still confused on one thing. If your lens says it has a maximum aperture of 5.5 how can the camera take it up to f.22? Is the lens really going to f.22 as the camera says or is max. at 5.5. Hope this doesn't sound to stupid but it's giving me a headache.

The quick, simple answer is....the bigger the f/number, the SMALLER the diaphragm opening. The smaller the f/number, the BIGGER the lens opening.

That's because aperture size (diameter) is properly expressed as focal length DIVIDED by a number, or...f/5.5, f/22 etc.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Think of the aperture number (f4) as how closed the iris is. The bigger the number, the more closed, the smaller the opening.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

bbradford wrote:

This may sound stupid as I am new to all of this. I have read and read about aperture settings but am still confused on one thing. If your lens says it has a maximum aperture of 5.5 how can the camera take it up to f.22? Is the lens really going to f.22 as the camera says or is max. at 5.5. Hope this doesn't sound to stupid but it's giving me a headache.

Max is the biggest opening available (amount of light it lets in)......5.5 is as wide open as it will go...it will go smaller, f22.....

aellman Loc: Boston MA

bbradford wrote:

This may sound stupid as I am new to all of this. I have read and read about aperture settings but am still confused on one thing. If your lens says it has a maximum aperture of 5.5 how can the camera take it up to f.22? Is the lens really going to f.22 as the camera says or is max. at 5.5. Hope this doesn't sound to stupid but it's giving me a headache.

In this case, f5.5 is the largest aperture (lens opening diameter), and f22 is the smallest. One is not directly related to the other. >Alan

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

frankraney wrote:

Max is the biggest opening available (amount of light it lets in)......5.5 is as wide open as it will go...it will go smaller, f22.....

Edit...

...f22 is the smallest.... So your range is 5.5 to 22

smussler Loc: Land O Lakes, FL - Formerly Miller Place, NY

georgeretired wrote:

INTERESTING link. Thanks for including it in your reply.

I agree, I bookmarked the homepage.

Here's another site with great FREE articles:

https://digital-photography-school.com/

I've got a 3" binder filled with articles from that site. Sometimes the comments below the articles are well worth reading also - to me anyway.

smussler Loc: Land O Lakes, FL - Formerly Miller Place, NY

georgeretired wrote:

INTERESTING link. Thanks for including it in your reply.

Here's another site with great FREE articles:

https://digital-photography-school.com/

I've got a 3" binder filled with articles from that site. Sometimes the comments below the articles are well worth reading also - to me anyway.

Darren01 Loc: Fallbrook California

Not stupid at all. People get confused. It's like wire size... The example is this, lens wide open at f2.8 "0" lens closed to f22 " . "
f2.8 will let in a lot of light but with shallow depth of field. Meaning less in focus.
f22 will let in Not a lot of light but depth of field is increased. More in focus.
All is a play on light, be it natural or flash....

Heather Iles Loc: UK, Somerset

Darren01 wrote:

Not stupid at all. People get confused. It's like wire size... The example is this, lens wide open at f2.8 "0" lens closed to f22 " . "
f2.8 will let in a lot of light but with shallow depth of field. Meaning less in focus.
f22 will let in Not a lot of light but depth of field is increased. More in focus.
All is a play on light, be it natural or flash....

Wow! You have explained "depth of field" in one sentence. This has plagued me in mystery for ages and now I understand. Thank you. Another mystery solved.