I need advice on f/settings on my dslr

[newphotographer2]

I am trying to set my camere to f/3.5 which my camera lens saids it can goto but I can only manage f/5.6 , what am i not doing!?

 

[Buckster]

I am trying to set my camere to f/3.5 which my camera lens saids it can goto but I can only manage f/5.6 , what am i not doing!?

Which lens is it? If it's a zoom lens, it may only go to f/3.5 when zoomed out.

 

[ShooterJ]

I'm guessing your lens states the range from f/3.5 - f/5.6

These are the widest apertures it has, at it's shortest and longest focal length.

As long as you're on the shortest focal length you can set to 3.5... if you're zoomed in all the way, you'll be limited to f5.6

 

[ShooterJ]

Yeah.. what Buck said. hehehehe

 

[newphotographer2]

I am trying to set my camere to f/3.5 which my camera lens saids it can goto but I can only manage f/5.6 , what am i not doing!?

It is a 18mm-70mm lens

 

[newphotographer2]

I'm guessing your lens states the range from f/3.5 - f/5.6

These are the widest apertures it has, at it's shortest and longest focal length.

As long as you're on the shortest focal length you can set to 3.5... if you're zoomed in all the way
, you'll be limited to f5.6

Problem solved at 18mm i can set it to f/3.5

 

[ShooterJ]

Then you should be able to get f/3.5 at the short end (18mm).

 

[Buckster]

Guessing then that it's this Sony lens:

Amazon.com: Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED Standard Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera: Electronics

If so, note that the lens is,

"Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED Standard Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera".

So, zoomed out to 18mm, it can be as open as f/3.5, but as you zoom in towards 70mm the maximum aperture closes down, ending at f/5.6 on the long end.

 

[TCampbell]

Sony does make a few lenses which provide f/2.8 all the way through the zoom range (there's a 16-50mm, a 24-70mm, a 24-75mm, and a 70-200mm). These will tend to be expensive lenses (zooms that can provide a constant f/2.8 focal ratio all the way through the range always are expensive.) They'll also tend to be larger and heavier (maintaining that wide aperture all the way through requires a large physical diameter, which means each glass element within the lens is larger so the whole thing weighs a lot more.)