Landscape Photography

sambrody44 · Sep 11, 2008

What kind of aperture are you guys using for landscapes? I'm having a little trouble noticing the difference between f/5.6 and f/32 when shooting landscapes.

usayit · Sep 11, 2008

I usually start at f/11 and hyperfocal.

Bifurcator · Sep 11, 2008

I use the lens's sweet spot for the focal length being used. So for me it depends on the lens.

sambrody44 · Sep 11, 2008

So what are the low apertures like f/30 and f/32 for?

Mitch1640 · Sep 11, 2008

the lower apertures increase the depth of field meaning more of your picture will be in focus.

Bifurcator · Sep 12, 2008

sambrody44 said:
So what are the low apertures like f/30 and f/32 for?

Depending on the lens f/32 would like, give you, for landscapes, for example:

20 feet ~ Infinite @ 100mm,
5 feet ~ Infinite @ 50mm,
1 foot ~ Infinite @ 20mm

f/8 (a typical sweet spot) would give you:

60 feet ~ infinite @ 100mm
15 feet ~ Infinite @ 50mm
2 feet ~ Infinite @ 20mm

Those are actual readings from 3 different Nikon lenses I have. It just depends on what you want in focus, how much light you have available, whether or not you're using a tripod, and how good your camera is at high ISO shots.

Moglex · Sep 12, 2008

sambrody44 said:
What kind of aperture are you guys using for landscapes? I'm having a little trouble noticing the difference between f/5.6 and f/32 when shooting landscapes.

If you are having trouble noticing the difference, and the shots appear to be OK, then the most likely reason is that you do not have anything in the foreground.

Here 'foreground' can be defined as the area before you achieve acceptable sharpness at f5.6.

If you want to demonstrate the difference, take some shots with someone or something closer to the camera. Focus at the hyperfocal distance for each aperture and notice how the close object becomes sharper the greater the f-stop number.

ksmattfish · Sep 12, 2008

It depends on the format for me. I tend to use wide angle lenses for landscape photographs. I'm usually trying for the largest aperture that'll get me the DOF I need. I don't want to go too small because aperture diffraction can cause softness.

F/5.6 to f/11 with a wider than normal lens is usually plenty of DOF for APS-C format cameras. I'm nervous about going with apertures smaller than f/11 on APS-C because of aperture diffraction. It's less of a problem on larger formats.

wise · Sep 12, 2008

@bifurcator: How do I find out the "sweet spot" of my lenses, and what do you mean by it?

Dao · Sep 12, 2008

I believe what he means is the lens performs the best (best image quality) at that Aperture/focal length combination.

Some lenses review site such as Photozone may have some data regarding that info. Of course, if you want, you can do some test yourself, if you have the equipment and setup.

For example, according to Photozone. The Nifty Fifty perform the best at F/5.6 and of course on 50mm focal length.

Joe S · Sep 12, 2008

as some others have said, start by what lens you are using and then figure the lighting conditions. I don't think you can really ever say use a certain aperture for landscape, or sports, or anything as conditions change. If it's foggy, or raining the light will be less than sunny and clear, so an f2.8 lens might be great set at f2.8-5.6 in the sun but need more like f8-9 in the rain.

pm63 · Sep 12, 2008

Joe S said:
as some others have said, start by what lens you are using and then figure the lighting conditions. I don't think you can really ever say use a certain aperture for landscape, or sports, or anything as conditions change. If it's foggy, or raining the light will be less than sunny and clear, so an f2.8 lens might be great set at f2.8-5.6 in the sun but need more like f8-9 in the rain.

What on earth are you talking about?

Montana · Sep 12, 2008

^ What?

EDIT: Posted at the same time as the above poster...

Moglex · Sep 13, 2008

wise said:
How do I find out the "sweet spot" of my lenses, and what do you mean by it?

There are two contradictory factors that work in opposition when considering how 'well' a lens perfoms in terms of image quality.

Generally speaking the more a lens is stopped down the better it perfoms from the POV of abberations as the centre of the lens is typically less subject to these than the extremities.

Conversly, the more a lens is stopped down the more the image suffers from diffraction effects as light passes the iris.

At some point (the sweet spot) the sum of these two effects is minimised and optimum quality is achieved.

For modern, complex lenses this aperture tends to be around f5.6-f8 and for older (e.g. 4 element) lenses around f11.

Some years back the magazine 'Amateur Photographer' published lens tests which included a much enlarged section of a negative at all available f-stop detentes and you could clearly see the quality improve and the drop off again as the lens was stopped down. (They also printed these series from both the centre and edge of the negatives (same target) which was instructive).