My trick for memorizing f/stops

[astroNikon]

I tried memorizing that light stuff before. One reason I stopped shooting film eons ago.

Now with my camera I basically select the aperture that I want for the shot (which requires understanding DOF), then the shutter speed that I need (requires understanding stopping motion with the subject) and put ISO to AUTO (or manual set it). I usually don't have any issue when I do that, and I get the photo that I want.

 

[fjrabon]

I tried memorizing that light stuff before. One reason I stopped shooting film eons ago.

Now with my camera I basically select the aperture that I want for the shot (which requires understanding DOF), then the shutter speed that I need (requires understanding stopping motion with the subject) and put ISO to AUTO (or manual set it). I usually don't have any issue when I do that, and I get the photo that I want.

yeah, that's more or less how I shoot with my Fuji, because it has a dedicated exposure comp dial, love manual control over Aperture and SS, auto ISO and a dedicated exposure comp. To me that's 99% of the time the perfect way to shoot. With Nikon I usually shoot in either full manual or aperture priority mode with easy exposure comp. Sometimes I'll use auto ISO, with manual, but then you have to press a button to get exposure comp, which just annoys me.

 

[astroNikon]

What I also do, is auto iso, then I take it off of auto iso and set it where I want to, then compensate with the Shutter/Aperture until I get the exposure using the exposure indicator in the viewfinder, or exposure button & dial.
I'm kinda starting to learn change ISO then change shutter steps, etc. But I don't do it often enough not to use the exposure indicator (on the viewfinder or LCD)

 

[baturn]

Maybe you should teach reading skills before math!

 

[Bebulamar]

If you look at the list by Sparky it's accurate and the correct rounding off of f/5.6 should be f/5.7 but we are all used to f/5.6. So it's best to remember the full stop sequence and next remember the 1/3 sequence. Or better yet forget about them all.

 

[snowbear]

I just look on the lens barrel or in the viewfinder if it's a "G" Nikkor.

 

[snowbear]

Double post . . . jammin' phone.

 

[unpopular]

I've always found the clicks distracting anyway. I love lenses without stops, and even removed the stops from a few of my lenses completely - but, I also stop-down meter exclusively.

 

[Solarflare]

I don't calculate out that f/16 is 3 stops difference from f/8. I just know it. But at one point I did have to use the trick to get there instead of it being purely memorized.

Err ... f8 to f16 would be 2 stops ?!?!?!?

Do you consider yourself a beginner ?

Well... probably not, though many here have more experience and skill.

But I just dont think you need that much help to learn this. All you ever need in practice is about f/1 to f/32. And thats few enough steps that you remember the numbers by heart very quickly.

Again, the thing that really helped me understand f-stops is that they are:

focal lenght / entry pupil size

After that, its very obvious/intuitive that its the diameter of an area, thus you need a 2x difference in f-numbers for 2 stops (4 times the amount) difference in light (etc), and sqrt(2) ~ 1.4 difference for 1 stop (2 times the amount) difference in light (etc) [because sqrt(2)*sqrt(2) = 2 by very definition of sqrt/square root].

It would be an interesting question if one couldnt use a more "intuitive" scale. Say you would invent the "inverse light parameter" which would just state how much the light is reduced, like:

ilp 1 = f/1
ilp 2 = f/1.4
ilp 4 = f/2
ilp 8 = f/2.8
ilp 16 = f/4
ilp 32 = f/5.6
ilp 64 = f/8
ilp 128 = f/11
ilp 256 = f/16
ilp 512 = f/22
ilp 1024 = f/32

For me as a programmer this wouldnt be very hard, but I guess thats (a) hard to write on a lens and (b) not so easy to memorize for any non-programmer.

What COULD make the whole system a lot easier is if we would use EV (exposure value) for all 3 variables:

ISO 3 = FEV -5
ISO 6 = FEV -4
ISO 12 = FEV -3
ISO 25 = FEV -2
ISO 50 = FEV -1
ISO 100 = FEV 0 (FEV = Film/Sensor Exposure Value)
ISO 200 = FEV 1
ISO 400 = FEV 2
ISO 800 = FEV 3
ISO 1600 = FEV 4
ISO 3200 = FEV 5
ISO 6400 = FEV 6
ISO 12800 = FEV 7
ISO 25600 = FEV 8
ISO 51200 = FEV 9
ISO 102400 = FEV 10
ISO 204800 = FEV 11
ISO 409600 = FEV 12

But this would have the problem that companies could no longer broast about the ISO capabilities.

A: "My camera manages ISO 800 well !"
B: "My camera manages ISO 1600 well !"
A: "Whow ! I need that camera, too !"

vs

A: "My camera manages FEV 2 well !"
B: "My camera manages FEV 3 well !"
A: "Meh. I'm already almost as good as you are !"

f/.5 = AEV -2
f/.7 = AEV -1
f/1 = AEV 0 (AEV = Aperture Exposure Value)
f/1.4 = AEV 1
f/2 = AEV 2
f/2.8 = AEV 3
f/4 = AEV 4
f/5.6 = AEV 5
f/8 = AEV 6
f/11 = AEV 7
f/16 = AEV 8
f/22 = AEV 9
f/32 = AEV 10
f/44 = AEV 11
f/64 = AEV 12
f/88 = AEV 13
f/128 = AEV 14
f/172 = AEV 15
f/256 = AEV 16

I guess that would actually work quite smoothly.

1/8000 sec = TEV -14
1/4000 sec = TEV -13
1/2000 sec = TEV -12
1/1000 sec = TEV -11
1/500 sec = TEV -10
1/250 sec = TEV -9
1/125 sec = TEV -8
1/60 sec = TEV -7
1/30 sec = TEV -6
1/15 sec = TEV -5
1/8 sec = TEV -4
1/4 sec = TEV -2
1/2 sec = TEV -1
1 sec = TEV 0 (TEV = Time Exposure Value)

Now thats extremely non-intuitive for obvious reasons, plus one would have to use negative numbers all the friggin time.

Anyway then one could just compute

EV = FEV + AEV + TEV

That would be easier for a newbie.

F-stops are for babies, call me when you get into t-stops.

Just for the record, the "t" of T-stop is always written uppercase.

f stands for "focal length".

T stands for "transmission".

 

[bribrius]

this entire thread pretty much went over my head. I just woke up and have a headache now. i shouldn't have opened it. lol
i just shoot
somehow it seems to come out.

 

[fjrabon]

I don't calculate out that f/16 is 3 stops difference from f/8. I just know it. But at one point I did have to use the trick to get there instead of it being purely memorized.

Err ... f8 to f16 would be 2 stops ?!?!?!?

Do you consider yourself a beginner ?

Well... probably not, though many here have more experience and skill.

But I just dont think you need that much help to learn this. All you ever need in practice is about f/1 to f/32. And thats few enough steps that you remember the numbers by heart very quickly.

Again, the thing that really helped me understand f-stops is that they are:

focal lenght / entry pupil size

After that, its very obvious/intuitive that its the diameter of an area, thus you need a 2x difference in f-numbers for 2 stops (4 times the amount) difference in light (etc), and sqrt(2) ~ 1.4 difference for 1 stop (2 times the amount) difference in light (etc) [because sqrt(2)*sqrt(2) = 2 by very definition of sqrt/square root].

It would be an interesting question if one couldnt use a more "intuitive" scale. Say you would invent the "inverse light parameter" which would just state how much the light is reduced, like:

ilp 1 = f/1
ilp 2 = f/1.4
ilp 4 = f/2
ilp 8 = f/2.8
ilp 16 = f/4
ilp 32 = f/5.6
ilp 64 = f/8
ilp 128 = f/11
ilp 256 = f/16
ilp 512 = f/22
ilp 1024 = f/32

For me as a programmer this wouldnt be very hard, but I guess thats (a) hard to write on a lens and (b) not so easy to memorize for any non-programmer.

What COULD make the whole system a lot easier is if we would use EV (exposure value) for all 3 variables:

ISO 3 = FEV -5
ISO 6 = FEV -4
ISO 12 = FEV -3
ISO 25 = FEV -2
ISO 50 = FEV -1
ISO 100 = FEV 0 (FEV = Film/Sensor Exposure Value)
ISO 200 = FEV 1
ISO 400 = FEV 2
ISO 800 = FEV 3
ISO 1600 = FEV 4
ISO 3200 = FEV 5
ISO 6400 = FEV 6
ISO 12800 = FEV 7
ISO 25600 = FEV 8
ISO 51200 = FEV 9
ISO 102400 = FEV 10
ISO 204800 = FEV 11
ISO 409600 = FEV 12

But this would have the problem that companies could no longer broast about the ISO capabilities.

A: "My camera manages ISO 800 well !"
B: "My camera manages ISO 1600 well !"
A: "Whow ! I need that camera, too !"

vs

A: "My camera manages FEV 2 well !"
B: "My camera manages FEV 3 well !"
A: "Meh. I'm already almost as good as you are !"

f/.5 = AEV -2
f/.7 = AEV -1
f/1 = AEV 0 (AEV = Aperture Exposure Value)
f/1.4 = AEV 1
f/2 = AEV 2
f/2.8 = AEV 3
f/4 = AEV 4
f/5.6 = AEV 5
f/8 = AEV 6
f/11 = AEV 7
f/16 = AEV 8
f/22 = AEV 9
f/32 = AEV 10
f/44 = AEV 11
f/64 = AEV 12
f/88 = AEV 13
f/128 = AEV 14
f/172 = AEV 15
f/256 = AEV 16

I guess that would actually work quite smoothly.

1/8000 sec = TEV -14
1/4000 sec = TEV -13
1/2000 sec = TEV -12
1/1000 sec = TEV -11
1/500 sec = TEV -10
1/250 sec = TEV -9
1/125 sec = TEV -8
1/60 sec = TEV -7
1/30 sec = TEV -6
1/15 sec = TEV -5
1/8 sec = TEV -4
1/4 sec = TEV -2
1/2 sec = TEV -1
1 sec = TEV 0 (TEV = Time Exposure Value)

Now thats extremely non-intuitive for obvious reasons, plus one would have to use negative numbers all the friggin time.

Anyway then one could just compute

EV = FEV + AEV + TEV

That would be easier for a newbie.

F-stops are for babies, call me when you get into t-stops.

Just for the record, the "t" of T-stop is always written uppercase.

f stands for "focal length".

T stands for "transmission".

Some people do have trouble memorizing f/stops. I guess you get a gold star because you had no trouble, but others do.

Again, would you feel compelled to write this many words on a thread entitled "how to tie your shoes" (well, it is you, so yeah, maybe you would, you'll write a thousand words on anything, except actual pictures).

THE THREAD IS NOT AIMED AT PEOPLE WHO HAD NO TROUBLE MEMORIZING F/STOPS, IT IS AIMED AT PEOPLE WHO DO HAVE TROUBLE. Just because you had no trouble doesn't mean others didn't/don't.

 

[Braineack]

everyone should tie their shoes like this:

 

[Dave442]

My first lenses stopped down as the aperture ring on the lens was closed, that made it much easier to associate what was happening as one changed the aperture. That camera also came with a little Gossen Pilot handheld light meter so it was easy to see the shutter speed and f/stop relation and play with that without having to take a picture.

Then my SLR had a depth of field preview button so I could not only see the aperture blades close down, but also the effect on how much was in focus. As that SLR did not have the aperture numbers in the viewfinder it was obvious a simple approach was to memorize the f-numbers on the lens so with each click you knew your f/stop without looking.

These days it's hard to actually see the relation between the f/stop and shutter speed right on the camera. One option is to put it in P mode and cycle through the numbers, and use the depth of field preview if available.

 

[bribrius]

meh.... educating guessing. Depends on lens. When i change fstops does the iso change to the same equivilent or light change to that actual equivilent. NO. Change your fstop and watch your light meter or iso. This isn't a exact science.

 

[pjaye]

I don't understand by some people have to be such dick heads just because someone posts something that doesn't apply to them. It's really quite pathetic and is a huge reason why people have stopped coming here. Seriously, if it doesn't apply to you, move on. This is the beginners forum and as such is aimed at beginners.

New people don't want to post at the risk of getting ridiculed like what happened on here. The op said MANY times that this was directed to beginners. Some of you need to work on your reading comprehension and your manners.