Setting aperture and shutter speed for landscape photography

[HalfInsane]

So I went and ordered a Tokina 12-24mm lens (I know, third party lens, but I've only heard good things about it) about a week back and will be taking it out for a spin in about a week on a short four day vacations to a lake in the foothills of the rockies.

Now, I'm curious, do you guys mostly tend to shoot in either aperture priority/shutter priority depending on the conditions, or is it best to shoot in full manual? Admittedly, I shy away from full manual and always have since I don't really know much about balancing the shutter speed and aperture, beyond the basic faster shutter = larger aperture, slower shutter speed = smaller aperture. I like to let the camera do that for me lol. I know, also, that for landscape its best to keep the aperture between f12-22, but if one wants to say, use a slow shutter speed to soften water on a lake or what have you, how do you manage that while still keeping a wide DOF? Would you just want to increase the ISO? Any other things I'm just totally missing out on?

Sorry for all the newbie questions :blushing:

 

[joealcantar]

Found this site recently and looks like a decent place to start:
Using Your Digital Camera-Contents
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Shoot well, Joe

 

[480sparky39 38]

The shutter speed needed depends on whether anything in the scene is moving and/or the chances of the camera moving. If's the wind is calm, then camera movement is the only issue. Use a tripod, and shutter speed almost becomes a non-issue. If you want to create 'movement' in water, though, you'll need a long exposure.... you may want to look into getting some ND filters.

Aperture? Depends on the depth of field you need in the scene. If everything is far away, then you can easily get away with f/5.6 or 8 and have no focus issues.

 

[KmH]

but if one wants to say, use a slow shutter speed to soften water on a lake or what have you, how do you manage that while still keeping a wide DOF?

Think of it as Deep DOF, not wide DOF.
Use an ND filter and learn about hyperfocus. Understanding Your Camera’s Hyperfocal Distance

http://www.dofmaster.com/charts.html

And here is a popular online DOF calculator: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html though I prefer this one; http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/calc.htm

and add this web site to your Favorites list: The Luminous Landscape

 

[Big Mike]

Keep in mind that with most lenses, the smaller your aperture gets (past say, F8) the lower your image quality (some aspects of it anyway). So don't stop down to F22 unless you really need the DOF that it gets or you really need to slower shutter speed. But as mentioned, you can slow the shutter speed by using ND filters as well.

Understanding the hyperfocal distance should allow you to find the aperture that will work with scene, camera, lens etc. With such a short lens, you may find that you don't have to use a really small aperture to get all the DOF that you want/need.

To make it easier, I have a DOF calculator app on my iPod. If you have a smart phone, you might be able to find something similar.

 

[spacefuzz]

when shooting wide angle landscapes I start on a tripod with ISO 100, aperature priority, f/8 and then adjust as needed.

 

[Garbz]

S I know, also, that for landscape its best to keep the aperture between f12-22, but if one wants to say, use a slow shutter speed to soften water on a lake or what have you, how do you manage that while still keeping a wide DOF? Would you just want to increase the ISO? Any other things I'm just totally missing out on?

You got both of these things backwards. Firstly stopping down the aperture to a smaller size (large numbers) like f/12-22 means you need a SLOWER shutter speed. So that's how you get that soft water effect. However in daylight you'll often find that this is not enough and a neutral density filter may be needed to cut out some additional light to lower your shutter speed even more.

Additionally for most digital cameras the point where diffraction starts becoming field relevant is around f/11. You typically need a very good reason to shoot with a smaller aperture than f/11 as your sharpness rapidly drops off above this. The "ideal for landscape" (reads sharpest) apertures on the lens lie around f/8 to f/11.

With a full frame camera diffraction becomes limiting around f/16. With large format cameras those numbers are closer to f/50 which is where the notion of smaller apertures are better for landscapes comes.