Suggested f-step for shooting landscape

[480sparky]

Lens testing is a journey into sorrow. You do a whole lot of work and find out two things:

1) your lenses don't take very good pictures of test charts
2) now you want to spend a bunch of money

My journey is a bit different. Mine usually starts with testing. Real-life testing, not charts. Actual scenes of the real world.

I pixel-peep the results, make judgement calls on sharpness (both center and corner) for each aperture, and chart the results.

When I'm out shooting, I know exactly what aperture is the sharpest, which ones are almost as sharp, which ones are acceptable, and which ones to avoid at all costs.

My jouney ends in post, when I see the results of the days' shooting and think, "Damn! Now that's the sharpness I like to see!"

 

[skieur]

Trying shooting at different focus points and then blending the images in post.

 

[480sparky]

Trying shooting at different focus points and then blending the images in post.

AKA focus stacking.

 

[DiskoJoe]

I've been reading many books, and many of them said that for a general landscape, at 18mm, f/16 or f/22 is a good point to start. Is that a legit statement?

Also, I have a wide-angel extension lens, not the normal wide-angel lens, just a screw-on attachment. In that case, what will the f-step be? or it does not matter?

This photo I use f/11 at 18mm with the wide-angel extention, then add black-white at about 50% effect. Please comment on this photo.


IMGP0177_mod by ol_ucla, on Flickr

Thanks in advance.

This question has a lot of variables to it. Your camera and lens combo can have a serious effect on the quality that will be produced at different f-stops. Some start losing quality once the f-stop starts getting smaller. It also depends on what type of effect you want. Do you want everything in focus or not?

What I would tell you to do in your situation is next time you go out take a shot at every single f-stop that you have available then review in post to see which one you like the most. It may be a tedious chore but youre a beginner and should think of it as a learning process. Best way to learn is by doing. So go do that.

 

[pixmedic]

f-step?
awww hell's no...
dubstep.

 

[o hey tyler]

f-step?
awww hell's no...
dubstep.

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXO-jKksQkM

Lovestep

 

[MarshallG]

At work once, I had to photograph some circuit boards. I wanted to be able to read every little part number on a fairly big board. So I bought a macro lens and a copy stand, and got to work. Even lighting was the first challenge, but once that was done, my images kept coming out soft. It turns out that I was able to read more information from the chips and the board by opening the lens from f/22 to f/8. The added depth of field was useless to me, because I didn't have the razor sharp focus I wanted.

Fortunately, you can often read lens reviews at dpreviews.com and elsewhere, and they usually figure out the sharpest apertures for you.