F (as in phobia)

[aam1234]

To make it short, I'm scared to leave F8. As if horrible things will happen if I do so (in photographic terms that is).

[RinkRat]

To make it short, I'm scared to leave F8. As if horrible things will happen if I do so (in photographic terms that is).

Bah. Live a little. I don't think my camera does f8. It always seems to be at one end, or the other. :)

[Curos]

Wow...I leave my Av at f8 whenever i turn off the camera, just in case...but...i am almost always changing it.

[12345Michael54321]

I'm curious - does the original poster also have an irrational fear of what dire consequences might result from using a shutter speed other than 1/125 sec.? Using an ISO other than 200? Rotating your camera 90 deg. for vertical shots? This could get us into heavy duty Frasier Crane psychology territory.

All kidding aside, you own a camera capable of being set to whatever aperture best serves your needs, given the photographic situation at hand. Assuming you have an understanding of what varying the aperture will accomplish - in terms of exposure, relationship to shutter speed, effect on depth of field, etc. - you would be foolish not to use the aperture which best permits you to obtain the results you envision. I mean, what do you say to yourself, "I want to minimize depth of field, so f/2.8 would be a good choice, but if I leave f/8 horrible things will happen. I'll use f/8."

Then again, perhaps you don't actually understand the advantages and disadvantages of various aperture choices, and simply know that someone once told you that "the sharpest aperture is f/8." (In fact, most lenses are sharpest 2-3 stops down from maximum, which may well translate to something around f/8. But that's no reason to slick slavishly to f/8, anymore than the fact that a car might be most efficient at 45 mph means all your driving under all conditions should be done at 45 mph.)

[aam1234]

Hi 12345Michael54321,

What I wrote there is obviously an exaggeration, as a matter of fact I don't use f8 that often. The f8 is meant as a reference point.

As you have said, different situations require different settings.

Just out of curiosity, do people gravitate towards a certain aperture setting.

[12345Michael54321]

What I wrote there is obviously an exaggeration

I understand. My answer was, in parts, a bit of an exaggeration, too.

Just out of curiosity, do people gravitate towards a certain aperture setting.

Yes. I know people who give the whole "lenses are sharpest 3 stops down from maximum" rule way, way too much importance, and will shoot 3 stops down from max 95% of the time. (The truth is, even if a lens is sharpest at that aperture, it's probably not awful a stop or two higher or lower, and the sharpness thing isn't nearly significant enough that it should override the compositional or technical priorities of the shot.)

At that, they're possibly less misguided than the ones who lock the shutter speed at 1/focal length, since they read that this speed is necessary to prevent unsharpness due to camera shake.

Of course, both groups are vastly out-numbered by the people who simply leave the camera on program mode, and let it choose both shutter speed and aperture.

Finally, I did read (on some newsgroup, some months ago) a post from a 10D owner, who was complaining that in some of his shots not everything was in focus. Seems his previous camera was a digital p&s, with a tiny sensor, short lens, and consequently enormous depth-of-field. He wanted to know why his little p&s could keep everything in focus, but his expensive DSLR couldn't.

Well, it was explained to him about depth-of-field, f-stops, etc.

He thanked everyone for their help, and stated that from now on he was only shooting at f/11 to f/16, because these were his lenses' smallest apertures, and he thinks pictures where not everything is in focus look artificial and unnatural.

Hey, it takes all kinds, right?

[CyberDyneSystems]

I'm allways looking for more shutter speed...

Thus I shoot 90% of the time AV wide open.

[Jon, The Elder]

If you are shooting your pet Anaconda from head to tip of tail (stretched out) you might consider f16

[Jesper]

I'm using Av and M mode almost all the time on my 10D and my "default" setting is f/8 or f/5.6. Ofcourse I often change the setting to control the DOF, but I also think about what lens I'm using.

- I know my 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 and 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO are not at their best wide open, so I tend to stop them down one or two stops (f/8 or f/11).

- My 17-40 f/4 L and 100 f/2.8 Macro are still very good wide open, so I don't think about stopping down because of the lens.

- I almost never use f/1.8 on my 50 f/1.8 because the DOF is too shallow most of the time.

[lucasdigital]

To make it short, I'm scared to leave F8. As if horrible things will happen if I do so (in photographic terms that is).

Only two weeks ago I was pretty much in the same boat, with both F-setting and film grade ( I wouldn't budge from ISO 50 to save my life)

I'd do everything and anything to stay in the F8 envelope. Then one morning, having decided to try for some dawn shots. I cycled into the city centre and begin playing around. For the first time in the year or so that I've been using my A80, I started to working with the more sensitive "film" settings, and pushing the F number down a bit.

Its like the paint palette just got a whole lot bigger!

A shot from that morning -
http://www.lucas-digital.com/design/photography/wip/danw2.jpg