Landscape Photography and recommeded aperture range Canon 24-70mm

[oak3x]

With a recent purchase of a Canon 24-70mm lens (and Canon 5d), I am planning an upcoming trip to California for Landscape Photography.

As a beginner, what is generally the best aperture for maximum DOF / sharpness with the 24-70mm?

Based on theory, I would say f/18-f/22, but I have been reading that you can actually lose sharpment in this range...and should actually shoot f/13 to f/16.

What aperture do you shoot for landscapes?

Of course, I will be using a Tripod

[jrader]

Well, I've heard f/8-f/16 is where the sweet spot is for good DOF because at higher f#, diffraction causes loss of sharpness. However, many of the books that I've read by professional photographers, they shoot at very high f# (typically f/22) so I really wonder as to what is more important: DOF or sharpness loss due to diffraction.

I tend to think that DOF is more important, especially in landscape work, so I usually shoot at a high f# almost all the time (unless I'm doing night photography). I can't really see the effects of diffraction in any of the professional pictures, so I'm not so sure it's dominating effect.

Best of luck in Cali.

John

[weka2000]

90% of my landscape work is f11-f16

[Peter Ho]

Keep your aperture as small as you can to ensure that the foreground and background are sharp. If you find unable to do it, increase the iso to enable a usable speed for you to have the camera handheld unless you have stand. Bring along a remote for those sunrise and sunset shots too.

Enjoy your trip.

[bwc]

Ditto to Peter Ho. The slowest shutter speed you can han-hold or put on a tripod and the smallest aperture is a must. In every landscape use a tripod! Just remember in landscapes a viewer usually would like to see from foreground to background as sharp as a tack. But then, rules were made to be broken too. So just photograph what you see and be happy as the day is long!

[lukeap69]

You might want to read this

http://bobatkins.com/photography/technical/digitaldof.html

[wallybud]

I haven't read the bob atkins link but I believe diffraction sets in on the 24-70 at and above f13. I normally shoot it at f11 and go for the hyperfocal distance if possible

[Energy jobs]

The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens is very sharp for a zoom lens. The 24-70 L is sharp in the center at f/2.8 at all focal lengths. Corners are also very good with one exception - the extreme full-frame corners are soft at 28mm and below until stopped down to at least f/8. There is rapid sharpness drop-off at these far corners below 28mm. Stopping down a stop or so improves sharpness slightly in the center and slightly more in the corners. While pictures from the 24-70 L are very sharp, the excellent contrast and saturation are what strike me the most in real life applications. Very little contrast and saturation post-processing is necessary on most shots taken under good lighting.

[azjoel]

If you have a really close foreground and far background and you'd like both to be sharp, I would recommend shooting at least f16 and figure out the hyperfocal distance. If you don't have such a wide range in foreground and background, it's not as important to use such a narrow aperture.

Always use a tripod, of course. The key to landscape photography is to slow down!!!

[Lazuka]

I haven't read the bob atkins link but I believe diffraction sets in on the 24-70 at and above f13. I normally shoot it at f11 and go for the hyperfocal distance if possible


I shoot on a 1d3, and i also usually use 11, once in awhile i'll go to 13, but not often.

[bestfromnw]

f/22 on 5d should be good. i shoot all of my landscapes f/16-f/22 and the 5d has enough of resolving power to bring out all of the detail without worrying about the diffraction

[Blue S2]

I use f16 and f22. Hyperfocal distance is a must. If you don't have a distance scale...its usually about one third out from your closest subject or so. (dont quote me on that!)

Remember... MIRROR LOCK UP and REMOTE SHUTTER RELEASE!!!! (or self timer)

They make a bigger difference in sharpness than one might think!

[dr1ft]

At 24mm f/8 on a 5D, focusing at about 8' will give you critical focus from 4' to Infinity.
At f/16, focusing at about 4' will give you critical focus from 2' to Infinity. (source: dofmaster.com)

That extra 2' might be worth the loss of light and sharpness depending on your desire. Lenses tend to be sharpest between f/5.6 - f/8. In short, decide your aperture based on what you want to do -- don't go by any hard-and-fast rule of f/16 or f/22.

Take a look at http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/zproducts/canon24-70f28/tloader.htm to see how aperture affects lab test shots for your lens.

[argyle]

Do not use the "one-third of the way in" focusing guideline...its a rule of thumb that is only accurate at certain focal lengths and aperture settings. Read up on hyperfocal distance. Basically, you first determine the focusing distance of the nearest object in your frame. Double that distance, and this value is your hyperfocal distance. The required aperture will be dependent upon this distance, as well as the focal length of the lens.

One other tip...don't set your camera on the tripod and set in position. Doing this, you allow the tripod to determine your composition. First, hold the camera to your eye and survey the scene. When you see a composition in the VF that appeals to you, note the position of your feet relative to the scene and then place the tripod. This way, you're setting the comp instead of the tripod. Little detail, but I find that this works for me.

[WillOPhotos]

I dont really go over F/16 with my 50 1.2 or 16-35mm.

[argyle]

Be mindful of diffraction at small apertures, but don't sweat over it too much. This was shot with a 17-40L on a 5DMkII, with an aperture of f/22. The near rock in the left foreground was about a foot away from the lens. I don't see any diffraction effects (but I should have been more concerned about the two water droplets that had splashed onto the lens, ruining the shot :( ).

http://northlake.smugmug.com/photos/562053243_237Q6-XL.jpg

[Shadowblade]

Depends on what you're shooting. I shoot landscapes anywhere from f/2.8 to f/16. Sometimes you're trying to capture the wide expanse of a scene. Other times, you want to isolate a jagged outcrop against a background of cliffs/hills/sky.

[rdricks]

One other tip...don't set your camera on the tripod and set in position. Doing this, you allow the tripod to determine your composition. First, hold the camera to your eye and survey the scene. When you see a composition in the VF that appeals to you, note the position of your feet relative to the scene and then place the tripod. This way, you're setting the comp instead of the tripod. Little detail, but I find that this works for me.

Thanks - Great tip! I usually have an idea in mind before I setup the tripod, but this simple tip is much easier. I guess you're never too old to learn something new!:cool:

[Rankinia]

I find it somewhat amusing that people are suggesting using big f-stops for sharpness and DOF yet still suggesting you can hand hold. Im quite a steady shooter and in no way at all do my hand held come anywhere near as sharp as my mirror lockup, cable released tripod shots. Also using the hyperfocal lengths. I very rarely use of f8 and my shots are tacksharp from the foreground to the background. And yes there is such as thing as diffraction and cameras such as the 5d with larger individuals sensors/photo sites are less affected by it.

[jphendren]

Compose your shot, estimate the distance to the closest object in the image, look at a DOF chart for the focal length in use and find the widest f-stop that will get the job done, and then close down another 1/3 stop more if possible just to make sure.

Shooting at f-22 all of the time does not make any sense for various reasons. Lenses are usually sharpest two-three stops down from wide open, wind can move vegetation, etc. If you can get away with f-11, you will have a faster shutter speed which can freeze the motion of said vegetation. I would never shoot a landscape hand held if a tripod is available.

Jared

[tigerotor77w]

For those of you shooting with crop bodies, do you ever ignore apertures that theoretically cause diffraction when using HFD? argyle was helpful in defining HFD, but with the general idea that shooting too small isn't good, I'm also curious if there's a point where the negative effects of diffraction remove sharpness, even if I'm using HFD to place my focus plane.

I've seen a lot of pictures taken at f22 but am not sure I'd like the results with an APS-C sensor (and a WA, like the 17-55 I have).

[mikekelley]

On APS-C I usually find f11 is enough to get everything I want in focus and not have much, if any loss due to diffraction.

[tigerotor77w]

On APS-C I usually find f11 is enough to get everything I want in focus and not have much, if any loss due to diffraction.

Ever try f/16? Or is f/11 about as small as you'd go?

[Shadowblade]

On APS-C I usually find f11 is enough to get everything I want in focus and not have much, if any loss due to diffraction.

Apart from using a tilt-shift (which, unfortunately, is unavailable in a handy zoom version...), focus bracketing and blending in Photoshop later is another way to increase DOF - mount the camera on a tripod and take shots with overlapping DOFs, the most distant being at the hyperfocal distance (or even beyond, for sharper infinity focus). Unfortunately, this requires quite a bit of post-processing with masks and layers; also, when shooting panoramas or HDR, the number of images quickly adds up. A 4x2-frame panorama, with 3-exposure HDR and at 3 focal distances would require 72 shots!

[mikekelley]

Ever try f/16? Or is f/11 about as small as you'd go?
Unless i'm doing some funky composition with a longer telephoto, all of my wide angle stuff is between f8 and f11, and i'm not worried about getting it all in focus at those apertures, because i know it will be - i'm more concerned about exposure time. This is f/9, 20mm on aps-c:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3601/3358120175_599e96ab2c_b.jpg

[tigerotor77w]

Unless i'm doing some funky composition with a longer telephoto, all of my wide angle stuff is between f8 and f11, and i'm not worried about getting it all in focus at those apertures, because i know it will be - i'm more concerned about exposure time. This is f/9, 20mm on aps-c:

Interesting. Do you still use HFD to determine optimum aperture, then, or do you figure on stopping down to f11 (as in, effectively by instinct) when you want the most DOF?