What is Aperture

The basis of any photo is the amount of light that hit the camera, and to get high-quality photos, you need to correctly set the aperture in the camera lens.

Aperture is an opening in the lens that controls the amount of light that enters the photosensitive sensor of the matrix or film.

If we touch on technical aspects, then the aperture of a camera is a round window of several petals arranged in a certain way (diaphragm). If the window is open, more light will enter the camera. Accordingly, if the window is compressed, then there will be less light.

The work of the diaphragm is similar to the human eye: when we try to see objects in the dark, our pupils dilate, and in the light they narrow.

Aperture is usually denoted by the letter f. Typically, cameras use the following standard row: f / 1.4, f / 2, f / 2.8, f / 4, f / 5.6, f / 8, f / 11, f / 16, f / 22. It should be noted that new cameras have additional intermediate values that allow you to more accurately determine the final exposure.

The larger the f-number, the smaller the aperture. For example, f/2 is a wide aperture and f/16 is a small aperture. This is where the inverse proportion comes into play. In practice, apertures f/1.4 – f/2.8 are useful when there is not enough light, while f/4 – f/5.6 apertures are usually suitable for portraiture.

Since each camera has its own unique characteristics, you need to try different apertures and shutter speeds. There are no clear rules here, there are only general recommendations that relate to the choice of aperture value. This parameter will depend on whether the photographer wants to apply an artistic technique or only needs to capture objects as accurately as possible.

Shutter speed and aperture are important camera settings. These settings are interchangeable as far as the amount of light in the frame is concerned. By decreasing one parameter, you can compensate for the lack of light by increasing another parameter.

The depth of field is directly related to the aperture. If the diaphragm is wide open, then the depth of field is shallow. This can be used in portraits where the face needs to be sharp and the background a little blurry. This also applies to those cases when, when shooting, you need to sharpen only one object or background.

It is advisable to remember the combinations of settings and the conditions under which the picture is taken, because if the options are chosen incorrectly, the frame will be spoiled. Conveniently, many digital cameras allow you to save settings in the device’s memory.

The aperture value can be changed using manual focus adjustment, but there is also an aperture priority mode which is an automatic setting. This setting is available on most modern cameras.

In order to set the aperture, you need to hold down the Av button on the device and holding it in this position, twist the exposure wheel, thereby changing this value.

A novice photographer will be able to figure out the aperture settings by doing this practice – you should take a series of shots of the same object with the same lighting, changing only the aperture, while not changing the shutter speed and ISO. As a result, brighter photographs will be taken at smaller apertures.

Unlike older cameras such as Zenit or Zorki, modern cameras (it doesn’t matter if it’s Nikon, Leica or Hasselblad) automatically adjust aperture, but we believe that a real photographer should nevertheless know what aperture is, how it is adjusted and how it affects how the photo will turn out.