What Is Lens Aperture?
What Is Lens Aperture?
in photography, there are three important factors in determining the exposure value. These components are aperture lens , shutter speed, and ISO.
Lens Aperture
Exposure component which we discuss now is the lens aperture or camera aperture. The aperture is the hole in the lens that can be enlarged and smaller (usually called the diaphragm). the larger its opening, the more light can enter. Otherwise the smaller its opening, fewer light can Enter. The size of the diaphragm aperture is expressed in f-number or f stop. The small f-number means large opening, large f-number means small openings. The standard F-number or f-stop for modern lenses are like this (from largest to smallest):
f/1.4 - f/2 - f/2.8 - f/4 - f/5.6 - f/8 - f/11 - f/16 - f/22
The series above is a multiple of one-stop or one Exposure Value (EV). If we increase the lens aperture for one stop (eg, from f/11 to f/8 ) it means that we increase the amount of light that enters the camera twice, while if we shrink the lens aperture by one stop (eg, from f/2.8 to f/4 ) means that we reduce the amount of light entering into the camera as much as half.
For a more precise setting, the aperture of some modern lens can be set in smaller step, generally are multiples of 1/2 and 1/3 stop. For example, between f/2.8 to f/8 there are a few f-number by multiples of 1/3 stop (marked in bold), there are:
f/2.8 – f/3.2 – f/3.5 – f / 4 – f/4.5 – f / 5 – f/5.6 – f/6.3 – f/7.1 – f / 8
From the sequence above, it appears that between f/2.8 and f / 4 is still available the other two f-number representing 1/3 EV (f/3.2 and f/3.5). So we have the ease in controlling the lens aperture with a smoother and more precise.
lens aperture
lens aperture also control the depth of field
Besides controlling the exposure value, wide variety of lens aperture also determines the depth images or depth-of-field. Photos taken using a large lens aperture will provide blur on background (out of focus / bokeh), while a small aperture will give a sharp background.
Just be creative with lens aperture.