Apertures and f-stops ©2009 Len Cook
Apertures and f-stops Sun Protection Factor (SPF) You’ve heard of SPF, haven’t you?
Apertures and f-stops Sun Protection Factor (SPF) You’ve heard of SPF, haven’t you?
Apertures and f-stops Sun Protection Factor (SPF) You’ve heard of SPF, haven’t you?
Apertures and f-stops Sun Protection Factor (SPF) You’ve heard of SPF, haven’t you?
Basic types of cameras Single Lens Reflex (SLR)
Basic types of cameras Single Lens Reflex (SLR)
Basic types of cameras Single Lens Reflex (SLR)
Basic types of cameras Single Lens Reflex (SLR)
Basic types of cameras Single Lens Reflex (SLR)
Whole stops, “third-stops” Familiar apertures from 35mm equipment:
Whole stops, “third-stops” Familiar apertures from 35mm equipment: SPF-STOPS! YEAH!
Whole stops, “third-stops” Familiar apertures from 35mm equipment: WHOLE STOPS
Whole stops, “third-stops” Familiar apertures from 35mm equipment: THIRD STOPS
Whole stops, “third-stops” From 4 to 5.6 is one stop. From 4.5 to 6.3 is one stop!
Whole stops, “third-stops” Your cameras have dials or buttons to change apertures. Three “clicks” of a dial is one stop. Three button presses make one stop. That is, if you have your camera set up to show “third-stops.” Many cameras can also be set to show “half- stops.”
Apertures
F-stop selection
“Wide open” = “full aperture”
Manual lever moves the diaphragm
Pentagon-shaped aperture
Minimum aperture
Circular aperture
Many smoothly curved blades
Ring around the lens
Setting 35mm camera f-stops
f/8 and be there!
Basic types of cameras -- shutters
A camera shutter is a set of parts that can move quickly out of the way to allow light to hit the film or the digital sensor. When the parts are out of the way the shutter is in the “open” position. All modern camera shutters are controlled by timers to close after a pre-determined interval. Visual examples follow the text.
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Shutter parts are usually curtains or blades. 35mm camera shutters were made of flexible fabric curtains for the first 50 years they were manufactured. Now all camera shutters are made of movable blades or disks.
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Leaf shutter – Mechanical device, but may be controlled electronically – Quiet – Flash synchronization at all speeds Open Close
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Between-the-lens leaf shutter and diaphragm Shutter blades – NO HOLE! Diaphragm blades – HOLE!
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Focal plane shutter – Mechanical device, but may by controlled electronically – Allows short exposure times, e.g. 1/4,000 sec. – Built into camera body, so one shutter works with all lenses that fit the body – Made of curtains that travel horizontally or vertically, not both.
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Focal plane shutter Shutter is closed, ready
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Focal plane shutter The first curtain rises to allow light to reach the film.
Basic types of cameras -- shutters Focal plane shutter Second curtain closes
Depth of field Step into the garden to look at blossoms two different ways.
Depth of field
Lenses NEVER focus anything perfectly. They just focus well enough to make our optic nerves (eyeballs) happy. Lenses turn points of light into little circles on the film. Those are called the “circle of confusion.” How appropriate, eh? Lenses for 35mm film and digital sensors make circles 0.03mm in diameter. That’s about one TENTH the diameter of a human hair.
LensFilm Subject in sharp focus X Focused on film Not focused on film In the picture, but not sharp Large aperture
Depth of field LensFilm Subject in sharp focus X Here is the size of The “Circle of confusion” Not focused on film In the picture, but not sharp
Depth of field LensFilm Subject in sharp focus X OH LOOK! The light rays FIT inside the “circle of confusion” Not focused on film In the picture, AND NOW IT’S SHARP! SMALL aperture