Though we have touched the essential elements regarding aperture in our ‘Aperture’ article, we do would like to remind you on the concept of aperture in your camera lens.
Your maximum aperture is lens-dependent. Once you have purchased your lens, there is no way that you can alter its maximum aperture. You would have to buy a completely different lens to get the desired maximum aperture on your lens with preferred focal length. “Buying a new lens? OK, but they all look so expensive…” Well, truth be told, nobody has said that photography was a cheap hobby.
Don’t let these extraterrestrial prices discourage you from what you love to do and create! Luckily, camera and lens manufacturers do understand that not everyone is able to afford these highly-priced optics. Sure, that 85mm lens with f/1.4 maximum aperture would be brilliant when it comes to portraits and short telephoto images. However, that two thousand US Dollars price tag is a little too intimidating for our bank balances. Or, perhaps, it is within our financial reach, it would just mean that we would be eating noodles for the next few months.
Instead of the f/1.4 option, maybe it is better to take the f/1.8 option. It is definitely a whole lot more affordable, and would you really need to have that two-third extra stop of maximum aperture? We can surely say, unless you are a professional photographer who ‘needs’ the extra stops of maximum aperture, and who makes a living with photography, it may be the right choice. But for the majority us, trust us when we say, the affordable option is the one that you won’t regret.
Though we may sometimes try to justify our purchases that go beyond our affordability, you don’t want to be that person who tries to look rich by going broke. We don’t do that here. Instead of that particular lens we mentioned earlier, look for alternatives. There are plenty of third-party lenses that have lesser, better, or similar performance, but for a more economical financial sacrifice. However, as we mentioned just now, don’t go above what you budgeted for. If you can’t afford it yet, simply don’t regret.
Let’s put the discussion of prices to rest here, and touch on another creative aspect of maximum aperture, which is depth of field. Though a large maximum aperture is exciting, you probably will not always be using this. When it comes to depth of field, which is the area in focus from front to back, using smaller apertures will help with getting more of the scene in focus. If this is what you are looking for, the maximum aperture of a lens may not be that important. However, if you would like your camera lens to be more light-strong, enabling you to achieve faster shutter speeds and subject isolation, then the maximum aperture matters a whole lot more.
Before we forget, when we are talking about a fast lens, we are talking about a lens with a large maximum aperture, generally f/4 and lower numbers. This is due to the amount of light passing through the lens, allowing for ‘fast’ shutter speeds. On the other hand, a slow lens is one that is not as light-strong for fast shutter speeds.
Generally, lenses with a large maximum aperture are those with a single focal length. This is due to the optical complexity and the lens’ physical limitations. These kind of lenses are called ‘prime lenses’, and there is definitely a separate article available for you on this as well.
1 thought on “Maximum aperture”
Comments are closed.