Everybody is aware of what it means to have a 70-200mm lens, or a 18-105mm. These days, the emphasis always seems to turn to the zoom range when it comes to buying a lens.

But how about that other set of numbers… the ones after the “F”?

Those numbers refer to aperture. They measure the diameter of the opening inside the lens that allows light into the camera. The “f stop”, as it’s called, can enable you to use faster shutter speeds, help you take great pictures in low light conditions without using a flash, and  achieve beautiful depth of field.

Depth of field (DOF) refers to how much of the image from the foreground to background will be in focus. Wide apertures (represented by small f.stops) will give you shallower DOF. I’m sure you’ve seen portraits where the subject is sharply in focus and the background is out of focus.

Wide apertures combined with flattering light will likely lead to amazing photographs.

On another note, to properly freeze the movement when shooting sports or birds, for example, you’ll need fast shutter speeds. How fast your shutter speeds will need to be, will depend on the subject. In good daylight, fast shutter speeds can be achieved even without a wide aperture. But, in lower light, a wide, or “fast”, aperture will be essential.

Taking pictures in low light can be challenging, especially without a flash (in churches and museums, for instance, the use of flashes is often not possible). Consequently, slow shutter speeds are needed for sufficient light to enter the lens.

However, even when using high ISO settings, shutter speed limitations can result in blurred images. In low light, lenses with wide apertures guarantee faster shutter speeds for sharper images.

Wide apertures give you the option of shooting in the available light, even when use of a flash is possible. You can, with faster apertures, photograph in candlelight, which can be very flattering and create fantastic effects.

So when you consider your next lens, think about making it a fast one ─ it will take your photography to the next level.

Popularity: 6%

Related posts:

1. Getting Creative If you use a DSLR only for taking family snapshots and holiday pics you’re missing out on its enormous power. Early on, if I wanted to be creative with my film camera I had to juggle lens choice, lens aperture, shutter speed and even use filters to achieve that...
2. Shooting in Program AE A while ago, I discovered that even with a digital SLR, the auto exposure setting can mess up some subjects. Properly understood, the Program AE setting, however, will help capture a correctly exposed and sharp photo. Most camera Program AE settings favour a fast shutter speed to reduce camera...
3. The Wide View Have you ever bought a lens, tried it, then had next to no further use for it? This seems to happen quite a lot with wide angle lenses. No doubt, wide angle lenses are acquired with enthusiastic levels of expectation. But, as often happens, inverse levels of disappointment force them...
4. Surf Photography SURF PHOTOGRAPHY IS TECHNICALLY, RELATIVELY EASY. It is, however, an unavoidably expensive hobby. Yes, you do need a 70-200mm… even though, on many occasions, it won’t get you close enough. Good gear is essential to properly photograph surfing. Massive, high quality, minimal outlay, zoom lenses are an illusion. And teleconverters...
5. One Point Or More To Focus USING THE CENTRE FOCUS POINT, especially for close up, thin depth-of-field shots, often leads to focusing errors as well as metering errors. There are times, of course, when using the centre Focus Point is fine – for example, landscapes and other shots with very wide depth-of-field. But for group shots...