The best aperture for portrait photography

In fact, a simple and effective way to take portraits is to enlarge the aperture. On the one hand, people can be highlighted by blurring the background, and on the other hand, the exposure time can be reduced, thus preventing jitter. Let me give you a brief understanding of the lens aperture.

What is the best aperture of the lens?

First, understand the aperture series.

To understand the aperture, actually think of it as the pupil of the eye, and adjust the amount of light entering through different aperture values. In fact, the aperture size refers to the aperture size of the camera aperture, which is usually expressed by f/ 1.4, f/2, f/2.8 and other numerical values. The smaller the number, the larger the aperture. Usually, we will gradually adjust the aperture. Common full-scale aperture values are f/ 1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/1,f/ 16 and f/.

Camera: What is the best aperture of the lens?

The finer the number, the larger the aperture. Usually we will adjust the aperture value in one step.

Second, full aperture is not necessarily the best?

It should be noted that the imaging quality of each aperture is different. Don't think that full aperture shooting is equal to the best image quality. Because the imaging quality of different apertures is different, there will always be an aperture value with the best optical performance. We usually call it? Optimum aperture? Many times the best aperture is evaluated from the aspects of imaging, sharpness and color.

Although the maximum aperture of 50mm f/ 1.8 can be opened to f/ 1.8, the optimal aperture value is not f/ 1.8, but about f/5.6-f/8.

Although the maximum aperture of 50mm f/ 1.8 can be opened to f/ 1.8, the optimal aperture value is not f/ 1.8, but about f/5.6-f/8. However, there is no uniform standard for the best aperture, and everyone's evaluation of the best aperture value of the lens is different. Generally speaking, however, the best aperture value of a lens is that the maximum aperture is reduced by about 2-3 orders of magnitude. For example, for a lens of f/2.8, the best aperture may be in f/5.6-f/8. In recent years, the quality of fixed-focus lenses of various companies is getting better and better, and some even have excellent image quality with full aperture, of course, the price may be higher.

Do I have to use the best aperture to take all my photos? That may not be true. Sometimes when shooting portraits, you will pursue large aperture and shallow depth of field, so you may have to sacrifice some image quality in exchange for shallow depth of field, so you should choose the appropriate aperture value according to your shooting needs.

Third, the smaller the aperture, the better?

Although the optical performance will be better if the aperture is reduced by 2-3 levels, it does not mean that the image quality is best if the aperture is minimized. Generally, we only turn off the aperture to f/ 1 1. If the aperture value is further reduced, diffraction will occur. This is because the aperture diameter is limited, and the aperture exceeds the physical limit, but the optics will drop, resulting in the image becoming loose.

Comparing the same lens in f/8 and f/22, we can see that diffraction will occur if the aperture is too small, and the photo will be blurred.

To sum up, after you get the lens, you can try more apertures at all levels to see which aperture value is the best. Of course, you should also pay attention to the change of aperture, so as to take sharp photos.

Is the aperture bigger, the better?

Portrait mode is to achieve portrait shooting by automatically opening the aperture to the maximum, so why do we recommend you to use aperture priority?

The reason is simple: although a large aperture is beneficial to portrait shooting, the larger the aperture, the better. Meanwhile, we need to ask you a question. From the lens parameters, we can know the maximum aperture value and the optimal aperture value of this lens, but that is the data in the laboratory. Do you know what the aperture value of this lens is best for you?

So, for the aperture of the lens, please remember three points:

1, it is not correct to open the maximum aperture at any time.

2. It is unwise to blindly pursue the theoretical optimal aperture at any time.

3. Only the point closest to the best aperture value, while ensuring no jitter, is your best aperture value. This can only be discovered by personal experience.

Aperture is an important criterion to measure lens performance. We often use the maximum aperture of the lens to indicate the strength of the lens. The larger the maximum aperture, the stronger the lens. Therefore, many friends habitually open the aperture to the maximum when shooting, thinking that this can give full play to the performance of the lens. Actually, it's not like this.

Each lens has an optimal aperture value. Although the best aperture value of each lens is different, it is basically certain that the maximum aperture value is not necessarily the best effect. It should also be noted here that the best aperture value we often say refers only to optical quality.

From this point of view, the best aperture value in the parameters is the result of the laboratory. For you, the only way to know which aperture value is the best is to take more photos of the same object to feel it, and find the point that can ensure no jitter and produce the sharpest image quality.

If you feel that your groping is troublesome, there is another simple way, which is to reduce the maximum aperture by two steps. At this aperture value, good imaging results can often be obtained.

However, this method only applies to some shots, not all shots. For example, Canon's 50mm F 1.4 fixed-focus lens, its best aperture value is F8, which has dropped by 5 steps.

The last reminder is jitter. If the hand shake will have a great influence on the picture after adjusting to the optimal aperture value, then continue to adjust the aperture to a larger size.

Find the best aperture

What do you do with advanced lenses? Tauren? The direct feeling is that the aperture is much larger than the standard lens, but for ordinary lenses, when using large aperture, because of the quality difference of the lens, the light passing through the center of the lens? Quality? What about the light that passes through the edge of the lens? Quality? It's different. The larger the aperture, the more light will participate in imaging through the lens edge, which will directly lead to the degradation of imaging quality, such as resolution reduction, dark angle or dispersion. However, if the aperture is narrowed, only the light in the middle of the lens can pass through the aperture blades. What about those at the edge of the lens? Poor quality? The light is blocked. Therefore, after properly reducing the aperture, the resolution can be improved, the dark angle and dispersion of the imaging lens can be alleviated to some extent, and the imaging quality can be further improved.

The best aperture of an ordinary lens is often in the range of F5.6 ~ F 1 1, so some people say? No dog head under F8? .

In addition, it should be noted that many advanced lenses with large apertures can usually obtain excellent imaging quality by narrowing one or two apertures.