Take pro level photos: https://photographyexplained.com/go/mastery?video=uRXwEpZbFKA

F/8 is 100% fine in all instances where the landscape is mostly in the background. That's a large percentage of typical landscapes.

I like F8

What books on optics say is that lenses are sharpest at around two stops below wide open so the sharpest f/stop will vary depending on on the widest aperture of the lens.  Lenses also have a a hyperfocal distance the point at which everything between the nearest subject and infinity will be in focus.  This changes with apertures.  Back when I started using Nikon F manual lenses the there were colored bars corresponding to each f/stop.  You’d set the infinity symbol on the line on the left and read the min. distance that would be in focus from the line on the left.  The point of sharpest focus when setting hyperfocal focus is about 2/3 of the way between the nearest point and infinity.

The great thing about about landscapes and digital cameras is the he subjects don’t move and your aren’t paying for film and development so if you are sure what will work best just bracket the focus and exposure.  I worked in the photo labs at National Geographic and got to know some of the photo editors there and learned that it wasn’t unusual for a photographer to shoot 5 to 10 rolls per subject in Kodachrome because they would bracket exposure, focus and POV.  They would send the film back and the editor would lay out all the slides on a light table to evaluate.

The trouble is, I have seen so many people on here saying use Av, don’t use Av, Use M don’t use M, use TV don’t use TV, Auto IISO, set ISO. Etc etc. I must admit that “don’t use f8 is a new one on me. If I took the advice of all the photography advice on YouTube, my camera would be sitting in MPB waiting for someone else to buy it.

On some of the vintage glass, you had a hyperfocal scale on the lens barrel between the focus and aperture rings. One way would show you the depth of field for a particular aperture, or you could line distance marks up with the aperture marks to get the depth of field you want.

Photo Pills has a hyperfocal calculator that accounts for focal length and sensor size. Really handy for critical stuff. Then a range finder can be used to find that spot in your scene.😊

I never realized my photography was so subject to quantum mechanics. So what this video taught me is aperture selection is subject to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, never more so than if Schrodinger's damn cat  gets into frame.

I learned about hyperfocal distance many moons ago when I was shooting film. It is the same process with digital today!

Sharpness has become an obsession, driven by lens and camera producers. It's not how the eye sees, and certainly not how the great painters see.

It seems that YouTube is actively enjoying recommending me ragebait content line like this video.

Important to note: while the general idea expressed here is correct and well-explained, the effects of SPECIFIC apertures vary with 1) sensor size, and 2) focal length.

1) Sensor size and depth of field. A full-frame camera with a 50mm lens AT F16 will record the same overall composition/image area AND DEPTH OF FIELD as a micro 4/3 camera with a 25mm lens AT F8 (although the exposure will obviously be 2 stops greater); this is due to the 2x "crop factor" of the 4/3 sensor. For a camera with an APS-C sensor, the aperture equivalent would be F12, due to that camera's 1.5x crop factor. For micro 4/3 cameras, this is a real advantage with landscapes but a disadvantage for portraits. Bottom line: each photographer should experiment with different apertures and subject-to-lens distances for their particular camera system.

2) Aperture, focal length, and diffusion. The actual physical diameter of the aperture (lens opening) AT F16 is twice as large on a 100mm lens as on a 50mm lens. Therefore, the 50mm lens suffers from more diffraction than the 100mm. This is why large-format photographers, with their film ("sensor") sizes of 4"x5" or 5"x7", can get away with, e.g., F45 on their 250mm 'normal' lens without worrying about diffraction. It's also why F16 on a full-frame 12mm lens will cause serious diffraction blur (because the aperture opening is tiny), but F16 will not be a problem with a 100mm lens (because the aperture opening is much larger). Although that 100mm lens will have (sigh) far less depth of field than the 12mm lens at the same aperture. Again, each photographer should experiment with different apertures and subject-to-lens distances for their particular camera system.

Finally, stylistically I'm not a fan of photos that use more than half of the image area to show a bunch of ultra-sharp but ugly rocks in the foreground. I know this was done to demonstrate depth of field and focus-stacking, but, like many cliches, it is easily overdone.

Anyhow - this video did a good job of explaining the basic concepts; should give aspiring photographers food for thought.

I seem to recall back in the day before auto focus, a DOF scale was etched on the  aperture ring of lenses providing the shooter with a range of  "acceptable focus". Apparently, manufacturers no longer think it's needed with the advent of auto focus.

Cameras have gotten to the point where there is little thought required anymore to craft a photograph
...simply spray & pray, select the best images stored on a 64GB card,  delete the rest and  then use editing software to manipulate down to the individual pixel.

Don't get me wrong, as I enjoy digital photography, but it has certainly changed when all you had were 36 exposures before reloading your 35mm film camera. And if you were shooting  Kodachrome you had to wait 2 weeks for it to be processed and shipped back.

I have seen my fair share of videos related to aperture. This is one of the better ones for most photographers, as it breaks down the topic to a understandable format! Great for beginners and a great reminder for the veterans ☺️👌🏻 If I may add one factor related to aperture and sharpness, then it is that lenses have different «sweet spot» in relation to aperture and image sharpness. Simply said; not all lenses are created equal. Luckily, a quick goggle search of a lens will reveal that sweet spot, so no hard math equations are needed 😅

As a kid I watched my dad (Sam Haskins) work in his studio, on location and in the darkroom. I learned many things from him one of which is that photography is a highly plastic art, including depth of field and focus. It is more productive to look at great photo books than to try and nail down rigid rules about camera settings.

For your animation of how the light goes from your dog thru lens to sensor, you have the light cones inverted.


The light (image) starts out wide, then converges at the aperture, then starts to spread out again (now, upside-down) until hitting the sensor.

Digital wizardry at its best. Make you wonder how Ansell Adams managed without it.... Lol.. ;)

The Sweet spot for F-stop is usual around F/11 but it all depends on the lens, Much of what you say are correct but if you do not know the sweet spot on your lens, you may end up with less good photos

Thank you for all the work you put in behind the scenes to create the high-quality instructional material we get to benefit from for free. Every time I watch your videos, I’m amazed by the effort you go to in order to create content and share your knowledge. I don’t often comment on videos, but I wanted you to know that, even if we don’t always say it, at least one of us truly appreciates it. 😊

My tiny Viltrox PanCake has only f4.5, this thing is nicely sharp. And what other lens can produce sunstars at f4.5.