What is Aperture ?
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| Picture shows the aperture opening size corresponding to various f-stops and its impact on Depth of Field. |
Aperture is the size (diameter) of the diaphragm of the lens when the shutter release is pressed. Lenses has diaphragm blades that could open up in various steps usually referred to as f stops. Other elements like Shutter Speed and ISO remaining the same, the size of the aperture opening determines the amount of light that is let into the camera sensor. The larger the size of aperture opening, the greater the amount of light that enters the sensor and vice versa.
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| Picture shows the aperture ring of a camera lens and the corresponding size of diaphragm opening to various f-stops. |
Aperture is generally referred to as F-stop or F-number. The most common values fall in the range of f/1.4 – f/22. One thing to remember is that when we refer to a large aperture we are actually referring to the large amount of light that is entering the sensor and similarly when we say small aperture we refer to the lesser amount of light that enters the sensor. Usually beginners to photography have some confusion regarding this because logically f/22 seems larger than f/1.4 but it’s the other way round.
In the next article we will discuss about Photography - Tips For Beginners - Shutter Speed
In the next article we will discuss about Photography - Tips For Beginners - Shutter Speed