"Who cares" aperture vs Auto

[jpeka65844]

In looking at some of my "panoramic" shots that I've taken in Auto mode, I notice some out-of-focus-ness around the edges. For instance, I have a pic of the Partners statue in DLR and the surrounding floral, fauna, people, castle are slightly out of focus.

In reading Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" he talks about a "who cares?" aperture: on a DSLR he recommends f/22.

Would I get a better result in those types of pictures using Av with f/22 rather than Auto?

Or is this an auto-focusing issue? Or, (most likely), user error? This DSLR stuff is still new to me......

 

[ukcatfan]

Check the EXIF to see what was used, or post an example for us to see. I believe it was a depth of field problem if there were things in focus in the foreground.

 

[boBQuincy]

f/22 is good for depth of field but could have noticeable loss of sharpness from diffraction (we covered this in a thread about Circle of Confusion recently). Because of diffraction f/22 is not a good aperture to leave the lens at all the time.

One of the most exciting things about digital is the ability to easily merge several exposures. One of the results is HDR, a greatly increased dynamic range. Another is extended depth of field, where several exposures are taken with different points of focus and merged to get focus from close-up to infinity, without using a very small aperture.

For a photo of the "Partners" statue it might be good to keep the castle out of focus anyway, to concentrate the viewer's eye on the main subject.

 

[Experiment_626]

What sort of lens did you use for these photos? In my experience, nearly all wide-angle lenses have some loss of sharpness around the edges. Better lenses minimize this, but they all have some of it. Not much you can do except stop down, which will usually reduce but not eliminate it. And stopping down too much will cause some diffraction softness, as previously mentioned.

I personally like to shoot between f-8 and f-13 when I shoot landscapes with my 10-20. It gives me good depth of field and mostly avoids diffraction. Sometimes I still get a touch of softness in the foreground or background. Lots of people think they need limitless depth of field in landscapes and other wide-angle images, but I often find that a little softness in the distance or close-up adds to the feeling of depth in a photo. We're only talking about a touch of softness, though.

But it's digital -- no reason you can't try both and see what you prefer. Go ahead and try the same shots at f-9 and f-22 and see how the results strike you! Lots of people don't really notice diffraction sharpness in many cases, especially if they don't have the same image shot at a larger aperture to compare the difference. These are your photos -- shoot to please yourself is the first rule!

SSB

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I am at work right now so I can't check but if memory serves me correctly Bryan Peterson's "Who cares" aperture was f/11 not f/22. Will confirm this when I get home.

 

[annnewjerz]

I am at work right now so I can't check but if memory serves me correctly Bryan Peterson's "Who cares" aperture was f/11 not f/22. Will confirm this when I get home.

Just Google'd it (let someone else borrow my book) and yes, Bryan Peterson's "who cares" aperture is between f/8 and f/11.

 

[scoot241]

Yes, the "who cares" aperture is f/8-11. The story-telling scene aperture is f/16 to a higher aperture I can't recall off-hand (maybe f/22).

Each lens is different, but give f/16 a try.

 

[seashoreCM]

Diffraction is more related to absolute aperture size as opposed to f/stop. On a DSLR the sensor (frame) size is somewhat larger and f/22 is a relatively large hole. Whereas on a subcompact point-and-shoot f/22 is a very small hole. For the P&S f/11 is probably the smallest aperture you really want to use.

In general, stopping down (using a smaller aperture) will reduce blurriness at the edges due to lens shortcomings also.

 

[tmshpkns]

In auto mode, the camera is probably trying to balance the shutter speed with the aperture. If you're stopping down all the way to f/22, be sure to watch your shutter speed or you might end up with useless images due to camera shake.