Novice lens question

[Evanstheframe]

Sorry if this is something everyone should know but if you don't ask you don't get answers. I am new to Fuji, just got xt2 with 16 f1.4 and 35 f2. Both these lenses go to f16. Ok, my question is this. From what I have been learning, to get more in focus let's say for landscape use a high fstop number say f22. With that being said is f16 going to give me that larger block of focus or do you just set the lens to Auto to achieve that extra focal distance?

Is it a case of set to f16 and focus a set distance into the picture to achieve as much depth of field as possible with these lenses or just manual focus instead of auto focus?

Again sorry if this a silly must know question but where better to ask if you don't know. Thank you in advance for any help and replies.

 

Lyn.

[MirrorMirror]

Manual or autofocus it's the same lens you're using so no difference.

 

f16 is plenty to get good focus depth. If you get yourself a depth of focus calculator you will see that f16 will give you focus from 2m to infinity at f16.

 

Fuji is just a camera manufacturer, so it's your inexperience with cameras that's the issue not being new to Fuji.

 

Ask away, there arenno stupid questions. If you don't know just ask.

[Larry Bolch]

Sorry if this is something everyone should know but if you don't ask you don't get answers. I am new to Fuji, just got xt2 with 16 f1.4 and 35 f2. Both these lenses go to f16. Ok, my question is this. From what I have been learning, to get more in focus let's say for landscape use a high fstop number say f22. With that being said is f16 going to give me that larger block of focus or do you just set the lens to Auto to achieve that extra focal distance?

Is it a case of set to f16 and focus a set distance into the picture to achieve as much depth of field as possible with these lenses or just manual focus instead of auto focus?

Again sorry if this a silly must know question but where better to ask if you don't know. Thank you in advance for any help and replies.

 

Lyn.

 

Most lenses for APS-C sensors are at their sharpest in the range of f/4.0 to f8.0. Diffraction begins to kick in around f/11, but not all that visible. Shooting at f/11 is a reasonable compromise between great depth of field and sharpness. By f/16 is a conscious decision—do you need to have a subject in the foreground as well as the whole background in focus at the cost of some loss of sharpness through diffraction. At f/22 diffraction can be profound, and only in rare cases would the trade-off be justified.

 

The 16mm being of short focal length has an enormous depth of field. Even wide open at maximum aperture, it is difficult to shoot a close subject and blur the background. With the f/2.0 35mm lens you have more control. At f/2.0 it is possible to soften the background considerably. At f/8.0 hyper-sharp landscapes are routine. Above f/8.0 it becomes a matter of trade-offs predominantly determined by the need to keep a foreground subject and the background both in focus. In any case, use the widest aperture that will fulfil the need.

[Nick05]

Both the answers above are great. Keep in mind that the smaller aperture, larger number, is going to let less light in slowing up your shutter speed so you will be at more risk of seeing camera shake blur. As mentioned, that question is not related only to Fujifilm. I would highly recommend a book called "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. I like this book because it explains all these settings and how they work together. It also has many photos illustrating the different effects you get by changing the different settings (ISO, Shutter speed, and aperture).

 

As an example, if you were to have your camera in a field of flowers, on a tripod, and were taking a photo of one red flower in the field of white flowers, and set your camera aperture to F/1.4 you would have the red flower in focus and a complete blur of all the white flowers. If you set it to F/22, you would likely have the entire field in focus and be able to clearly see all the white flowers. With that said, your ideal settings would be somewhere in between. By using F/2.8 you would get a little more of the white flowers in focus. Using F/4 would continue to give you more white flowers in focus. On the other side, is where things become a little confusing because of the diffraction Larry mentioned. Take his advice and don't go smaller (larger number) than F/16 and you should never see it. Diffraction is basically the bending of light caused by the smaller opening and it can cause less sharpness in the photo meaning that if you go from F/16 to F/22 to get more in focus, your photo may end up less sharp overall.

[steviewonder]

There are often diffraction problems when the lens is closed down too much. It is often best to shut down at least one step from the maximum. There is another important consideration in depth of field, and that is where you focus. In general, twice as much is in focus in the area beyond your focal point as in the area closer to you. What that means, is that you focus one third into your frame. That is not one third into the real distance in miles or kilometres, but one third into the photo you are framing in Live View (which BTW gives more accurate focusing). There are hyperfocal calculators galore available as apps, but if you frame your photo well (always the number one consideration), use a tripod and remote release, use a higher aperture (f/11, 13, 16 or 18) and focus one third into your frame, you're on the right track.

 

I tried to upload some samples but for some reason LR won't let me export a 1000 kb image. I have some Palouse landscape photos on my flickr account, generally taken at f/11. 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenlustig/

Edited December 10, 2016 by steviewonder