DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This is why you need to stop shooting at apertures smaller than f/11

Nov 16, 2021 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Lenses these days have all kinds of aperture ranges, with some opening as wide as f/0.95 and others stopping down as much as f/32. But shooting at either extreme can cause potential issues. At the wider apertures, those issues are obvious. The shallower depth of field can mean you don’t get enough focus to get everything you need looking sharp. And most lenses are a little soft wide open anyway. Then as we stop them down, things get sharper. But is there a limit?

Well, yes. With many lenses, as you start to go past f/11, you’ll see things will become soft again. This is due to something called diffraction. We’ve covered diffraction here on DIYP before, a couple of times, actually, but it’s always good to have a reminder, and this video from Matt Granger does exactly that, explaining what diffraction is, what causes it and how you can prevent it (by basically not stopping down smaller than f/11).

You might have noticed that you get to a certain point with your lenses that when you keep stopping down, your images get softer again. When digital cameras were still in the 16-megapixel or lower resolution stage, diffraction wasn’t that big of an issue a lot of the time. It was still there and noticeable if you really pixel peeped, but you could still often get acceptable sharpness (although “acceptable” is subjective) at beyond f/11. But as camera resolutions have increased to 36MP, 45MP and even higher resolutions, diffraction has become a lot more noticeable and a bigger problem for photographers.

Diffraction potentially explains why Canon’s recently released Canon RF 600mm f/11 IS STM and Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM lenses have a fixed f/11 aperture. Having a maximum aperture of f/11 means they can make the lenses small (and inexpensive). But with the potential diffraction issues, there’s really no reason for a lens that already has such a small aperture to really let you go any smaller. And having a fixed aperture also means less engineering and also helps to keep the costs down for the consumer. I mean, what other 800mm prime lens can be bought from a reputable brand for less than $1,000?

It can be tough sometimes finding that balance between giving you enough depth of field and an acceptable level of sharpness. This is why many macro and landscape photographers often resort to focus stacking – even if stopping down to f/22 or f/32 would give them the depth of field they need in a single shot. Ultimately, it’s all about keeping that detail sharp throughout and not just whether or not it’s in focus.

Do you constantly battle diffraction in your photography?

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Fuji Made A Website That Lets You Test Drive Their Lenses At All Their Different Apertures Nikon’s Z mount can take autofocus lenses with super wide f/0.65 apertures New Flat Lenses Technology Could Offer Smaller Lenses with Zero Chromatic Aberration Lightcore is a 5800 lumen LED light for video that’s smaller than a speedlight

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: Diffraction, Lenses, Matt Granger, Principles

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Listen as the new wireless DJI Microphone goes head to head vs the Rode Wireless GO II
Vitec buys yet another company – Savage Backdrops »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • The Fotodiox RhinoCam Vertex shoots medium format images on L mount cameras
  • San Francisco filmmaker tracks stolen camera gear, police do nothing
  • Nanlite announces powerful AC-powered FC500B and FC300B LED lights
  • The Laowa Aurogon is a full-frame 10-50x super micro APO lens kit
  • Watch: Amateur astronomer captures a rare giant fireball on Jupiter

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy