Explain aperture to me?
I'm getting a nikon d90, and i was just curious… What does changing the aperture mean, what does it do, and how should i do it, and when? I'm just confused.
* f/1.4 - Large opening, bright lens, shallow depth of field.
*f/16 - small opening, less light coming through lens, wide depth of field.
What is an "aperture"?
Aperture is referred to the lens diaphragm opening inside a photographic lens. The size of the diaphragm opening in a camera lens REGULATES amount of light passes through onto the film inside the camera the moment when the shutter curtain in camera opens during an exposure process. The size of an aperture in a lens can either be a fixed or the most popular form in an adjustable type (like an SLR camera). Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers or f-stops.i. E.those little numbers engraved on the lens barrel like f22 (f/22), 16 (f/16), f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.8 etc. Each of this value represents one time the amount of light either more or less in quantity. Meaning to say, f/16 will let in 1X the amount of light than a diaphragm opening of f/22 and so forth; while on the other hand, an aperture of f/4.0 will let in 1X lesser than that of f/2.8 etc.
The aperture is a way to control the amount of light that passes through a lens.
When the aperture is wide open, more light can pass through the lens during the exposure. When you reduce it to a smaller aperture, the amount of light that passes through the lens, less light gets through the lens.
It is one of the controls used to assure that the exposures you get are perfect, not over or under exposed. The is what is called the exposure triangle. Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO. Those three factors determine the exposure of any image and they vary based upon the existing light quantity and quality at the time.
What this question really shows is that you need to take at least a basic class in photography, so you do not get frustrated just trying to use your fine camera. Learning how to use the cameras light meter is just one of the many skills you will have to master before you will truly be able to become creative with your equipement