Camera Aperture Settings.

Do you even know what the aperture is, what it can do for you and why use it?

First of all, your camera has an aperture setting simply because it's part of photography. Aperture works in partnership with shutter speed to help give you the right exposure for your pictures.

Camera aperture settings are found on what's often referred to as the mode dial.

On this particular dial Av indicates the aperture mode.

Your camera may have the letters Av which mean aperture value or just the letter A.

As you can see there are a number of options on the mode dial.

What can using your camera aperture settings do for you?

One cool thing is it can greatly reduce the number of times you have relied on using the flash.

What's important is to know that aperture is about the amount of light which reaches your camera's digital sensor or film.

When you're taking pictures using the automatic setting the camera is determining a number of factors, including how much light is being "allowed in."

Have you experienced some of your photos being too light or too dark to suit you?

Perhaps you have a darker subject with a brighter background and the auto setting isn't defining what you want defined.

Using your camera aperture settings is one way to get the desired results.

Once you begin adjusting your mode dial for aperture you have a couple of options.

But first, how do you make the adjustment?

If need be grab your manual for reference but you simply turn the mode dial.

Referring to the above mode dial example notice how the letter M is at the white indicator. To manually control the aperture the dial would be rotated so the Av is at the white indicator.

Using the Av setting is like being in a semi auto mode and is referred to as aperture priority.

In aperture priority you are choosing the aperture setting for specific reasons, however, the camera still adjusts the shutter speed to bring you the correct exposure, according to the camera interpretation.

In comparison, automatic mode has the camera making all of the exposure decisions.

Finally, in the manual mode you control the exposure through both the camera aperture settings and shutter speed settings.

What does this mean to the end result?

Let's take the bear example, above right.

In this situation the camera is having a tough time with the exposure because of the many light variables. There is a dark subject, mid tone trees and a flat whitish grey sky filtering through the trees.

This causes the bear to be underexposed, therefore not enough light on the subject.

Just because you can determine all of this doesn't mean the camera can.

This is where it may get a bit confusing IF you are not happy with the exposure.

Why?

As in the bear photo, right, taken using aperture priority, regardless of how you change the aperture, meaning to let in more light or less, the camera will continue to adjust the shutter speed.

This means the exposure will stay the same even if you make aperture adjustments.

How can you tell?

First, you'll not see any obvious change in your picture outcome.

If both of the bear photos were taken on aperture priority the exposures would be the same.

Why?

Because the camera keeps adjusting the exposure through changing the shutter speed every time you change the aperture setting.

Why?

This is how the camera reacts when set to aperture priority.

For example, let's pretend you adjust your camera aperture settings to f/5.6. Aim the camera at your subject and notice your shutter speed reading. Let's pretend it's 1/500 of a second.

Now, change your aperture setting to a different f-stop by turning the aperture dial, which is different from the mode dial.

Let's pretend you changed to f/16.

Once again, aim at your subject and take note of the shutter speed.

Because the higher the aperture number the less light there is reaching your sensor or film the camera will have reacted with a slower shutter speed.

Perhaps it changed to 1/90 of a second and the reason it changed to a slower speed is to increase the light to counter balance, once again, for the exposure.

Why did it change automatically even though you adjusted the camera aperture settings?

This diagram, below, is an example of how the lens opening changes when you adjust the aperture.

Do you see how the circles, or lens diaphragm, change according the f-stop?

The actual full f-stop sequence has a wider range than shown here although you will not likely have this range due to lens limitations.

The sequence is: f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/32, f/45, f/64.

Each time you change the f/stop, relative to this sequence, you either double the amount of light or cut the light in half.

Also, with regards to photography terms, when you adjust to a higher number it's referred to as stopping down.

What, then, is the advantage to adjusting the camera aperture settings if the camera continues to compensate and return the same exposure regardless of the f-stop?

There are a few advantages.

Because aperture is relative to the amount of light a lens can admit this affects what's known as depth of field in photography terms.

And this is where the fun can really begin.

Thank you for your patience as this page is under construction.

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