what F stop to use for landscape pic?

[snoopy-horse]

Hello every-one,

I like to take landscape pic, but i am not sure what F stop to use, eg F8, 11, 16 or even 22. I unerstand that F stop will affect the shutter speed but, for landscape/static pic shutter speed is not so important, right?

may i know how you ppl decide what F stop to use for landscape or static pic:


Many thanks

 

[jpgutierrez18]

Try from F8, then gradually increase up to F16. If you can review which aperture yields the sharpest result for that specific lens you use at a certain focal length, then use that aperture . Try to avoid very high F number (very small aperture opening) as your photo will suffer from diffraction.

 

[ZeroDivine]

depending on what kind of effect you want to achieve.
Usually for wideangle anything from f/8 and smaller will be sharp for landscape shots already.

Using smaller one like f/16 is my preference to have even more DOF.
At f22 diffraction occurs and your pic might be a little bit soft, but sometimes it's necessary if you want to achieve the effect of long shutter speed.

 

[jpgutierrez18]

At f22 diffraction occurs and your pic might be a little bit soft, but sometimes it's necessary if you want to achieve the effect of long shutter speed.

An alternative is to use ND filters .

 

[Stoned]

For landscapes there isn't really a fixed f-stop to use per se but your main consideration would be DOF rather than actually picking the f-stop that gives you maximum sharpness and resolution.

The reason why large DOF is needed is that a foreground subject is often included in addition to the background and both are normally wanted in focus. Hence, the f-stop that you use will be the f-stop that gives you enough DOF to get that foreground subject in focus(if this is what is desired). Essentially, in the most crude terms, this translates to you having to use a smaller aperture when your foreground subject is closer to you. For instance, if your foreground is 1m away, you may opt to use f8 or f11, but f16 or f22 may be required if your foreground is 0.5 away, for example. This depends also on the lens you are using as wide angle lenses have greater DOF than standard or telephoto lenses at the same aperture setting. To maximise DOF further, you may google hyper focal focusing to find out more.

As others have mentioned, smaller apertures such as f22 or even f16 often do suffer from diffraction softening. So you will personally have to decide on a balance between sharpness and DOF, although I often personally give priority to the latter.

 

[snoopy-horse]

Hi all,

thanks for the fast response and advice. I will read up more on the DOF and what is ND filter.

I am using D50 and the kit len (18 - 55mm).


ONce again, thank you all. I am really apprecaite your response.