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fingerz · 24-08-2005, 21:42

Hi stupot.

I'm another relative newbie. The f number is the maximum aperture. The smaller the number, the wider the aperture, so f/1.8 is very wide and will let in lots of light. And f/22 is very small and will only let in a small amount of light.

The trade-off is that wide apertures allow fast shutter speeds but only have shallow depth of field (the area of the pic that is in focus). Whereas small apertures need slower shutter speeds (so tripods are handy) but have a much larger depth of field.

As for lenses, the Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a good lens for low light and other general stuff and it's cheap (around £60). The Sigma 70-300 is a great long zoom and won't break the bank either (£114 delivered from www.onestop-digital.co.uk I think).

24-08-2005, 21:42	#2 (permalink)
fingerz Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 790	Hi stupot. I'm another relative newbie. The f number is the maximum aperture. The smaller the number, the wider the aperture, so f/1.8 is very wide and will let in lots of light. And f/22 is very small and will only let in a small amount of light. The trade-off is that wide apertures allow fast shutter speeds but only have shallow depth of field (the area of the pic that is in focus). Whereas small apertures need slower shutter speeds (so tripods are handy) but have a much larger depth of field. As for lenses, the Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a good lens for low light and other general stuff and it's cheap (around £60). The Sigma 70-300 is a great long zoom and won't break the bank either (£114 delivered from www.onestop-digital.co.uk I think).