If you take your photography skills seriously, you should know the basics of camera components and how they work.
Aperture is one of the most important factors that influence the quality of the photos you capture. The right aperture setting lets you have the exact amount of light you want for the image.
Do you know the aperture is controlled by what in the camera?
Well, the aperture is controlled by the diaphragm of the camera. When you set a particular aperture, the diaphragm opens and closes for that corresponding numbers.
Well, this article will discuss aperture and what is aperture controlled by in detail.
So, let’s begin!
What is Aperture in Camera?
Aperture is the hole or opening of the camera lens’s diaphragm through which light passes by. It is that part of the lens that controls how much light gets passed through the camera lens to fall on the sensor.
The best way to define aperture of lens is if you consider the whole mechanism of your eyes. In lower light conditions, your eye’s pupil gets wider to let more light passes through it.
Again, when under sunlight, the pupil shrinks to compensate for the amount of light. In cameras, the aperture does the same thing. Aperture is expressed as numbers such as 1.4, 2, 2.8, 5.6, 8, or 16 and it is calibrated in f/stops.
While the higher f/stops such as 8 or 16 provide less exposure, they signify the smaller apertures. On the other hand, lower f/stops such as 1.8, 1.4 symbolize larger apertures as they give more exposure.
This may seem a bit confusing at first but once you start capturing photos varying different apertures, you should get how the end results are influenced for aperture.
What Is Aperture Controlled by In the Camera?
There is a small device in your camera which is known as the diaphragm that serves as the aperture stop. This diaphragm controls the aperture.
The diaphragm works just like the iris of our eyes. It controls how much the diameter will be when the lens is opened to let light passes through it.
In most cameras, aperture numbers are set typically in between f/1.4 to f/8. When a photographer sets the aperture to a low value, the diaphragm lets the lens open widely to get more light to the sensor. It eventually increases the depth of field.
Also, read how aperture affects depth of field.
So, the relation of the diaphragm with aperture is quite straightforward. The wider the diaphragm gets; the more light gets into the lens which is because of the high aperture value. The situation is completely different in the case of lower aperture values.
What Controls the Aperture?
Well, the aperture is controlled by the diaphragm of the camera. It is controlled by the focal length in the case of photography. Focal length, in terms, controls the depth of field.
The focal length is the distance of the center of the lens to the imaging point from where the light will be collected for the image. It is expressed as 50mm or 35mm.
While different focal lengths have different magnification levels, the viewing angle for different images will be different. Camera lenses with higher focal lengths have larger magnifications, such as a telephoto lens. On the other hand, lower focal length lenses have wide-angle views.
The aperture value is a combination of focal length and lens diameter. If the focal length of a lens is 50mm and its diameter is 17.8mm, the highest f/stop will be 2.8.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it better to have higher or lower aperture?
Aperture refers to the diameter of the diaphragm’s opening through which light can pass into the sensor. Aperture is measured in f/stops and has lower to higher values.
Both higher and lower values are important equally. This is because a photographer takes photos in different lighting conditions of different subjects. It also largely depends on how much depth of field the photographers want from the image as higher apertures give less depth of field and lower apertures give greater depth of field.
Which F-stop is the sharpest?
The sharpest aperture is also known as the sweet spot which is usually two to three f/stops away from the widest aperture of your lens.
So, the sharpest aperture would be different for each lens. For example, the sharpest aperture for 16-35mm f/4 would be in between f/8 to f/11. Again, for a 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, the sharpest aperture is in between f/5.6 to f/8.
What is the difference between aperture and shutter speed?
Even though aperture and shutter speed’s functions are close to each other, they are not the same. In simple terms, the aperture is the size of the diaphragm of the lens that allows the light to pass through the lens to the sensor. And, shutter speed is the time that indicates how long the camera stays opened to allow light to reach the sensor.
Conclusion
So, now you know aperture is controlled by what in the camera, right?
Aperture is so important to understand if you want to break your limit in photography. I hope this article will be meaningful for you and you get to know what you wanted to before reading this.
You can comment below if you want me to cover anything else interesting about photography, camera, and accessories.
Thank you.
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