Photography lingo
Out of context: Reply #6
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- vaxorcist0
F1.8 or F2.8 or whatever the "widest" aperture is on the lens.... i.e. the smallest number, but since Aperture is expressed as a ratio, the "smallest" means the "largest"....
So.. F1.8 is a "large aperture" but a "small number" to confuse newbies....
Using a lens "wide open" usually means the least depth of field, the most critical focus, and often slightly darker corners, less sharpness in the corners and sometimes a slightly hazy look.
Stopping a lens down 1 or 2 stops means shooting an F1.8 lens at something like F4, where it's likely to be sharper and contrastier and have more sharpness in the corners, as well as slightly more depth of field...
Consumer zooms are usually F4 to F5.6 or so, so using them "wide open" is often done too often, they are often pretty sharp at F8 to F11, but there is often not enough light to do that and still get a reasonable shutter speed and ISO without noise....