The TRUTH Behind the f/11 MYTH that the PROS Know!

many thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this week's video if you've recently gotten into landscape photography and when I say recently I mean within the last 10 years or so you've more than likely heard all about how f11 is the best camera setting to use for this genre photography and in this video I want to debunk this f11 myth along with why this advice should be avoided at all costs and what I found to be a much better solution so if you're not familiar with what this myth is it's a thinking that regardless of the camera or regardless of the lens you're using and regardless of the scene your photographing f11 is the best aperture to use and the idea here is that this is generally the best aperture to achieve front to back sharpness throughout your entire scene but as you can imagine there are quite a few variables not taken into account here that could result in you not using your camera gear in the best possible way because at the end of the day we all spend a small fortune on our camera equipment so it would behoove all of us to try and get the best performance possible from our gear so to jump right into it first there are three main variables to consider that all debunk this myth and then I'll review what I found to be the best approach so the very first thing that is not considered here is the fact that focal length and sensor size of your camera it matters it matters a lot so a micro so I should say f11 on a micro 4/3 sensor is completely different than f11 on an apsc sensor camera f11 on apsc is is different than full frame F1 on full frame is different than medium format F on medium format is different than large format every single sensor size the aperture values differ from One camera size sensor size to another and that's a very important thing to consider I got a couple good examples of this right here so this is an image I captured from my trip to the dolomites a couple of weeks ago and this was captured with my my Fuji xt5 which is apsc or a crop sensor camera and this was captured at f6.3 so you can see that everything in the foreground is sharp everything in the background is sharp here's another example an old photograph from uh when I shot Sony which is a fullframe camera Sony a7r I that this was captured on and this was captured at f8 as you can see everything in the foreground is sharp everything in the background is sharp this right here is a medium format camera of image I should say from my trip to Bali earlier this year and this is captured using an aperture level of F10 and as you can see everything in the foreground is sharp and everything in the background is sharp and the reason I show these photographs is because these images none of them were captured at f11 they were all captured at different values but they were all captured with different size sensor cameras so the size of the sensor that you are using is going to completely change different aperture values so they are not equal across the entire spectrum of cameras out there so sensor size definitely matters and focal length matters a ton so the wider your focal length is the greater your depth of field naturally is so this image I showed this in a video a couple weeks ago also from my trip to the dolomites this was shot with a A Wider focal length and I believe this is actually shot at f7.1 it was blue hour there wasn't a lot of ambient light out there so I needed to open up my aperture to allow more light into the sensor and since my focal length was so wide I was able to get everything in sharp Focus From the uh the foreground the reflection to the boats in the midr to the mountains in the background without having to go to levels of f11 or even maybe even Beyond on there so the wider the focal length that definitely matters so wider the focal length the greater your depth of field would be and as you move in so this is captured with a mid-range lens so this is more like a fullframe equivalent of 55 mm is what this was captured at but as your focal length n or I should say as your focal length increases and as your field of view gets a little bit tighter your depth of field shrinks a little it gets a little bit more shallow so this right here was a little bit more shallow the depth of field this right here which is captured with a a longer focal length kind of like a a 70 to 200 lens that depth of field becomes a little bit more shallow or a little bit more narrow so the longer your focal length the more cognizant you need to be of depth of field especially if you're using a longer focal length and you're focusing on something that's fairly close to your camera that depth of field is going to be very very shallow so in summary The Wider your focal length is the greater your depth of field would be and as your focal length increases in that field of view gets a little bit tighter your depth of field becomes a little bit more shallow and that's a very very important thing to uh to account for and like I mentioned this is captured with a a longer focal length and I definitely had to account for that depth of field to ensure that everything was captur that everything was sharp from the foreground here these trees and the mountain in the background so very very important thing to consider now the other big part of this the second aspect of this and this is huge is has to do with just overall performance I have never used a a lens in my entire life where f11 is the best performing aperture value or I should say the sharpest aperture value generally speaking two to three stops above wide open is where the Sweet Spot of a camera lens starts to begin and that usually goes to around f8 so those kind of mid aperture values so if your lens wide open is f2.8 or maybe it's F4 two to three stops beyond that is usually where that sweet spot will begin and kind of run through around f8 every lens is a little bit different but that is generally the the range where a lens will perform the best so this is a good example here from a a trip to the Oregon coast I believe last year but understanding the lens that I was using enabled me to get just insane detail in this area right through here which is super super important we spend a lot of money on these lenses and one of the things that gets us most excited when we go to buy a new lens or when we're researching lenses is like how sharp is the lens we we all want our lenses to to be able to uh create or to depict as much detail as we possibly can so why not use these lenses in the in their manner that they perform the best in and that is usually never going to be f11 so being able to capture stunning detail in areas of foreground or anywhere throughout the scene is super super important and like I mentioned that will almost never be f11 it is almost always going to be in the those lower aperture values and if you're not sure what your sharpest value range is on your particular lens I've done this many many times before go in your backyard or anywhere in your house set your camera up on a tripod and put an object in front of your camera and take photos of this object at different aperture values take all those photos put them on your computer and then review them and figure out what kind of The Sweet Spot is where these the object looks the sharpest and I guarantee you it will more than likely be a couple stops above wide open to around maybe f8 or F9 but I would be highly surprised if you have a lens that performs the best at f11 or even Beyond so it's very very important to understand is that we spend so much money on camera gear why don't we use it in the best possible manner because at the end of the day we who doesn't want to be able to get just beautiful detail in areas of a photograph I know I certainly do now the third aspect of this that completely debunks this f11 myth this is a a huge aspect of it is that the f11 myth does not account for the particular scene that you're photographing and if you are have been into landscape photography for any amount of time at all you understand that every single scene you photograph is completely different so understanding exactly where the closest object in your scene is where is the most distant object in your scene these are things that are extremely important to account for so this instance here from West Virginia quite a long time ago this area right here in the bottom left hand corner was very close so I needed to make sure I used an aperture value that got this area in Focus that got this area in Focus they got everything in the background and focus all the way through the entire scene and that was not f11 for this particular scenario so if you know that let's say this lens right here this is my mid-range Zoom my favorite lens that I've used this year I know that this lens is generally going to be sharpest in let's say it's f8 or F9 or F10 let's say that that's when this lens performs the best if I don't need to use f11 to get this entire scene in Focus why do it why not use the Aperture value that is the sharpest for this particular scene so understanding where objects are in your photograph here's another example here this area right here was very very close to my uh my camera and I wanted to be able to get everything in sharp Focus all the way throughout the entire scene so being able to figure out exactly what is the aperture value to use because because a lot of times and this has to this goes back to the beginning what's the sensor size that you're using what is the focal length that you're using these are all things that are going to dictate exactly what aperture value you need in order to get everything in sharp Focus if that's what your ultimate goal is because if we remember that's really what the f11 myth is that's the aperture where you can get everything in sharp Focus From the foreground to the background but you don't always need to go that high so those three myths right there the fact that e myth or I should say those things uh those three I guess qualities that are not accounted for or variables that are not accounted for the fact that it doesn't account for the sensor size that you're using it doesn't account for the focal length that you're using it doesn't account for what your particular lens's sweet spot is from overall performance and it definitely doesn't account for the scene that you're photographing where objects are in the foreground or the mid-ground or the background in relation to your camera so all of those things are not really taken into account and in which which basically just debunks the entire f11 myth now what I think is a much better solution is once you let's go back to this lens here once you understand exactly where your lens performs best so let's say that this lens performs best from F 6.4 through F9 those are the sharpest um aperture levels of this particular lens I spent a lot of money on this lens this lens was so expensive I think it was like $2,300 I want to be able to get all $2,300 worth of value out of this lens and if I know that certain aperture levels are the sharpest why would I use an aperture level that I don't need to use just because it's the f11 myth because it's the easy route to go so if I'm using this lens and I use f8 and I have that dialed in and I take a photograph and my foreground is sharp and the mid-ground is sharp and everything in the background is sharp and I'm able to properly expose that photograph why on Earth would I ever just go to f 11 so I would highly recommend figuring out where your lens performs the best starting off with that so if f8 or F10 is the best value on a particular lens when you get on location start there instead of jumping straight to f11 and and take a photograph and see if everything is sharp throughout the entire scene review it on the back of your camera and then figure out your shutter speed and your ISO level to support that aperture level but just getting on location and just immediately dialing in f11 the very get-go is definitely not the the the best route to go in order to get the best performance out of your equipment and but sometimes like this is a great example here no matter what aperture level you use you cannot get everything in Focus I actually had to focus stack this image from Spain earlier this year to get everything from this fence post in sharp Focus everything in the midr ground in focus and everything in the background in Focus no matter what aperture level I used I could have used F32 which I never would would want to do cuz of the the fraction the image would be super soft but no matter what I could did I couldn't get this image Focus or I could couldn't get this image in sharp Focus from the forground to the background in a single photograph so I had to focus stack it but I think the the thought track of getting on location and jumping straight to f11 and then just figuring out your other camera settings is definitely not the right route to go I did that for years and I've mentioned it on this channel before so I think understanding your your lenses understanding the sensor size that you're using and the focal length that you're using will help you to determine exactly the best aperture value for a particular scene and once you start using this thought track I bet you'll be surprised that you will find that you use aperture levels lower than f11 and you start to use your camera lens in The Sweet Spot that it was really intended for more often so which ultimately means that a lot of scenes you were using f11 when you really didn't even need to and now you're using a much I should say a higher performing aperture level with your camera so those are the things that I think really debunk the f11 myth and that is the better approach that I think that one should go through so before I do wrap things up here I do just want to say a huge thanks to the longtime sponsor of the channel which is Squarespace who I use for all of my website and e-commerce needs Squarespace provides a robust and beautiful online platform to develop your website you can showcase your photography using squarespace's professional portfolio designs and display your work using customizable galleries in order to make it your own and with squarespace's online store feature you'll have access to all the tools you'll need to start selling your physical digital or service products online immediately you can even use squarespace's new asset Library so you can upload organize and access all your content from a single place in order to easily find and use them across the entire Squarespace platform so if you're looking to start a new website or possibly upgrade your current website check out squarespace.com Mark Denny for a free trial and 10% off your first purchase so if you have any questions about the the f11 myth or any of the things that uh that uh I mentioned that kind of debunk this myth uh please leave those in the comment section below and I'll definitely get back in touch with you as soon as possible and if you enjoyed this week's video if you could as always give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel if you're not subscribed already and as always I really do appreciate you carving out a little bit of time to spend it with me here today and I will see you all next Wednesday bye

Channel: Mark Denney

Views: 179,655

Keywords: landscape photography, landscape, photography, mark denney, landscape photography tips, landscape photography tutorial, beginner landscape photography, beginner photography tips, beginner photography, landscape photography for beginners, photography for beginners, best camera settings, best camera settings for beginners, best camera settings for landscape photography, best aperture for landscape, best aperture for landscape photography, best aperture, aperture, camera settings, tips

Id: cI8zBlCRVAw

Length: 14min 26sec (866 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 22 2023