Because the numbers are "reversed", I always think of it as the F-number being the amount that is covered, rather than the amount left open. That way, at F22, quite a lot of the element is covered, while at F4, a smaller amount is covered. At F1.2, almost none of it is covered.
Hi Paul, this is a very popular subject Aperture, and an important one. Your explanations and examples are easy to understand, although i'm not new to photography, and i'm not a professional i always enjoy and appreciate the content on your channel. Great presentation Paul, thank you. 😊
I am so glad I found your channel. For me, you explained Aperture so clearly,as well as a previous tutorial you did covering White Balance. You are the first one that explained it the way I could understand how that worked.THank You and I will be back to watch a lot more.
As a very newbie to digital photography, and being autistic, I have found this series of clips to be valuable. They explain things in a very simplistic fashion and support it with demonstrations so that the visual learners amongst us can follow along. Thank you.
Another thing to learn about your aperture control is finding your lens' sweet spot (sharpest) were it gives the best depth of field at your lens' Infinity mark. This can very from lens to lens at what f-stop is its sharpest. Another problem is high f-stops can start producing (depending on lens quality) color fringing of unwanted color along edges of objects in a photo, Chromatic Aberration. (May be able to correct in Lightroom) That's why it's good to know your lens' sweet spot f stop and only go over to higher f-stops if you really need to control bright light. Bokeh (lens blur) occurs when your subject is within the focusing distance of your lens (the feet or meter range on the lens, not at Infinity) meaning the closer you get to your subject the more lens blur and less depth of field. Bokeh can be enhanced by a larger aperture (low f-number) or by the longer Focal Length, longer mm of your lens. Bokeh cannot be produced at Infinity of any lens regardless of aperture.
Paul, your videos are excellent. I have dug out my 700D from years ago and worked in Av and occasionally M, based on your tips. M is less daunting when the Exp comp tells you what you need to fix. I looked over my holiday photos from 2013, when I took hundreds of photos, and 95% of them are rubbish. Now I have a basic handle on ISO/SS/A I can see why I went wrong - shooting at low F stops for landscapes and family shots too. Pretty sure I was using the Canon dial presets back then, as I couldn't get a handle on technicalities of photography. It's now making sense.
I have used Aperture priority mode for about 14 years ,I have used it to photograph events, wildlife, landscapes seascapes, airshows and a host of other subjects. I have used this shooting with Pentax DSLR's Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm and Nikon cameras. For me controlling Aperture is a priority as depth of field is my #1 consideration. Second depending upon the subject and lighting I set ISO, I use exposure comp as needed and I also set white balance depending upon the lighting indoors and outdoors. If the shutter speed is not where I want it to be I adjust the ISO. Shooting this way gives me the control that I need to photograph in any conditions that I find myself shooting in.
Thank you so much! I'm very happy I discovered this channel. Your work really makes a difference in my (as well all the subscribers') photography journey!
I love Aperture Priorrity it alows me to take lovely photos after being told needed to go manual = diaster! You nail the essentials and exactly what people need to know! I need to explore exposure compensation more!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have a Nikon D3200 that is perpetually in the point and shoot setup as I struggle with attempting to work with it's features. This helps tremendously!
I'm newbie in photography and wanted to learn more about street photography using AP. Can I do manual iso instead of auto? I noticed that in low light, my photos are noisy due to the auto iso max setting.
It can be, but depends on the situation and what you are shooting. As an example for landscape photography where the light is consistent and the style of photography is not rushed then manually changing the ISO would be my choice. However if photographing a football match where part of the pitch is in shade, then auto ISO could help by adjusting the exposure allowing time to concentrate on keeping up with the action and framing the subject. Hope that helps.
Oh, if u have a mentor, great, if not u do a bit a guess work and the more serious one will take down notes for every shot, when u get ur pictures back in one week time, you compare ur pics and your notes and see what worked and what didn’t. ..and then adjust next time, and remember, the next time, conditions might be different, so it’s a little guess work again….sometime, film development process might be able to correct….at least that’s what I did😅
12:50 I don't get the benefit of exposure compensation. For example, in Aperture Priority, all it does is adjust the shutter speed. Why not just do that yourself? Same with any other priority. Just adjust the affected setting yourself. It seems like a useless feature to me. When I purchased an X-H1, I was glad to see that dial gone from the top deck. Just a waste of real estate, as far as I can tell. Am I missing something?
You raise an interesting point and one that I get asked about a lot when running my courses and workshops. The priority modes are of course designed so that you have priority control over one important component (aperture or shutter) with the camera then automatically adjusting the rest to give a "balanced exposure". So this means (as an example) if you take a photo in the Aperture priority mode, but you then decide you would prefer the image to be darker, you can of course increase the f number to make the aperture smaller, BUT the camera will then adjust the shutter (or ISO) to compensate, so once again you get a "balanced exposure" and not the darker image you want. Exposure compensation allows you to dial in a chosen amount (either over or under exposure) so that the camera will then take this into account when making adjustments. To summarise, in manual mode you don't need exposure compensation as you make all the adjustments accordingly to give you the exposure you want. But when using aperture or shutter priority, unless you use exposure compensation the exposure value will be based on what the camera thinks is the ideal exposure.
@@photogenius so what you are saying is you are letting the camera decide the settings, based on what you see in the viewfinder, rather than picking the settings yourself based on the exact same thing you see in the viewfinder? Still makes no sense to me. For example, in aperture priority, all the ev dial does is change the ss as I turn it until I get the exposure look I want in the evf. I can do the exact same thing simply with the ss dial. I don't see how the camera is making any decision. The ev dial has simply become a ss dial.
Sir , i am trying aperture mode for few days & even following all your instructions my photos are coming dark..i am using nikon z50 with 18-140mm lens. Please suggest what else setting i have to make in camera to get right photos.
As a beginner start with manual, try and error will get you way faster and further than any of 'cheat modes'. At least after you master all the settings you'll understand how to use those 'cheat modes' to your advantage. If it's important just use Auto. Otherwise a little tweak in 'cheat mode' can efff up all your images. Speaking from personal experience.
Canon defeated then no. 1 Nikon by producing a shutter priorty AE-1 SLR in 1976 and sold 5.7 million units. Nikon then only had MANUAL mode. New model "AE-1 program" then introduced apeerture priority mode. MANUAL mode started getting obsolete...
Telling someone who is new to shoot in manual mode is like teaching someone just learning how to drive to use a standard transmission, chances are that the car will be destroyed before he learns how to drive. The amount of dials and controls on a digital camera are mind boggling, then trying to teach some one about aperture, ISO, white balance, metering etc. Is the reason why most people take photos on their phones, while you can use a smartphone to take photos, you learn nothing about photography. I have not even talked about post processing or printing, two skills that every person that is serious about photography should learn.
@@jamesmlodynia8757 Some UA-cam photograpic professionals are IMHO "IDIOTS" or "LIARS". Putting on a T-shirt saying "I shoot manual" or "I shoot RAW" shows their stupidity. They are like those who buy a "automatically bread machine" and only "make dough with it" and then subscribe monthly to an "adobe oven" to bake the dough. Some bought a f1.2 prime lens and then NOW ONLY tell people "I was wrong shooting Luxury Prime lenns wide open for 20 years". If only they had tried using the A-DEP (automatic depth of field" mode available in CHEAP Rebel Cameras.
@@jamesmlodynia8757 funny you mentioned, in EU up until few years ago you were obligated to learn driving on manual transmission. After the exam you're free to use any transmission you want. As I said, speaking from personal experience, if you wanna learn fast.
Aperture numbers are not reversed. 0 means, 0 part of lense is covered. The highe the number, the more the lense will be covered. So the numbers are what they are, a number for how much the lense is covered.
Your choice of course, but please consider the following.. On average, each video on this channel takes 3 days to plan, record and edit and is then available for you to watch at no cost aside from a few moments of your time watching an ad. Could you afford to take 3 days off work every week to make content that you share for free without any compensation? I understand how frustrating ads can be, and hope the value I give in terms of content and tips etc far outweighs any frustrations. Best wishes Paul @ Photo Genius
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Probably the best channel on UA-cam for teaching camera skills.
I agree, as I have been on several, his is the best. I am a beginner and need the help
Because the numbers are "reversed", I always think of it as the F-number being the amount that is covered, rather than the amount left open. That way, at F22, quite a lot of the element is covered, while at F4, a smaller amount is covered. At F1.2, almost none of it is covered.
That's a fantastic way to remember it!!
That’s actually amazing. Thanks!
I just do it simpler. Go right for light.. that is smaller number.
I like that!
Hi Paul, this is a very popular subject Aperture, and an important one. Your explanations and examples are easy to understand, although i'm not new to photography, and i'm not a professional i always enjoy and appreciate the content on your channel. Great presentation Paul, thank you. 😊
I am so glad I found your channel. For me, you explained Aperture so clearly,as well as a previous tutorial you did covering White Balance. You are the first one that explained it the way I could understand how that worked.THank You and I will be back to watch a lot more.
As a very newbie to digital photography, and being autistic, I have found this series of clips to be valuable. They explain things in a very simplistic fashion and support it with demonstrations so that the visual learners amongst us can follow along. Thank you.
You are most welcome, thank you for the great feedback. Best wishes 😃
Your simple, systematic style makes your lessons very clear
Thank you so much, I very much appreciate your kind words.
Another thing to learn about your aperture control is finding your lens' sweet spot (sharpest) were it gives the best depth of field at your lens' Infinity mark. This can very from lens to lens at what f-stop is its sharpest. Another problem is high f-stops can start producing (depending on lens quality) color fringing of unwanted color along edges of objects in a photo, Chromatic Aberration. (May be able to correct in Lightroom) That's why it's good to know your lens' sweet spot f stop and only go over to higher f-stops if you really need to control bright light.
Bokeh (lens blur) occurs when your subject is within the focusing distance of your lens (the feet or meter range on the lens, not at Infinity) meaning the closer you get to your subject the more lens blur and less depth of field. Bokeh can be enhanced by a larger aperture (low f-number) or by the longer Focal Length, longer mm of your lens. Bokeh cannot be produced at Infinity of any lens regardless of aperture.
Paul, your videos are excellent. I have dug out my 700D from years ago and worked in Av and occasionally M, based on your tips. M is less daunting when the Exp comp tells you what you need to fix. I looked over my holiday photos from 2013, when I took hundreds of photos, and 95% of them are rubbish. Now I have a basic handle on ISO/SS/A I can see why I went wrong - shooting at low F stops for landscapes and family shots too. Pretty sure I was using the Canon dial presets back then, as I couldn't get a handle on technicalities of photography. It's now making sense.
I have used Aperture priority mode for about 14 years ,I have used it to photograph events, wildlife, landscapes seascapes, airshows and a host of other subjects. I have used this shooting with Pentax DSLR's Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm and Nikon cameras. For me controlling Aperture is a priority as depth of field is my #1 consideration. Second depending upon the subject and lighting I set ISO, I use exposure comp as needed and I also set white balance depending upon the lighting indoors and outdoors. If the shutter speed is not where I want it to be I adjust the ISO. Shooting this way gives me the control that I need to photograph in any conditions that I find myself shooting in.
Learned more about my camera watching this video than anywhere else, for a complete beginner your videos are priceless 👍
You’re the best instructor Paul. Thank you!
Wow, thanks, very much appreciated.
GREAT INFO,,,,you are a fantastic teacher!
Just discovered this great channel and i really needed a tutorial on Aperture priority mode for my Panasonic S5 IIX. Thank you sir!
Brilliant way of explaining things. So glad I found your channel. Thanks again. Amanda willans from England uk
Thank you so much! I'm very happy I discovered this channel. Your work really makes a difference in my (as well all the subscribers') photography journey!
Love your videos, you explain everything in simple terms and make it easier to understand, I have learned lots since watching your channel.👍.
Really helpfull for someone who wants to learn about camera and photography like me.keep on making nice and very educational videos Sir......Salute!
Stay safe and alert when in London.
Thank you 😀
thank you so much you are the best,,please also doo videos settings for good video coverage
Thanks Paul-Great video-Hope your enjoying London 👍
Absolutely, it's good to be back.
I love Aperture Priorrity it alows me to take lovely photos after being told needed to go manual = diaster! You nail the essentials and exactly what people need to know! I need to explore exposure compensation more!
Exposure compensation adds another level to how creative you can be using Av mode. Thanks for the great feedback and support.
This was super helpful, thank you! You've laid it out very clearly, great tutorial.
You're very welcome!
Thank you so much for this video! This has been my hardest to learn but you have made it a lot easier!
me to
Nicely explained, clear and easy to understand, I am learning photo and video for work but enjoying a new hobby too. Thx.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have a Nikon D3200 that is perpetually in the point and shoot setup as I struggle with attempting to work with it's features. This helps tremendously!
Thank you for the excellent tutorial 😀
You’re welcome 😊
Argh! You’re good. And I’m learning. So I’m going to have to watch this video a couple of times. And practice. Good thing I’m a subscriber!❤
GREAT hack on the zoom & F stop. That never even occurred to me 🤯😆💪🏼
great explanations 👍👍
Good tutorial Paul thank you
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching.
Hi there how are you doing,,
Sir can you please make video for light meter with details and which is cheaper and best for
Beginners. Thanks.
great video Paul. When are you and Susan having a photo shoot out again??
Certainly would like to put together a new challenge in the New Year, welcome any suggestions for a challenge theme.
Thanks for watching.
Is the term "f stops" still in use or did that end with digital? I really like your videos...very straight-forward and informative.
The term f-stop certainly still applies, no change with digital.
Best wishes.
Great video. Thank you
Thank you!!!😊
You are so welcome, appreciate the feedback.
I'm newbie in photography and wanted to learn more about street photography using AP. Can I do manual iso instead of auto? I noticed that in low light, my photos are noisy due to the auto iso max setting.
So having your iso on auto is a good thing?
It can be, but depends on the situation and what you are shooting. As an example for landscape photography where the light is consistent and the style of photography is not rushed then manually changing the ISO would be my choice. However if photographing a football match where part of the pitch is in shade, then auto ISO could help by adjusting the exposure allowing time to concentrate on keeping up with the action and framing the subject. Hope that helps.
when your camera is on av do you have to put your lens on av
How was this done in the days of film cameras without and LCD display? Did you have to do rigorous maths before taking a single shot?
Oh, if u have a mentor, great, if not u do a bit a guess work and the more serious one will take down notes for every shot, when u get ur pictures back in one week time, you compare ur pics and your notes and see what worked and what didn’t. ..and then adjust next time, and remember, the next time, conditions might be different, so it’s a little guess work again….sometime, film development process might be able to correct….at least that’s what I did😅
Another good video Paul
12:50 I don't get the benefit of exposure compensation. For example, in Aperture Priority, all it does is adjust the shutter speed. Why not just do that yourself? Same with any other priority. Just adjust the affected setting yourself. It seems like a useless feature to me. When I purchased an X-H1, I was glad to see that dial gone from the top deck. Just a waste of real estate, as far as I can tell. Am I missing something?
You raise an interesting point and one that I get asked about a lot when running my courses and workshops.
The priority modes are of course designed so that you have priority control over one important component (aperture or shutter) with the camera then automatically adjusting the rest to give a "balanced exposure". So this means (as an example) if you take a photo in the Aperture priority mode, but you then decide you would prefer the image to be darker, you can of course increase the f number to make the aperture smaller, BUT the camera will then adjust the shutter (or ISO) to compensate, so once again you get a "balanced exposure" and not the darker image you want. Exposure compensation allows you to dial in a chosen amount (either over or under exposure) so that the camera will then take this into account when making adjustments.
To summarise, in manual mode you don't need exposure compensation as you make all the adjustments accordingly to give you the exposure you want. But when using aperture or shutter priority, unless you use exposure compensation the exposure value will be based on what the camera thinks is the ideal exposure.
@@photogenius so what you are saying is you are letting the camera decide the settings, based on what you see in the viewfinder, rather than picking the settings yourself based on the exact same thing you see in the viewfinder? Still makes no sense to me. For example, in aperture priority, all the ev dial does is change the ss as I turn it until I get the exposure look I want in the evf. I can do the exact same thing simply with the ss dial. I don't see how the camera is making any decision. The ev dial has simply become a ss dial.
Having trouble in Av model with flash. Can u help
Great information
Sir , i am trying aperture mode for few days & even following all your instructions my photos are coming dark..i am using nikon z50 with 18-140mm lens.
Please suggest what else setting i have to make in camera to get right photos.
Check your ISO make sure it's not on 100 or 200. Try auto ISO or increase it to 400 600 800
Nice sir
Not all Fuji lenses have aperture rings.
As a beginner start with manual, try and error will get you way faster and further than any of 'cheat modes'. At least after you master all the settings you'll understand how to use those 'cheat modes' to your advantage.
If it's important just use Auto. Otherwise a little tweak in 'cheat mode' can efff up all your images. Speaking from personal experience.
Canon defeated then no. 1 Nikon by producing a shutter priorty AE-1 SLR in 1976 and sold 5.7 million units. Nikon then only had MANUAL mode. New model "AE-1 program" then introduced apeerture priority mode.
MANUAL mode started getting obsolete...
Telling someone who is new to shoot in manual mode is like teaching someone just learning how to drive to use a standard transmission, chances are that the car will be destroyed before he learns how to drive. The amount of dials and controls on a digital camera are mind boggling, then trying to teach some one about aperture, ISO, white balance, metering etc. Is the reason why most people take photos on their phones, while you can use a smartphone to take photos, you learn nothing about photography. I have not even talked about post processing or printing, two skills that every person that is serious about photography should learn.
@@jamesmlodynia8757 Some UA-cam photograpic professionals are IMHO "IDIOTS" or "LIARS". Putting on a T-shirt saying "I shoot manual" or "I shoot RAW" shows their stupidity.
They are like those who buy a "automatically bread machine" and only "make dough with it" and then subscribe monthly to an "adobe oven" to bake the dough. Some bought a f1.2 prime lens and then NOW ONLY tell people "I was wrong shooting Luxury Prime lenns wide open for 20 years". If only they had tried using the A-DEP (automatic depth of field" mode available in CHEAP Rebel Cameras.
@@jamesmlodynia8757 funny you mentioned, in EU up until few years ago you were obligated to learn driving on manual transmission. After the exam you're free to use any transmission you want.
As I said, speaking from personal experience, if you wanna learn fast.
Aperture numbers are not reversed.
0 means, 0 part of lense is covered.
The highe the number, the more the lense will be covered.
So the numbers are what they are, a number for how much the lense is covered.
Best to learn manual mode first it's not rocket science
In-content ads. My favorite. Unsubscribed.
Your choice of course, but please consider the following.. On average, each video on this channel takes 3 days to plan, record and edit and is then available for you to watch at no cost aside from a few moments of your time watching an ad.
Could you afford to take 3 days off work every week to make content that you share for free without any compensation?
I understand how frustrating ads can be, and hope the value I give in terms of content and tips etc far outweighs any frustrations.
Best wishes
Paul @ Photo Genius