Camera Basics: Aperture

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In this video we are going to look at the aperture
The aperture is a mechanical diaphragm that opens wider to allow more light and closes smaller to reduce the amount of light entering the camera.
The aperture is normally measured in F-Stops of light. The scale may seem counterintuitive as the larger the F-stop value, the smaller the opening and the less light that comes in. For example an F5.6 lets in less light and is a smaller opening than an F1.4. Common F-stops are 1.0 1.4 2.0 2.8 4.0 5.6 8.0 11.0 16.0 22.0

You may see T-Stops on some cinema lenses. T-Stops use the same scale but take into account other factors of the lens.
Most quality lenses open up to between a f4 to a f2.8 although you will find some lenses that go all the way to a .95. Some zoom lenses have variable maximum apertures, meaning that the aperture changes how wide it can open for different focal lengths. A common variable lens aperture is 3.5-5.6. You can find the maximum aperture imprinted on every lens.
Aperture is a good gauge of lens quality. Fixed apertures and faster apertures both indicate higher quality lenses and provide more options to the photographer.

In addition to the amount of light entering the camera, aperture also has a very important secondary effect. Aperture adjusts the depth of field.
Depth of field is a measure of how much depth is in focus.
The wider the aperture the shallower depth of field. . A shallow depth of field can result in a subject’s eye being in focus while their nose is out of focus because only half of an inch of depth is in focus. The smaller the aperture the deeper the depth of field will be. Deep focus can have a tree and a mountain a mile behind the tree both be in focus.
Changing the aperture allows you to achieve different depths of field with your image. Aperture always has to be balanced out by shutter and ISO to create proper exposure.

[academyav]

Brush up on your exposure triangle with our new animated video on aperture! You might even get to see a cat!

[merinaentertainment]

Hello Academy AV, I am a new subscriber to you channel and I am preparing a video tutorial in tigrigna (a language used in Eritrea my country) on how to use dslr. I wanted to use portion of this video on one of my videos. Is that ok with you guyz.
Thank you.