The Best Aperture For Landscape Photography

You've probably heard photographers say, "f/8 and be there!" But is f/8 really the best aperture for landscape photography?
In truth, any aperture on your lens could be useful for photographing landscapes, just depending on the scene in front of you. I routinely use wide apertures like f/2.8 for Milky Way photography, while I'll stop down to f/16 if I need maximum depth of field.
This video goes into detail about the exact situations where you'd want to use each aperture value from f/1.4 to f/16, with dozens of examples taken directly from my Lightroom catalog. If this video doesn't help you understand what aperture to use for landscape photography, I don't know what will!
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This video is not sponsored! You can support Photography Life and Spencer Cox Photography by buying anything through my affiliate links!
Here is all the photo equipment I use: bhpho.to/3XUv32a
And here’s my video gear to film this video: bhpho.to/3Yt8th1

[@Sven-R]

You should have way more subscribers for the quality of content you produce.Thanks!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That's very kind of you to say! I work like crazy to make these videos as good as possible.

[@gdan8259]

An "Ahha" moment for me. Recently started nightscape photos; my instructor suggested a wide open FStop and everything is in focus, it just worked. Your video provided the explanation brilliantly. Gracias.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That’s awesome! I do want to clarify one thing. There’s a bit of confusion over large vs small apertures. Something your instructor may or may not have mentioned is that aperture is written as a fraction. So, an aperture of f/2 is larger than an aperture of f/8, for the exact reason that 1/2 is larger than 1/8. Those smaller/narrower apertures (f/11, f/16, etc.) are the ones with more depth of field. Larger/wider apertures have a shallow focus effect, where just the subject may be sharp. So, when you say that a wide open f-stop gets you everything in focus, it’s actually the opposite - a narrow aperture will do that, while a wide aperture gives you a shallow depth of field. Hope this helps clarify.

[@vaughnharp06]

This was way more helpful than a lot of others I’ve seen, I appreciate your style of teaching!

[@donandclara]

Dude, that's exactly how I felt!

[@Nicksiit]

Dude, you are great. No fuss. Straight conceptual knowledge

[@okaro6595]

That was a very good presentation. As a simple rule on APS-C just use one f-stop larger, maybe one and a third on a Canon.

[@daniellegrandpa]

I am new to photography, and have bought two cameras so far. I have looked at very many video's on all aspects of photography, and one thing that i notice, most channels, try to get you to buy camera equipment, which i am not interested, I want to learn. Your channel which I like, doesn't try to sell me something, just give me tips and how to do things, so thanks and well done, I will follow you now, and skip the others channels that are mostly adds to buy stuff..

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Very kind, thank you! I'll do my best to keep making videos like this.

[@Jeff-wh7vw]

Been looking for a video exactly like this for a while. Very succinctly put and incredibly useful. Thanks!

[@leenoshilla2477]

One of the best tutorial on the subject, strait to the point with examples

[@jayant6012]

It is always great watching your videos.. keep up the great work mate!!

[@bobmcdonald4834]

Thank you very much Spencer. That was really helpful. Precise, to the point and with examples. Now subscribed!

[@kal3198]

Oh man now I get why my camera always wants to use f/5.6 instead of f/8 I knew the aperture is affected because its Aps-c but this just made it more clear to me. Thanks a lot

[@kevinsanders4262]

Great stuff! You do an excellent job explaining things and are easily understood.

[@donandclara]

That was freaking amazing - very thorough and appreciated the examples! Thank you so much!

[@willbart1236]

Cool to see a young guy referencing Ansel Adams. I’m 59 years old. He was my original inspiration for photography back in the 90s. Not only was he an amazing photographer, he was an absolute genius. His life story is awesome. He literally wrote the book on black and white photography and printing. He was way ahead of his time. I wish he was alive today. I would love to hear him opine about the advances of digital photography. He would be blown away at the control we now have over an image.

[@brucesummers7448]

One huge advantage of a digital camera is the ability to focus at multiple distances and then stack the images. This can be used to avoid the perspective distortion from shorter than "normal" focal lenth lenses and one can avoid the expense of tilt shift lenses.

[@agbarraza5665]

Very informative video Mr. Cox.

[@nareshsharma568]

Excellent way to explain. I will use different f stops and compare the photos. Thanks

[@touchtennis]

Thank you so much for teaching this old dog new tricks. So clear in your explanation and detailed demonstration with your own work. Thank you!

[@flol3266]

This video is sooooo good. Finally I understand it!

[@sunrise_sunshine]

All your videos makes sense to me and learning from it. thanks so much :)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That’s great to hear!

[@russeli1941]

Thanks for this, it cleared a few things up for me.

[@sarahmitchell7390]

You are absolutely great. The way you explain things is superb.

[@canoodlingus6244]

Love the breakdowns, thank you!

[@owentuckett938]

Thanks Spencer, another excellent explanation. I’m always open to ideas on aperture.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re very welcome! Glad you liked it.

[@rayswag2660]

Very easy to understand for amateur. Thank you!

[@joseotoya2102]

Splendid explanation for each f-stop Spencer. Thank you! It addressed the question I sent in early November. Great job sir! 👍👍

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Happy to hear it!

[@neilmackey9626]

On the subject of focus stacking...I've done it manually with a D7500 and while it can be a bit tedious at times, it becomes easier/faster the more you do it. The Z5 I just got (the "bigger" Z's have it as well) has a setting called "Focus Shift Shooting"...after entering a series of parameters, the camera does "focus stacking" on it's own. You still have to do the final stack itself in Lr or Ps but man, it's really pretty good. I compared a manual focus stack series to an "auto" Focus Shift Shooting series and you'd be hard-pressed to tell which was which. The biggest challenge is figuring out how many photos in a particular series you want to take...most people don't take enough. The camera will take as many as needed from foreground to background and will stop snapping on its own when it reaches "infinity". So even though you might have set your snaps for 50, the camera may stop snapping at 8 or 10. The other challenge is figuring out how broad (degree of depth change) you need to go. Landscapes would take less (not as close together) but macros would be very small advances from photo to photo, requiring more individual photos with a small degree of change of DOF between each photo. Ah, technology... 🙃

[@martinezf1]

Thank you Spencer! Looking forward to that Milky Way masterclass!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Awesome! I’m excited about it too 😂

[@peggyclinton1]

Simply the best, thank you for sharing 🙏🏻🙏🏻😊

[@prince2thethrone]

you're the best !!!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Nah, you’re the best! Thanks for the kind words 😄

[@davidturcios1213]

Congratulations for your method of teaching us Photography, and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, David!

[@IamPidugu]

Always straight to the point. ⚡️

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You bet! Glad you liked it!

[@petergraham7759]

Excellent summary of the topic, chock full of useful information. Earned a Subscribe with one video!

[@freaky89100]

Cool interesting video !! Amazing shots you made! Beginner in photo making here.... Am planning to buy the Sony A6000. Starting cheap to learn the basics and in future upgrade to Full-Frame (If I think that is needed). So that's why I am thinking to buy already the right lens, Full-Frame to use on the Sony A6000, so I don't throw away the APS-C lenses if I plan to go fully Full-Frame in the future.... What Full-Frame lens do you recommend for shooting landscapes during traveling? Was thinking about the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4.0G OSS. But I think the F/4.0 is to high... ? When I look at the Tamron 35-150mm F/2.8-4 (has a lower aperture), I think the 35mm is to big for landscaping? The Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 is in my opinion to expensive...

[@niclas67878]

So helpful, thanks!

[@dmac5x1]

Very well done !!

[@LeedsRider]

Thank you! Really helped with my understanding of correctly choosing the right aperture now I'm straying away from full auto modes. Much appreciated 🙏

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Awesome, happy to hear it! It's definitely good to move from the Auto mode to something like aperture priority if you want more control over how your photos look.

[@cmichaelhaugh8517]

Good concise explanation.

[@lifejourney4two]

Great explanation! Thank you Spencer.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

My pleasure!

[@robertstekeur6695]

Spencer I really like your videos, thank you.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Happy to hear it, thank you, Robert!

[@patthompson1253]

Wonderful video!

[@valstephens3258]

Knowledge, communication skills and wisdom beyond your years. Much better than your KZbin competitors who try to entertain and waste people's time.

[@SniperPhotography]

Another fantastic presentation. Thank you

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re quite welcome! Happy you thought it was a good one.

[@raymond8673]

Thank you so much

[@Hsukhaybir]

very informative .. thank you l! I though have one question about focus I just didn’t understand quite well and please excuse my ignorance.. when you shot stars you use very wide aperture to get more light, ok but that doesn’t mean you’ll not have a lot of depth of field that you get when you shot at f8 or more ? I mean I understand it as the higher the F’s the more focus point in every part of the image and less blur .. and if you use wide aperture you’ll get more shallow depth of field, so how did you manage to get all the starts in focus with such a wide aperture?

[@anuragnair9768]

Very very informative 👍👍👍👍

[@lizzyshengshengzhou]

Thank you for the tutorial!!!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Glad you liked it.

[@ksnmurthy4476]

Amazing video. 😍👌

[@kevinaweseom2866]

*cranks my film advance lever* "Letter eat"

[@carolevans1829]

Excellent Video! Thanks

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@thegroove2000]

BRAVO.

[@paplu2009]

Thanks a lot

[@billbaker4970]

good info Spencer

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Glad you found it informative.

[@boristrouserkov]

Shooting medium format film and crop sensor camera for digital- I never knew there was a crop factor for apertures! Thanks 😊

[@josephfinkleman8358]

Kind of there is no crop factor. Except the smaller the sensor for any given focal length the depth of field changes, so in that sense there is a crop factor in depth of field. A micro 4/3rds at 100mm has a very different depth of field than a medium format at 100mm.

[@funkymonk8240]

Some of the best pictures ive ever seen. Do you have social channel to follow you on?

[@danielbdbe]

an extremely good video ! thanks

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing!

[@renoholland7090]

Excellent video.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks!

[@eddy3011]

Love the content! For the astro video, I was wondering how people get the foregrounds with the Milky Way. I went out in the middle of the night in pitch black darkness and for the Milky Way but the Grand Tetons were just a silhouette! Not sure if people are just pasting different pictures or I’m missing something.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks, Eddy! Often, it’s because there’s a bit of moonlight in the photo, or residual sunlight if it’s still close to sunrise/sunset. More rarely, the photographer may have blended a daytime (or at least shortly after sunset) photo with an actual Milky Way shot. But on a night with enough of a moon, it’s definitely possible to have a well-lit landscape under the stars. (For closer landscapes like some rock formations, you can just light it artificially, but that doesn’t seem to be what you’re referring to.) Anyway, I’ll go over all that in the astro videos, too!

[@robertgiguere875]

Excellent video!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you very much!

[@kapurar]

Look forward to seeing your milky way tutorial.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

It’ll be out tomorrow morning :) Edit: Wednesday morning 😬

[@sureshkumar-gu9vu]

That was a tonne of information

[@JulesMoyaert_photo]

Thanks!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing!

[@srenbitsch5933]

Youre the best:)

[@user735_]

The video is good. There are thousands explaining what aperture does but almost none saying how to choose each one for the occasion. I'd have really loved more sample photos, that's my only complain.

[@billybradley3669]

Hi Spencer, I'm a total newbie to photography. every landscape photography I take they are out of focus from foreground to background and this is using a tripod with a 2sec timer. 1sec @ f8 iso 100 - EF 70-200 F2.8 IS II USM @ 80MM. All the shots were of waterfalls. Is there anything I should be changing to get tack sharp Photos?.

[@paulm8157]

Nicely done, Spencer - images and graphics work to illustrate the points, although YT resolution makes it difficult to spot fine focus details. Adams didn’t have focus stacking - technique merits a follow up “how to” vid that also expounds on zone of focus, and hyper-focal distance for desired effects. Depending upon aperture alone kinda cuts corners, IMO, especially for landscape ‘togs who lavish time on getting a number of factors just right. (Super storm image, BTW.) Suggest mixing in different head-shot distances, just for variety. Take care!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Paul! The technical benefit that Ansel Adams had, which most of us do not, is the huge movement capability of view cameras, as if using a far more flexible tilt-shift lens for every shot. I completely agree with you, none of this is an excuse to just “set and forget” your aperture to something like f/11. And I do have a focus stacking tutorial planned for early next year, hopefully will answer some of those questions. (I already have a hyperfocal distance video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/naTYfmaYiLiqmpY )

[@josephfinkleman8358]

F/64 was chosen as a backlash to the previous decades of Romanticism which used a selective focus in order for the viewer to know where to look. What f/64 did was remove the selective focus so that the viewer could now make there own decisions on what precisely to look at. As for sharpness, f/64 had a lot of depth of field but it was poor in terms of resolution. On an 8x10 or even a 4x5 at a modest print size , it made little difference. But in terms of critical resolution it was not all that sharp. But in film, magnification played a big role in apparent sharpness different than in digital. F/8 is a good landscape aperture because even though diffraction is setting in it has not hurt the resolution too badly and generally speaking f/8 gives the image reasonably sharp edge to edge.

[@sunrise_sunshine]

Hi, I am new to DSLR/photography but I am middle of confusion between deciding DSLR or Mirrorless body ?... reason behind buying a camera is to follow my passion into it especially macro, landscape, birds and product photography and of course my kids too. Here is my choice what I have D750 because it has everything that I need except newer processor and lower shutter speed compare to D780/Z6 which is a bit out of my budget still manageable. Can you please suggest how to come out of this dilemma? Thanks in advance.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

The D750 is an excellent camera already. As someone who has used all three of those cameras (D750, D780, and Z6), I really don’t think you’d see major improvements by switching, unless you are a heavy video user (D780 or Z6 would be better) or you need to save some size/weight (Z6). You might consider upgrading lenses first. Also, a remote shutter release coupled with Bulb mode will let you use shutter speeds that are as long as you want, so it’s not worth spending the money on a new camera just for that reason. If you’re set on switching, even as someone who owns the Z6, I would recommend the D780. The Z6 isn’t going to be an improvement in autofocus tracking over the D750, but in video performance and size/weight. The D780 is more versatile overall, and wouldn’t need an adapter to use your existing lenses.

[@jarsok245]

bardzo dobre wyjaśnienie :-) pozdrawiam

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Cheers 😄

[@nevvanclarke9225]

I think it’s more important where you focus on the critical point is finding optimal sharpness using the hyper focal method. This method actually give you acceptable sharpness through the image in a single image. You can stack images if you want and do focus stacking, but I prefer not to do that because it’s time-consuming it doesn’t always work and then you have to sit in post and pull it all together. I just find it rather annoying

[@UTAH100]

Good and practical tips with no fluff! I thought the rule of thumb to get the sharpest images was to step down (UP) 3 steps from the largest aperture. So if my Nikon (crop) "lens" is 50mm "1.8," I would use F/5.6. If I am using a lens that starts (widest) at F/4, I would use F11. Does the lens not matter? Bottom line, on my APS-C camera, what aperture do you recommend for the sharpest images? I am guessing the best range might be between F/5.6 and F/8 and NOT F/11? FF might be F/8-F/11- am I getting this right? 5:12 was that Mt. Huangshan, China aka the Yellow Mountain? I hiked up that and took some pics- amazing hike (all 60,000 steps.) It was very tiring especially the day after a long flight. We stayed over in the hotel at the top of the mountain. Took the tram to get back down.

[@josephfinkleman8358]

It is sort of an yes and no answer. F/5.6 generally speaking for just about every lens out there regardless of maximum aperture is the optimal aperture for resolution. Generally speaking you lose a bit in the center but gain a more even center to edge resolution at f/8. Some lenses are still sharp enough at f/11 but all lenses suffer from diffraction at f/16. Even an f/4 lens is sharpest at f/5.6 but some zooms become f/6.3 at the longest focal length so you live with in effect shooting wide open. It used to be that 2 stops from wide open was the rule of thumb. But modern lenses tend to be designed better and from f/4 on you are in the maximum resolution range. There are some exceptions to this where some lenses are designed to be excellent from wide open. These tend to be more expensive. But checking a lens resolution chart is helpful for you particular lens.

[@UTAH100]

@@josephfinkleman8358 Thanks.

[@ArtistValley]

Will an APS-C camera have the same issues with diffraction at f11 that a full frame would at f16?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Yes, if your print size is the same on both photos!

[@CononBarrett]

Cool 🥊🥊🥊

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Conon!

[@Mike-xz1wo]

Very helpful video. With that said though, I noticed that videos are usually based on full-frame cameras, regardless of the target audience that usually is of a beginner level and very unlikely to own a full-frame camera. But more to the point, should every aperture size mentioned here actually be manipulated by 1.5 for equivalency on cropped sensor? Apologies if this was addressed in the video and I managed to miss it.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks and good points! You know how a 100mm lens on aps-c is equivalent to 150mm on full frame? Aperture works the same way. Thus an aperture of f/10 on aps-c is equivalent to f/15 on full frame for depth of field (given that you’re already using equivalent focal lengths). A lot of photography educators ignore this for whatever reason, but it’s true, and it’s why I can’t universally say something like “use f/16 in this situation.” You’re very likely right that most of my viewers use aps-c. That’s really the reason why I go out of my way to mention aperture equivalence in videos like this. I don’t want people to use the wrong aperture. The only reason I choose full frame as the standard is just because that’s convention in other areas of the photography world. It’s a bit of a holdout from film, really. It’s why most photography educators talk about things like “nifty 50mm” lenses rather than “nifty 35mm” lenses, even if more of their students shoot with aps-c. Hope this answers your questions!

[@Mike-xz1wo]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel You're a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for the explanation. Subscribed! And to be clear in this case, the f/8 that you mention on full frame becomes f/5.6 for me with a lowly D5500?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

@@Mike-xz1wo Very kind of you! Yes, you’re correct, other than the D5500 being lowly :) - any time that I mention f/8 in this video, you can mentally substitute in f/5.6. If you want some more background on why that works, check out this article that I wrote for Photography Life: photographylife.com/equivalence-also-includes-aperture-and-iso

[@bruceatkinson932]

Great video but it leaves me a bit confused. Your graphic shows the equivalence in f-stops between Full Frame, APS-C and M4/3. If I understand the graphic correctly, if one is shooting full frame at e.g., f/11, then if switching to APS-C they would shoot at f/8.0 as the equivalent or f/5.4 if using M4/3. There are any number of videos that describe the 'best' f-stops for various photography scenarios but I don't recall seeing anyone else specifically address this issue AND make it clear which they are using (full frame or other). Is this potentially problematic? For example, if a photographer says "F/8 and be there" and is shooting full frame should he be saying "f5.6 and be there" if shooting APS-C?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That’s exactly right. I think most people don’t teach this because it’s a bit of a complicated/annoying side note to cover. But it’s still true. Generally, instruction you’ll see online is talking about full frame and assuming that you’re dividing by your crop factor for the equivalent. The most they’ll say is something like “full frame has less depth of field,” which is a huge simplification, since you can easily use a smaller and smaller aperture to maintain a large depth of field (as Ansel Adams did by using f/64 on the extremely large format 8x10 cameras). But yeah, f/5.6 and be there, if you use aps-c :)

[@bruceatkinson932]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Thanks Spencer!! Very clear now indeed.

[@okaro6595]

The key issue in "f/8 and be there" is the "be there". If you worry what the f/8 would be equivalent you have totally missed the point.

[@dsam3]

Did you mean for smaller sensors, divide the f by crop factor? I thought we multply by crop factor for equivalent full frame f?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

To remove any ambiguity with our wording - f/4 on a 2x crop sensor is equivalent to f/8 on full-frame. f/10 on a 2x crop sensor is equivalent to using f/20 on full-frame. And so on. I hope this clarifies things. (This equivalence is in terms of depth of field and diffraction, not exposure.)

[@dsam3]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel thank you

[@mikefarley4254]

Ok I'm new to photography but how do you achieve an aperture of f/11 and higher when they don't sell those kind of lenses.? I don't understand.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Good question, the reality is that the aperture value in the name of a lens (such as “f/1.8” in the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens) isn’t the only aperture you can use. Instead, it’s simply the *maximum* aperture you can use. Most lenses start around f/2.8 or so, and go to about f/22. That’s a massive difference (works out to 64x difference in the amount of light you capture). You can easily set values in between the two extremes. It’s just convention that only the maximum aperture appears in the name of the lens (f/2.8 in this example). Basically you can set f/11 on almost every lens out there. Hope this helps.

[@mikefarley4254]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Thank you!!!

[@oneeyedphotographer]

Dustin Abbott claims to know a bit about lenses. He reckons that diffraction becomes noticeable at F5.6 I am not inclined to shoot at F8 with a 50 megapixels FF camera. According to many reviewers, lenses designed for mirrorless cameras are pretty near maximum sharpness wide open. According to Christian Fletcher, former International Photographer of the Year, one should always bracket focus. I have done that, I think the outcome looks a bit strange. Front to back sharpness is one artistic choice, it's not the only good one. I generally focus on on what I want you to see and don't worry about other stuff. Sometimes I choose to blur stuff.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

One of the major things we do at Photography Life is review lenses, and I can say that it’s true that many lenses are technically sharpest around f/4 or even wider these days when photographing a test chart. HOWEVER most real, three-dimensional subjects will be sharper if you use narrower apertures like f/8. Blur from a shallow depth of field is really extreme otherwise. I would only use apertures like f/4 when shooting at an overlook with everything near infinity focus. I don’t agree that you need to bracket focus in landscape photography or other genres, but it could be a useful technique if you’re unsure where to focus for optimum depth of field.

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

1:30 Unless you're using one of Nikon's new Z mount lenses ;-)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Yeah, those lenses are crazy. Sharpest at f/2.8? Maybe even f/2? That’s just absurd. I’m sure there are a handful of lenses like that from other manufacturers, like the Zeiss Otus and the Canon f/1.2 RF lenses, but I’m the most familiar with Nikon. And it’s a pretty wild thing to see.

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Having used the F mount 85mm f/1.8 and now the Z mount version, it's a big difference and I'm happy to see Nikon finally stepped up their game in this regard because I rarely felt ok using the F mount version at 1.8 because it was pretty soft. Not with the Z mount :)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

@@ThePhotographyHobbyist Yeah, no kidding! The Z lenses so far have been really excellent. I’m still hoping for a lightweight telephoto zoom at some point, but for the first time in my life I’m considering a superzoom instead (the 24-200mm) if nothing else arrives, because it’s the first superzoom I’ve seen that reaches my sharpness standards.

[@zoran123456]

I should watched this video before setting my f stop to 32 on kit apsc lens and completely destroyed the photos. 😂😂I shoot some landscape and boy was it horrible. Much worse than a photos on smartphone… 😊 Reason for this low f number is I read as low as possible for landscape and as high as possible for portrait, for that sweet bokeh.

[@martinstepalavich]

Ext please ugh 😅

[@_J.P._]

Try this for fun: APS-C f22 + 1/60 @ ISO 100 with 18mm on a cloudy but bright day. Now aim into the distance and focus on a sign, bilboard or building around 400-500m away and take the shot. I have a A6500 with a kit lens (18-135mm) and the image turned out RAZOR SHARP! From the beginning to the end. No blur, nothing. It achieved that by absolute accident because I was experimenting with various settings based on what I felt was right instead of going "by the book" a lot of people tell you. BTW all hand held and looking forward to try out more with a tripod :)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

There's nothing wrong with trying out new things and experimenting like that. But your standard of razor sharp is not very high if you got what you consider a sharp photo that way. The unavoidable physics of diffraction means it is simply impossible for a photo taken at f/22 on aps-c to be as sharp as possible, even if it looks good enough to your eye right now. As you progress in photography, you'll gain more experience about what a truly detailed photo looks like and probably revisit that photo a few years later and notice big areas for improvement!

[@normtesch1126]

where did you get the math for f8 is equal to f64??

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

The diagonal of 8x10 film is about 313mm, and the diagonal of full-frame sensors is about 43mm. So the crop factor between them is about 7.3. An f-number of 64 divided by 7.3 gives you an f-number of 8.8. I guess saying f/9 in the video would have been more accurate, but either way, that’s how you get the same depth of field for a given composition on full-frame versus 8x10.