When is a very small aperture like f/22 actually useful?
Asked 1/5/2011
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I understand that stopping down increases depth of field, but in many landscapes even something like f/8 can be enough to keep both foreground and distant mountains acceptably sharp. I also know that lenses are often sharpest a few stops down from wide open, and that very small apertures can reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor. So beyond those points, what are the practical reasons to use a tiny aperture such as f/22?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Those kind of apertures often show up in macro work because the DoF is razor thin, so every fraction of a mm you can get matters. However, you also can be diffraction limited at such a aperture and actually end up with less sharpness. Cambridge in Colour has a good article on this very topic.
Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user472
15y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Very small apertures do have real uses, but they’re specialized.
- Macro photography: At close focusing distances, depth of field becomes extremely thin, so stopping down as far as possible can help get more of the subject in focus.
- Long exposures in bright conditions: If you want a very slow shutter speed—for example to create light trails—you may need a small aperture to avoid overexposure.
- Sometimes to reduce flare: Stopping down can help in some flare-related situations.
The tradeoff is diffraction: at apertures like f/22, overall sharpness can actually decrease. So a tiny aperture is not automatically “better” for sharp landscapes. In many scenes, a moderate aperture such as f/8 or f/11 gives a better balance of depth of field and image quality.
So the short answer is: use f/22 when you specifically need either more depth of field at very close distances or less light for a long exposure—not as a default setting.
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