Photography

[stanbesida]

If I use a small aperture on my camera, does it give a faster shutter speed, shallow depth of field, or a large depth of field.
Many thanks in advance

[shoota]

A small aperture will increase the depth of field and decrease the shutter speed.

[Answerprancer]

It depends on your settings: if you have your camera set to manual, the aperture you select won't affect the shutter speed - you have to do that yourself to suit. If you have your camera set to AV (aperture value) then shutter speed will alter itself automatically to allow a decent amount of light to hit the sensor (or film if it's an analogue camera). The smaller the aperture (higher 'F' number) the slower the shutter speed in this setting and vice versa.
As Shoota says, depth of field is increased when the aperture is small.

[stanbesida]

Many thanks for your help.
John

[EDDIE51]

Aperture has nothing to do with shutter speed.
Aperture increases or decreases the shutter opening, (wider open = more light)
Shutter speed is the time the aperture is open .
Smaller apertures ,( larger f nos ,) increase the depth of field.
What exactly are you triyng to do ?
Let me know more information, I have been a keen photographer for over 45 years. Not much I don't know about the technical stuff. But what you have been told so far by others is incorrect.

[VHG]

Depends what you mean by "small apeture". Do you mean the size of the "hole" or the size of the aperture number.

As the apeture hole gets smaller the "f" number gets larger. So f/2.8 is in fact a much larger aperture than f/22, but the f/22 "hole" is smaller than f/2.8.

So as the "f" number gets bigger the hole gets smaller, and vice versa.

[237SJ]

A small aperture refers size of the hole.
I think Answerprancer means what was called Aperture Priority versus Shutter Priority. If you set the aperture yourself (aperture priority) using a small aperture, the camera will compensate by using a slower shutter speed so that the same amount of lights gets in. If you set the shutter speed yourself (shutter priority) to say, a fast one, the camera will open up the aperture to let the same amount of light in. If you have the camera on automatic you won`t have to worry about it. If you have the camera set to manual, you set both the shutter speed and the aperture. The smaller the aperture, the greater depth of field.

[shoota]

What exactly has Answerprancer and I said that is incorrect Eddie?

[Answerprancer]

Indeed Eddie - where exactly did I go wrong?

[Slapshot]

To be honest no-one has specifically said anything stupidly wrong so far. However shutter speed and f numbers are only connected when using the various automatic functions most cameras have these days.

Aperture, is expressed as a f number and is the ratio size of the hole that lets the light through to the focal plane against the focal length of the lens.

The larger the f number (ie f22) the smaller the hole the greater the depth of field. Conversely the smaller the f number (ie f2.8) the larger the hole and shallower depth of field.

Now, where shutter speeds come into it is basically twofold. In real terms the shutter speed is purely the length of time the shutter opens to allow light to the focal plane (digital sensor or film plane). Wher things get confused is down to the multitude of settings on modern cameras.

I shoot a fair bit at 1/250th of a sec on the Tv setting on my Canon Slrs ( both digital and my old EOS 1 film jobs) Tv being Shutter Priority, specific to the sports events I shoot. The computer in the camera figures out the optimum f number to set the camera to as it focuses. If you use Aperture Priority (Av on Canon cameras) you select the f number and the camera selects the optimum shutter speed of the shot.

Ultimately you could switch to manual then you have to figure the whole lot out for yourself, much more fun......

[EDDIE51]

I should have said 'misleading' sorry.
I think that the questioner is asking about a basic film camera, which is still the best way to learn about shutter speeds, f stops, depth of field etc.
Digital and recent SLRs with aperture/ shutter priority and full auto settings are great but they do not teach you the basics of photography.