In an attempt to retain my sanity, I've only loosely followed this
thread. In addition to the possibility that I might learn something
simple that would help in the field, our collective tendency to veer off
in new directions without changing the subject line means I might miss
something else interesting. Not a complaint at all, by the way, as I'm
as guilty as anyone and find it all oddly endearing.
Anyway, it seem to me that one thing it all boils down to is that the
only way to really know what's likely to happen is to use the equipment
you have and learn what sort of images come out with various settings
and situations.
On my last little trip, I spent much of the time and many photos
shooting at f16. Sure, I know, that's seriously diffraction limited
according to some formula. Maybe AG's right, and weird DOF things that
don't follow the simple lens calculations happen in zooms full of
aspheric and special glass elements. Whatever, I'd been disappointed in
the DOF I had been getting in some recent work, partly, perhaps
semi-consciously, from leaning apertures toward open from the threads
here about diffraction limits. So I spent a few days and a few hundred
shots leaning the other way, toward f16.
The results, from my perspective are better, with good sharpness and far
fewer images poor because of shallow DOF. As far as I am concerned, any
time I'm using that camera and lens, there's enough light and I'm not
specifically looking to limit DOF, it's f11-f16 for me.
Many of my Images As The Mood Strikes shots are f16, including the full
pixel one I just posted. I dunno, perhaps I could have gotten a tiny bit
more detail at a wider aperture, but would I have gotten the whole
critter in focus? For me, for this subject and many of the thinks I
photograph, DOF is more important.
F16 and be there Moose
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