Opening the aperture (reduce the aperture value)

Objects closer and farther than the focused subject will be more out of focus. For instance, if you take a picture of a flower against a landscape with the aperture open, the landscape in front and behind the flower will be blurred, emphasizing only the flower.

Closing the aperture (increase the aperture value)

The range in focus expands forward and backward. For instance, if you take a picture of a flower against a landscape with the aperture narrowed, the landscape in front and behind the flower will be in focus.

Aperture and Depth of Field

The following table summarizes how the aperture affects the depth of field.

The depth of field may also change depending on the lens used and the distance to the subject.

Aperture

Open

 

Close

 

(Smaller value)

 

(Larger value)

 

 

Depth of field

Shallow

 

Deep

 

Area of focus

Narrow

 

Wide

 

 

 

 

 

Lens focal length

Longer

 

Shorter

 

(Telephoto)

 

(Wide-angle)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distance to the subject

Near

 

Far

 

 

 

 

 

•The depth of field for the Wdiffers depending on the lens but compared to a 35 mm camera, the value is roughly one aperture setting lower (the focused range becomes narrower).

•The wider the wide-angle lens, and the farther away the subject, the deeper the depth of field is (some zoom lenses do not have a scale for depth of field because of their designs).

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4 ShootingFunctions