What is your favorite f-stop in 35mm photography?

What is your favorite f-stop in 35mm photography?

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    410
S

SDK

Exposing since 1969.
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Alright, I used to love f/11 back in my college days, because with a 28mm lens you can get lots of depth of field. I'd stop down that far whenever there was light enough for it. As I've matured I realized I don't always want everything equally sharp in a picture, and I've gravitated lower to f/4 or f/5.6 as my usual apertures.

What do you find yourself using most these days?

Update Note: This poll is set up for 35mm photography, not medium or large format. I have also set it so you can pick more than one aperture, if you so desire.
 
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SDK said:
Alright, I used to love f/11 back in my college days, because with a 28mm lens you can get lots of depth of field. I'd stop down that far whenever there was light enough for it. As I've matured I realized I don't always want everything equally sharp in a picture, and Ive gravitated lower to f/4 or f/5.6 as my usual apertures.

What do you find yourself using most these days?
Click to expand...

I'm usually between f11 and f4. But the most important f-stop for me is the widest f-stop on the lens.

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I almost couldn't decide between f2 and f5.6. I use f2 so often because I am always trying to get the most light out of a lowlight situation and I like the shallow depth of field. But I also like 5.6, it has a very natural feel to it. lower than 5.6 feels like the DOF is such a dominant part of the image. 5.6 allows interesting DOF effect but in a subtle way. I only ever go higher than 5.6 if I'm street shooting using hyperfocus or doing landscape/tourist shots. Note: All my DOF comments pertain to 50mm or wider, I don't really shoot longer than 50, but I know DOF decreases so I might have a different opinion if I shot longer lenses.
 
Hey, you forgot f64 ... what about Ansel and his mates?:D

I'm hooked on shooting wide open ... I love the depth of field ... or lack of it should I say! Hopefully I'll grow out of that. :eek:
 
Ehm... oops! I voted 5,6, but forgot to select also 1,4.
I guess most people does the same: the (probably) optimal (5,6) f stop whenever they can, the widest when the sun goes down...
 
I haven't got a favorite- I use the one that'll make what I feel will give the most impact, which is just as often "all sharp" as not. I didn't vote.
I guess I like Weegee's attitude- f/8 and be there.
 
i have no favourite aperture, but I love my nokton and its widest f/1,5 for lowlight situation. Fast lenses are one of the reasons why I passed to rf photography, so my vote goes to 1,4 :)
ciao
nico
 
Back when my pre-ASPH 35 Summilux was my main lens it was in the 5.6-8 range with it opened up more 'as needed' with a shutter speed in mind to keep it steady hand held.

But since the 35 ASPH days have come its 1.4 without reservation. With the 50 its always been opened up 1.4-2.8 for the 'look' even if there was some fall off in image quality in the outer part of the frame, the only time I feel I have to stop down with the pre-ASPH Summilux 50 is in the close up range.
 
And to add a bit of thought, one of the main reasons I use a rangefinder [Leica] is because of the quality/look of the fast lenses ( why buy a fast lens if you are not going to use that speed? ) in combination with the holdability of the camera.
 
f4, cause I like the subject well focused and the rest fuzzy ;)

Todd
 
My fave is f/4 (it is as sharp as it should be, slight miss focus can be hiden, still enough to blur things up)
 
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I prefer f/4, too. 2 stops down from wide open seems to improve the quality far enough so I can spend the rest of the light on a shorter shutter speed. But then again, I use almost all f-stops 'till f/8..
 
My most often used is f8 too but f2 with my 50mm summicron gives me great bokeh.
 
My fav f-stop is the one that allows for the most appropiate depth of field, and still allows for a proper shutter speed.
:rolleyes:
 
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