How to find your lens's sharpest aperture? - Viilage Wisdom 

I am a cinematography student .For years I was shooting with the widest open aperture for the highly clichéd shallow depth cinematic look and getting more light.But after reading an article I started using higher stops for portrait and is getting amazing results with good depth and sharp portraits.

Summary: Take photos at every aperture and find out manually.

I just discovered you yesterday. I have subbed instantly. I really like your style of videos. 👍

The test might have been more useful if the subject was a flat, patterned wall. That way you can compare sharpness in the center, as well as the corners. Corners are the most overlooked test areas that will quickly show good to bad.

This is the first Indian-based photography channel I've found on youtube that makes decent videos. Kudos!

i felt an overwhelming sadness whallop over my whole body and soul as he said ,"And we dont have a model today , instead we have a sofa."and proceeded to awkwardly tug and pat the sofa.

This is really well presented, calm and wise. Good job, hope to see more videos soon. Subscribed.

Very good demonstration! Although I’m an event/wedding shooter and love my shallow depth of field I also shoot a lot of close up detail shots of, for example, the bride’s jewelry. I always kick my aperture up to say f7.1 , f8 or sometimes f11 to make sure the whole object/subject of the photo is completely in focus. This was extremely helpful. I’ll be testing all my lenses starting with my workhorse the Canon 24-70mm f2.8.

Good. But I have a concern on iso n shutter speed used over the ranges on increasing for stop. Good to know. Thank u 4 the video

Sir pls tell me any manual camera for android mobile Pls sir tell me I want take a good pic as like u by my smartphone

BEGINNERS LIKE ME need EXPERTS LIKE YOU sir. so please continue. and i never used to listen to any teachers, lecturers during my school days and college days. but here the way describing is just like copy and pasted to my brain directly :P Good going thank you for the video

BINOD PATEL photographer .murshidabad..West Bengal

Very professional presentation Sir... Please make a series on point and shoot cameras.

ഇങ്ങനെ ടെസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ മറ്റു ചില സാങ്കേതിക വശങ്ങളും കൂടി പരിഗണിക്കേണ്ടതില്ലേ? F8, F16 എന്നിങ്ങനെയുള്ള റേഞ്ചിൽ എത്തുമ്പോൾ ഐഎസ് ഓയിൽ ചെയ്ഞ്ച് വരുത്താതെ ഷൂട്ട് ചെയ്താൽ മാത്രമല്ലേ മികച്ച ഷാർപ്നെസ് കിട്ടുകയുള്ളൂ... Light intensity change ചെയ്ത് iso constant ആയി നില നിർത്തണ്ടെ?

There is also a sweet spot for sharpness per given focal range. This is very important because the glass have to rotate and move in and out to achieve optimum focus. For example: F1.8 doesn't work as well for distant subjects as F8.

Finally I found the best ever photography tutor on RU-vid who is capable of keeping learners engaged.

Informative. thanks.

Very helpful. Thanks sir. I got this channel from Ibadurahman's channel.

In Aperture mode what ISO ratio is best subject to light.....as in this video you have explained f1.8 to f16...

Would the distance to subject make a difference, as it would change the focus, therefore rearranging the glass inside?

Hello sir..I am your subscriber from Bombay . I am getting an error 70 on canon 80 d when I do tether shoot .I keep removing and putting battery again and again till it starts .i had tried doing with another tether tool also sent by the company. Still that error 70 is there. But without tether no problem in the camera. also there is some issue with the card .a msg is always there that no card .this camera is three years old .any solutions? Thanks

Just seen your video and had to subscribe right away your videos are amazing !!!! I’m Joshua from Long Beach California and really struggle in exposure composition I’m a beginner but some how it still doesn’t click right away in my brain thank you so much! Hope you can make this video soon

I like your speech specially

Finally, a video that shows me exactly how i can find the sharpest aperture in my lenses! Thank you for the great video :D

In this video, couldnt find much difference between f1.8 and all the way to f16......All images looks similar. You could taken some other example.

I am going to be photographer but I don't know more about it .What is the difference between from F stop and Aperture

Well I have a question. As you take shots at higher and higher apertures, is the ISO changing? Because if it is, then the sharpness is also a function of the ISO. A photo at ISO 100 is sharper than one at ISO 2000. Is the ISO the same for all shots?

After many years as a professional and now retired shooting for fun, I use f/8 for most outdoor shots because it’s the sharpest mid zone setting for me. The only other f/stop setting is f/4 for most outdoor portraits, never wide open. While sitting at an outdoor cafe with fellow photographers, one of the NYC pros asked me why I never shot with my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 at f/1.4. I turned and shot a picture of the girl on my right at f/1.4 and showed him the results - sharp eye and blurry ears and nose, making her look freakishly.

You had to use some other object in background also... With plane background. it is difficult to see depth of field....!

Nice videos! Could you make a review on Sekonic L 858 D? Very keen on HSS mode-apparently it's the world's first HSS lightmeter Thanks

Very good review..! Thank you ..! Witch is the best filter for GH5 in daylight shoot Now I am using 12-35f2.8 lens . Give some tips for daylight shoot..

This informative video is so good. My 24-120mm f4 nikon lens is soft at f4, a little sharper at f5.6, didn't try higher yet, i was shooting wedding mostly in low light condition. My 50mm f1.8 Af-s G is good at f2.8 and 5.6, others are a little bit soft, especially at 1.8 and 16. My 50mm f1.8 SEL (sony) is best at f2.2 And.. my 16-50mm sony kit lens, is best at f7.1.

Don't forget to refocus after changing the aperture due to focus shifting! Specially for fast lenses at it's fastest apertures. He was using an auto focus lens, but if you're using a manual one, refocus!

Hello Mr Radha Krishnan, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. Your videos were awesome! Learned a lot of things. Would be good if there is a video on Flash Photography.. Thank you kindly. Ram

Please do make a video about Nikon 200-500 lens and 1.4TC it would be great for wildlife photographers

Splendid tutorial and explanation. However, I was under the impression that 2 (sometimes 3) stops more than the widest aperture of your lens is it's sweet spot. Eg. if I have a 50mm f/1.2 lens, then it is sharpest when stopped down to f/4 (or ~ f/5.6).... please elaborate on this. Thnx! (btw, I subscribed to your channel! Is it not purely for photography education?)

Superb Manner of Explanation... Just keep it up for next Cam Technique nd Settings...

Sir what is T-Stop & Whts its significance in Photography/Cinematography & How it is diffrent from F-Stop.

Sir can you explain how you are shooting this video like lighting, lens, camara, colour grading ,etc...

Amazing videos Sir, I have Sony a57 but every time I take photo's it gets noise,don't know what setting i need to do,mostly i use the lense 18-55 & 18-125mm, plz help me what kind of aperture and shutter speed i need to select for candid & portrait. Thanks in advance Ali Raja

This is one handsome guy! Probably South Indian. He should totally style his mustache like Shivaji. He will pull it off like a boss.

Sir, I have a Nikon D5200 and a Freelance Photographer by hobbe, but mostly I love taking portraits as well as sports pictures. Sometimes I even do love taking photos of birds and other wildlife animals. So sir can you please suggest me a good suitable lens for Nikon D5200

what is 70-200 FLED VR Nikon lens's sharpest aperture/ Sweet Point? while i was shooting with D750 i used to get best at F4, but now I am trying to shoot with D850 i am not getting same result even in F8..what I did mistake? i don't think its because of SS because i never go less then 400. learner like me are always suffering form best pathfinder, hope Pixel village is the best for providing right information and guidelines,

I read in few blogs that crop factor affect the aperture. Does the crop factor really affect the aperture? I mean for lens with F2.8 will it behave as F4.2 with a 1.5 crop factor APS-C sensor camera?

What are sweet spot f-values for Nikon 17-55m, 50 mm(1.4), 18-140mm & 12-24mm ??

Do a review of 18-35 f1.8 sigma and help know is it really sharp from f1.8 to f5.6 because scompany claims and its pretty expensive to test for a normal person

Do a review of 18-35 f1.8 sigma and help know is it really sharp from f1.8 to f5.6 because scompany claims and its pretty expensive to test for a normal person

Hello Sir, Another informative video indeed. My question today would be - In the case if zoom lenses would a single aperture be the "best combination of sharpness and depth of field" or would that critical aperture vary at different focal lengths? Kindly keep posting interesting videos Sir 👍

Hi Sir, if I am doing product photography with 50mm lens what aperture should I opt so that every part is in focus and sharp, pls confirm the focusing mode as well.... Thanks

yi lite or mijia???? sir i need to know which action cam should i buy............

Boss you did very good job about explaining of f stops. I really like it. But i am confused about shutter speed. Shutter speed was constant?

I'm very surprised (dismayed is probably more honest) by the confidence you place in the method used to test a lens for its socalled 'sweet spot'. There are a number of problems associated with your method: 1] You set the camera at a level looking down on your target when you ought to have the camera lens level with the target and perpendicular to the focal plane of the target. While the target cushion is angled backwards and away from the lens, it is still not at a right angle to the line of incidence to the lens 2] The recommended distance of a "normal" sized target (which would be 2 dimensional, vertical and flat, and placed parallel to the focal plane of the camera and perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the lens) is given by a reputable testing company as 3.4m for the D850 and Nikon 85mm f/1.8. You've neglected to consider this distance, which does has an effect on focusing, You look like you're shooting from less than 2m from the socalled "target". 3] You choose as a 'target" a 3-dimensional object with rounded edges, low contrast, and an uneven, "textured" surface. That texture does not allow clear separation between the tones of the cushion (which are not clearly delineated to begin with). This is not what a clearly defined target should be like. You make no comment about it, but appear to retain the lighting as a constant even as you decrease your aperture opening, thus decreasing the light available to the lens/sensor. Since you started with a low contrast target in the first place, (and its texture doesn't make it any better), you're making it more difficult for the lens to detect contrast and separate one tone from another. Hence, this target sets the camera/lens combination up for failure since it is depth of field that becomes most important (determined mainly by aperture) in gaining a perception of a sense of higher sharpness. 4] This 'target' quite obviously has a rounded and uneven surface so that, with wider apertures which exhibit an extremely narrow depth of field especially, all parts of the surface will not be seen by the lens as in the same focal plane and will continue to throw parts of the surface of the target either out of focus or produce soft focus on the uneven surfaces and edges until quite high apertures 5] While it is difficult to see the actual nature of the cushion target clearly, it appears that the pattern on the surface of the fabric is not clearly defined, that is, the boundaries or outlines of the small motifs are irregular and the space between these recurring patterns make it more difficult for a lens to pick up contrast as it might if the target were more clearly delineated with regularly spaced lines and patterns. Indeed, targets normally used for this kind of "test" are very different, even when they are home made, and exhibit simple characteristics which allow the lens to detect contrast better and thus perform at its best across its aperture range. Most important among those characteristics would be various patterns and figures with clear contrast and a flat vertical plane perpendicular to the camera lens. Now, most lenses show some difference in image quality between the centre of the frame and the edges. By definition, the best lenses lessen this image quality degradation across the frame as the aperture widens up to some optimum point in their range. The least degraded IQ is often encountered long before f/9. It seems to me that your test configuration and the differences in angles of reflection from the awkwardly shaped and placed target with its contours in dimensionality and lack of definite contrast virtually set this test up for failure. When it is considered that this lens is particularly valued as a portrait lens, and is even rated as at least somewhat better than its more fabulously famous cousin the 85/1.4 (and that itself is considered one the very best portrait lenses in the world), your socalled test of this lens' sweet spot as being f/9 seems to reduce its real physical capacities to a bit of a joke. I mean, by the time a lens of this type and calibre gets to about f/5.6 it will already be at least just beginning to exhibit the effects of diffraction. By f/9, it will certainly show some (relative) signs that softness is a real issue. That alone raises an immediate question as to the accuracy and validity of the test. At some point, I recall that you mention the perception of sharpness as being "subjective". I think you might be leaving out the fact that these lenses have been tested by quite a few people and by highly reputable professional lens testing organisations with irrefutable methods. That fact provides confidence that the procedure is NOT strictly subjective but rather part of a broad photographic community-wide understanding which conveys a very clear and certainly much more OBJECTIVE appreciation of a lens' capacities and characteristics than you seem to acknowledge. In any case, opinions about sharpness are one thing; the methodology and physical set up for lens testing is quite another. It is something that follows repeatable and OBJECTIVE standards that are missing in your home-grown approach. We users deserve better: otherwise, who can we trust to provide reliable information?? Given the considerations raised here, if you think your test really was fair and provided a reasonably acceptable standard for testing, then you shouldn't bother responding to this critique. Otherwise, please do the test again and let's see what comes of it when a more rigorous and repeatable set of conditions are applied. Hope you all can forgive me for going on about this, but I'm getting a bit tired of people taking over the field of information sharing and shutting out knowledge that is ALREADY known..............by many of your audience.

I have understood that the middle aperture can give you sharp image, but what is you suggestion to get sharp image with a much bury background ( like f/1.8, f/1.4 etc )? Considering that no VR is available in the lens ( prime lens not having VR in it and even though if your camera has the VR on/off ability that option will not be available when you attach prime lens to your camera ) and sometime not possible to use tripod.

I have Nikon D850 and Tamron 24-70 F2.8 G2, can you please do same test for that lens ?

Good info but all most all the pro-lenses [with constant aperture] are having Sweat Spot at f8 and all the kit lenses [variable apertures] at f11 with warm regards,

Hi Radhakrishnan I m having 50mm 1.8g lense. Pl let me know which is a best aperture for sharpness while clicking for one person or two persons together

I will try this, next time i shoot street photography, will see if it works.

Your subject was about 10 feet away. I was wondering if the sharpest F stop at that distance will also hold true if the submit was 50 feet or infinity distance?

That sofa is sexy

please make a video about Tripods, their heads, attachments etc, which one to buy etc etc

Very nice video sir...Before this I didn't know about anything like this about the aperture. If could have used a model it would have been more interesting to watch your video,☺

I have a Nikon d5000 but I m not using from long time.. Is it worth now?? Or shall I buy new one??

Sir can you explain difference between Exposure index and exposure value and ISO.

Just got a 50mm 1.4 prime for my nikon.. And I didn't even know about this, till I googled it. I thought my lens was faulty. As if found out.. 2.8 it is for me. Thanks for this video. Also, could you do a video on FX and DX lenses. regards.

Sir seen many videos from other, but your one is best n you hav explain so beautifully. Thanks a lot.

Amazing video sir, simplistic explaining technique, no waste of time, Loved it. Keep them coming.

Great stuff village wisdom...... although i would love to see more videos on crop sensor cameras, since most of us will be having crop sensor camera..

The RAW images are not longer available from the link in the description.

Sir Please make a video for Jewellery Photography

This isn't feasible on my Mamiya RB67... Each shot is £3

It''s not always possible or ideal to shoot at f8 or f9, etc. I take a lot of hand held low light photos which forces me to use use large apertures(around f1.8) and highish ISOs.

You're solution to finding the sharpest setting is to change aperture and look at it?? Hmmmmm.

Hi Sir please suggest me which lens is better for my canon 80d, I need lense which has super wide as well as solve my purpose of portrait. Basically need one lense for portrait and landscape. Guide me. Thanks in advance

this is funny ,, funniest way to test or find the lens sweet spot ..OMG ... you are disaster on people who want to learn ,,, you are misleading them ,,, that's not good at all ...

Which Dry cabinet to buy out of these brands 1. Photron2.Andbon

First I thought the video would be just comparison of shots, but I want to see it till last. Yes its more than that, stating chromatic aberration & diffraction, helping us understanding our lens & providing a way to find sweet spot of lens is Awesome. Already subscribed. Thank you for sharing precious knowledge with us.

This video very useful can you explain what's f stop

Can you tell me with which camera and lens you shoot this video ?!. I like the sharpness and colour in this video :)

u mentioned to upload raws and share them ... cant find any link and plz do a landscape shoot with d850 ... to also include focus stacking using a 14-24mm lens

loved the video. quite informative and interesting. thanks for the video.

A shoot with a tripod indoors with fine lights and an extremely still subject didn’t allow me to learn anything. A model outdoors with minimal or no lights without a tripod would be a challenge. Is there a way to get more sharp images in these condition. If yes, can you make another video on it?

Sir can u make video flash gun ...every angle and lighting and its effects

Can you make same video using crop sensor dslr and show the details how that camera performance in prime lens

2 stops down for exceptional glass....otherwise trial and error

2 stops down for exceptional glass....otherwise trial and error

Very informative.... thank u sir... post more on apertures...

Sir, which is the best mobile phone camera ?? Plzz suggest

i just buy cannon 80d want to become professional need guidelines

Which tripod you have.. please explain about that..

So, is this sweet spot fixed for that particular lens? Or could it change with a large variation of distance to the subject?

If f9 is better sharpness , why 1.8f lense ppl take paying more

Thanks for this video!!! But the distance can’t affect the sweet spot?

Dear sir, If there are different focal length in lens say kit lens 18mm to 55mm, can we fine the best aperture for the lens as a whole or for particular lens?

Doesn't focal length plays an important role too? Or is it just mainly in manual since you have to dial in shutter speed?

Im addicting your “English pronounce”

Your voice is excellent Sir. Thanks for this video.

Weve all been rarely using these apertures because of the amount of light we lose also. Easy for him to say with a Rs.3 lakh camera that handles noise much better.

Simple demontration but effective thanks

but but but you are not using manual focus you should have take all the pictures from one fixed focus for consistency

was the s mode used? sir, u did not provide the basics at the beginning of video for laymen.