When shooting with a given lens, how do you know which aperture is optimal for your creative vision?

Let’s say you want shallow dof, is there a place where you can learn that the sweet spot for dof and sharpness for a given lens model is when it’s stopped down by 1/2 stop?  

Conversely, where would you go to learn that a given lens model goes soft after f/11?

Sure, you could create a test rig, take tons of pictures with each at every aperture and inspect them with a magnifying glass, but that seems awfully inefficient.

Thanks and I look forward to everyone’s guidance and insights…

  • KidElder@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Composition and lighting over worrying about pixels and sharpness any day of the week.

    If I need to use f/2 or f/16 for the shot, I use it for the shot.

    99.9% of the people won’t notice any slight difference in sharpness because they will be remarking how they like my composition.

    You’re focusing on the wrong part of photography. All modern lenses for the last 30 years are good enough to take great pictures if you have a good composition and the right lighting for it.