42 Discoveries – What I know Photography

#3 VISIBLE f-STOPS

Choose a camera system whose lenses have an aperture ring with painted-on f-stop numbers that click through from the widest end of the range (such as f2) to the smallest (usually f16 or f22). 

Most non-professional cameras will have the aperture control on a thumbwheel on the camera body itself, so you see the settings in the viewfinder. But there’s no substitute for glancing down at your camera before raising it to your eye to see where the aperture is set. The rule of thumb is that you want it anywhere within the sweet range (see 25) unless you have a subject that calls for an exception. Or maybe the last picture you took was one of these exceptions, so now the aperture setting is inappropriate. Either way, by the time the camera’s viewfinder reaches your eye you’ll be on the right setting, no missed opportunities while you run through numbers on the screen.