G9: aperture only shuts down to f8

HI - I have a G9 which on the whole serves me well. One of major gripes is that aperture only goes to f8. accodrding to instructions will go to f11 when in automatic mode, but since it seems to always prioritise shutter speed over aperture, i've yet to find any situation where you get this (and evne then f11 is hardly brilliant).

Not seedn this discussed or mentioned in the reviews. are the newer cameras any better?

What benefit are you understanding a smaller aperture will give you?

With a small sensor camera there is no advantage to a smaller aperture and in fact my understanding is diffraction will set in much sooner. Thats were the ND filter comes into play, allowing slowing shutter speeds without diffraction effects.

Ditto on that last post, f/8 is about all you need on the G9. After that, it's all downhill.
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Ken

Depth of field........ F stop.
The higher the number the deeper.....
The lower the number the more shallow........

However with a zoom lens vs fixed,the depth of field on the deep end (high F stop) value,is not such a challenge....

There are times with a fixed lens,when a F stop of 18 or 22 would be desirable.

I'm commenting as per film camera use...
The digital equivalent has escaped me so far... I can't afford them.....
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Being blessed with sight,does not bestow seeing.
Sir,Hamington

I've read that with the G series, f 8.0 is about the same as f 22. with a DSLR. I've never tested that (and wouldn't know how to do an accurate test) but I can say that f 8.0 with my G9 gives me a much deeper field of view than f 8.0 from my 50D.

If you need a higher f stop in order to allow a longer exposure (for flowing water or something similar) the built0in neutral density filter in the G series works very well! Beyond that, you'd need an add-on neutral density filter or a (linear) polarizing filter.

I've also read that with the G series, diffraction begins at approximately f 4.0. It is certainly quite noticeable at f 8.0. The "sweet spot" of the lens in supposedly f 4.0.

Bill