Why are fotos blurry at small aperture?

Charlieangel · Apr 13, 2017

I have a new X-Pro2 with a 35mm F2 lens, and I've been playing around with the settings. I noticed that my photos are incredibly blurry when I set the aperture to 16, at short distances, taking photos in my small office. But also in backyard at bushes some 50ft away (when zoomed in on review). When I use a wide aperture, like F2, or when I set to auto aperture, everything is fine. Am I doing something wrong, or is there anything wrong with the camera, or is this normal? And if normal, then what are the small aperture settings used for?

Edmund Dorf · Apr 13, 2017

. . . the camera increases the amount of time that the shutter must stay open to get sufficient light to render the photo. Unless the camera is on a tripod, some camera movement takes place causing soft pictures.

Dekeita · Apr 13, 2017

or assuming OP understands that already, diffraction sets in at f11, which will decrease the sharpness

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm

Charlieangel · Apr 13, 2017

That makes sense, Edmund. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

Edmund Dorf · Apr 13, 2017

A couple of suggestions:

Set the iso to auto. The camera will raise the iso as needed however the pictures can get grainy as the iso goes up. Still a sharp picture with a little grain is better than a blurry picture with no grain. Grain can be reduced with post processing software.

Another suggestion is to shoot in Manual mode. Set the iso to Auto, the aperture to 5.6 and the shutter speed to 125 or even higher if there is good light. Most lenses are sharpest in the middle of the range of settings; somewhere around 5.6 should be close but you can try a lower or a higher setting and see what you get.

Charlieangel said:
That makes sense, Edmund. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

Charlieangel · Apr 13, 2017

Dekeita said:
or assuming OP understands that already, diffraction sets in at f11, which will decrease the sharpness

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm

Thanks Dekeita! Very interesting.

Cliff Fujii · Apr 13, 2017

Charlieangel said:
Dekeita said:

or assuming OP understands that already, diffraction sets in at f11, which will decrease the sharpness

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm

Click to expand...

Thanks Dekeita! Very interesting.

to counter act diffraction, you might try to run in LMO mode.

Charlieangel · Apr 13, 2017

Thanks again! Very useful.

I'm thinking, then, that the smaller aperture settings, like 16 or 22, are mainly useful in bright sunlight, when I want my photos to be in focus at all distances(?) A tripod would be useful if there's not bright sunlight. Am I on the right track here?

Any other times when a 16 or smaller aperture would be desirable?

Dekeita · Apr 13, 2017

yah that's the gist of it. No reason to go higher then like 5.6 on most lenses unless you want the extreme depth of field ( in focus at all distances)

Edmund Dorf · Apr 13, 2017

Blur can happen when you press the shutter button. You could set the timer to 2 seconds so any movement caused by the push of the button has a chance to resolve. Or you could get a remote shutter release so you don't actually touch the camera to activate the shutter. No touch, no movement.

DavidB2 · Apr 13, 2017

Charlieangel said:
Thanks again! Very useful.

I'm thinking, then, that the smaller aperture settings, like 16 or 22, are mainly useful in bright sunlight, when I want my photos to be in focus at all distances(?) A tripod would be useful if there's not bright sunlight. Am I on the right track here?

Any other times when a 16 or smaller aperture would be desirable?

Even when you are taking a landscape shot, f8 or f11 is often sufficient depth of field.

I recommend you read the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

Also, since taking photos and looking at the result on the camera or computer is "free" (no film to pay for!), take pictures at different f stops to see the results and start getting the feel of it.

Joachim Gerstl · Apr 13, 2017

Charlieangel said:
Thanks again! Very useful.

I'm thinking, then, that the smaller aperture settings, like 16 or 22, are mainly useful in bright sunlight, when I want my photos to be in focus at all distances(?) A tripod would be useful if there's not bright sunlight. Am I on the right track here?

In short: No. There is no need to shoot at such apertures to get everything in focus. Especially on a wide angle lens an aperture of f5.6 or f8 will give you already plenty of depth of field. There are DOF calculators on the internet to check your lens out. The only reason to use such apertures is to get a very long shutter speed to blur water. If you want sharp images you should better stay at normal apertures.

Charlieangel said:
Any other times when a 16 or smaller aperture would be desirable?

see above

plus there is a high chance that you will see every small dust particle if you shoot at extremely small apertures.

rlmack · Apr 14, 2017

Charlieangel said:
Any other times when a 16 or smaller aperture would be desirable?

Two I can think of.

When you need a slower shutter speed and reducing the aperture is the only way to get it because you don't have a filter. It's the difference between getting the shot you want or not, and putting up with the negative effects to get it.

At f16 and smaller you can get sun stars when shooting into the sun, and sometimes you just want a pretty sun star!

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Why are fotos blurry at small aperture?

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