Beginner What do you give up with lower aperature (higher f-number)

[totalwise]

Everything is photography is sacrifice one thing for another.

I'm doing product photography for my ecommerce store. So I take photos with high f numbers on a trip with high lighting. For me, getting the full product in focus is important. Unless I'm going for an artistic shot.

Ususally you sacrifice one thing for another. What do you lose when you decide to get everything in focus? I know higher exposure time is obvious, you need higher lighting as well. But does the smaller aperature cause quality loss at all?

 

[ecoleman]

It depends on what aperture you’re shooting at and what camera you’re using. Diffraction can be an issue at narrower apertures which will indeed reduce image quality.

I’m a landscape photographer shooting in a full frame sensor so I will not normally go above f11 although I could possibly get away with f16 in a pinch. Shooting on a medium format or large format camera will allow you to use apertures of f32 and higher.

What Is Lens Diffraction?

In this article, we will explore the topic of lens diffraction in detail and talk about different techniques you can utilize to avoid it.

photographylife.com

 

[john.margetts]

Diffraction (not refraction) will cause slight image softening at small apertures (large f/numbers) but this will not ever be a problem for product pictures to be viewed on a computer screen. Your customers are not going to pixel-peeping the pictures.

 

[ecoleman]

Diffraction (not refraction) will cause slight image softening at small apertures (large f/numbers) but this will not ever be a problem for product pictures to be viewed on a computer screen. Your customers are not going to pixel-peeping the pictures.

Yep, already fixed that mistake.

 

[totalwise]

I normally go f22 just to get the whole product in focus. I'm very new to this, I noticed on my email photos (before I knew anything about aperature) that the ones with wider aperature (lower f numbers) the bit that is in focus really pops

 

[d00d]

Time is on your side.

 

[woof woof]

I suppose the aperture you need to get the product within the depth of field will depend on the camera gear and settings and also the size of the product you're photographing and the size of the picture you're going to produce and how it's going to be viewed.

If you have the time it may help to take a series of pictures starting at a wider aperture and stopping down the aperture in each subsequent picture. You can then assess the results and see what gives the best results for you. Sometimes adding some extra contrast post capture may make things look a little better but I think it's worth thinking about how far you really need to stop down and going no further.

 

[ancient_mariner]

Use a wide aperture to isolate the subject from the background. Use a small one to keep the scene as a single unit.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I normally go f22 just to get the whole product in focus. I'm very new to this, I noticed on my email photos (before I knew anything about aperature) that the ones with wider aperature (lower f numbers) the bit that is in focus really pops

Diffraction limitation isn't an on/off thing that isn't there at one aperture and is at another, but there is a point at which it starts to become a problem. On a full-frame camera it isn't at problem at f/16 or larger but starts to become a problem at apertures smaller than f/16, and then gets progressively worse. But I see that you're using a camera with an APS-size sensor, and you shouldn't go smaller than f/11 - diffraction limitation will certainly create image softening at f/22.

Also, all lenses tend to have their sweet spot, and with most lenses that sweet spot is usually at about 2 stops less than its widest aperture, so (for example) if your max aperture is f/2.8 then the best performance will usually be at about f/5.6 and any aperture much larger or smaller will generally be less good..

But, there are other important considerations too; I get the feeling from your first post that you're using continuous lighting (a very bad idea for product photography, you should be using studio flash instead) and if you are using continuous lighting then a small aperture will require you to use a slow shutter speed, which will almost certainly cause some degree of camera shake, or a high ISO, which will create its own image quality problems, or both.

 

[Mauri3205]

Wouldn’t a focus rail help here? You can shoot at whatever aperture gives you the sharpest results and with a focus rail you can get a few shots of the jewellery and use software to combine.