One way to control sharpness in a picture is with the aperture. T or F?

Question

Please answer True or False, and the reason.

Answer 1

While the reply tends to be "true" for purposes of the surrounding area (depth of field: degree of focus of foreground/background), there are other factors to consider. What the lens is focused on will determine some of the "sharpness" because if you focus on a distant subject, the foreground MAY be out of focus, depending on whether or not you have a wide-angle lens or a long telephoto lens, and the glass of the lens (quality glass yields better detail, of course) and also if the aperture is small it tends to increase the depth of field and the shutter speed may be long if the light is dim to begin with but you'd need the use of a tripod and a cable release to prevent camera shake as you remove your finger when the shutter is tripped or from your breathing while handholding.... and if the subject is stationary or moving should be considered (how fast or slow vs shutter speed can determine how sharp or blurred the image will result).

Answer 2

True, but its one of many factors.

Aperture controls depth of field and light entering the camera. A deeper depth of field (ideal aperture setting) will only assure that the foreground and background could be in focus if that is what the photographer intends to do.

Sharpness is mainly a result of focusing. Aperture affects both light entering the camera and depth of field. A large aperture results is more light entering the lens (ergo, faster shutter speed) and a shallow depth of field (which means that the subject will be "sharp" and the background blurred). A smaller aperture opening will result to less light entering the lens and a deep depth of field (all will be focused - subject and background).

Other factors affecting sharpness is proper metering (enough light entering the lens). An over or underexposed photo is definitely not sharp. Then there's camera shake by the photographer. There's also poor color accuity that renders fotos "dull" colorwise as a result of poor white balance setting.

Answer 3

True,aperture is one way to control the sharpness of an image, although like the previous post said, there are other factors as well. History lesson, back in the 1930s Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunnigham and a few other photographers started a group called F64 The meaning of the name is defined as the minimum aperture size of the technical cameras(also called view cameras http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera) used by members of the group which provided maximum SHARPNESS and depth of field. http://www.f64.co.il/english/
So on the other hand there are ways to get maximum depth of field and sharpness that doesn't require F64 or F90 apertures(35mm cameras cant have such small apertures because using small actual apertures like F64 and above results in a loss of image quality because of diffraction effects. http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa072202b.htm ) .

Anyhow, there are cases where you can achieve great depth of field and sharpness regardless of aperture size and this is called the Scheimflug Principle. Using a view camera and setting the camera to say a relatively large aperture such as 5.6 and tilting the front lens you can achieve good depth and sharpness. The principle is stated as follows; When an oblique tangent is extended from the film plane, and another is extended from the lens plane, they meet at a point. To get the correct focus on a subject, a plane formed by the desired area of critical focus within the subject(s) should, if extended, intersect with the previously explained point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle

Answer 4

I think there is no way that aperture can "CONTROL" picture sharpness. Only focus and camera stability can CONTROL picture sharpness. For example, if the object is one foot away from the camera, and your camera focus on 9 feet, there is no way you can use aperture to CONTROL the sharpness. I mean the word CONTROL is very strong, like focus can CONTROL the sharpness in a picture, and aperture CONTROLs the depth of field, and affects the sharpness. I would give it a False because the word "CONTROL"

Answer 5

Every lens has an optimum aperature. It is USUALLY 2 to 3 stops smaller than the largest opening. Lenses at their smallest aperatures almost never perform at their highest resolution!
Nine times out of ten however, if your images are soft it is because of focusing errors or using a shutter speed that is too slow.
An advanced custom darkroom technician will sometimes use the enlarger's aperature to control the grain during the printing process. The smaller lens openings help to control grain in the final print without reducing the overall "sharpness" of the final print by reducing the sharpness of the enlarging lens. This process reguires a grain magnifier, but is VERY enlightening when it comes to learning about lens performance.

Answer 6

If you are looking for corner to corner and edge to edge sharpness, the shutter speed and aperture will work into the equation. However the main aspect is the focusing of the lens. The lens will focus on your subject, the shutter speed and aperture will control the depth of field.

Answer 7

aperture is used mainly to control depth of field. In combination
with shutter speed aperture can help reduce blurr. the only real cure for poor sharpness is good glass and a good tripod. Also make sure you use a cable release to remove any camera movement.

Answer 8

sharpness has more to do with shutter speed and film speed than appeture which is more used for depth of field. use a fast shutter speed like 1/125 or more if you want to be sure your picture will be sharp. A good rule to go by is that whatever film speed you are using your shutter speed should be no less than half of that number if you want to hand hold your camera- that's what my photo teacher told me. hope that helps.

Answer 9

True. Lens performance is usually sharpest at its "sweetspot" usually 2 stops down from maximum. Minor focus erros can be hidden by the increased depth of field.. Shooting wide open is virtually the worst setting for sharpness. Shooting closed down can sometimes bring diffraction into play.

Answer 10

True