D300 APERTURE PRIORITY

When using Aperture Priority on the D300 and 85mm/F1.4 and 18-200 mm lenses,

what should be the settings on the lenses. Would be grateful for valuable

guidance from the forum pros. Thank you.

The aperture should be set to the one that provides the desired depth of field. It's a

creative choice, not a technical one. A low f-number for shallow depth of field, a higher

one for great depth of field. Avoid the smallest (highest f-number) aperture, though,

unless you really need the maximum possible depth of field, as you trade off sharpness

because of diffraction at very small apertures.

 

If you're referring to the aperture ring on the lens, it should be set to the minimum

aperture and locked with the locking tab, same as with any other autoexposure-capable

Nikon SLR. The aperture is set on the body with the command dial.

Well the best thing to do is to set the lenses to f22 and use the body to select the aperture. This is what you will have to do unless you enable a custom function. I always try to shoot around f8. If I need extra depth of field I go to f11 or f16. But f8 is my target for overall image quality.

Thanks a lot, gentlemen - that answers my query.

"I always try to shoot around f8. If I need extra depth of field I go to f11 or f16. But f8 is

my

target for overall image quality."

 

Dave, I'm sure you meant to say the above statement when you would like everything in

the image to be sharp.

 

If photographing a portrait with the 85mm f/1.4 - a setting around f/2-2.5 will

yield nice focus on the subjects face while rendering the background into creamy bokeh.