How to find my camera's sharpest aperature.

[Jay Elle Eff]

Could someone please explain, or point me to a link, how to work out what is the sharpest aperature for my camera/lens. I'm sure I've read a post somewhere here on dps, but I can't find it. Much appreciated.

[i speak in math]

Originally Posted by Jay Elle Eff

Could someone please explain, or point me to a link, how to work out what is the sharpest aperature for my camera/lens. I'm sure I've read a post somewhere here on dps, but I can't find it. Much appreciated.

is there anything you are forgetting to tell us?

[mshockley]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

is there anything you are forgetting to tell us?

.................

[mshockley]

Just a couple articles you might try......

Sharpest Aperature

Finding your lens sweet spot

[Jay Elle Eff]

My apologies...
At the moment my gear is very basic: Canon 60D twin lens kit (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, EF-S 55-250mm f/4.5-5.6 IS). I'm at that point where friends and family like my photos, and I've taken some reasonably good ones, but I know there is sooooo much more to learn.

[mshockley]

As a general rule of thumb, if your lens’ widest aperture is f/ 2.8, your sweet spot should be f/ 5.6. If your lens’ widest aperture is f/ 4, it’s sharpest aperture should be f/8. Note that I said "should be"!

Generally speaking, your lens’ sweet spot is 2 stops above its widest aperture

[ArmySoldier777]

Originally Posted by mshockley

As a general rule of thumb, if your lens’ widest aperture is f/ 2.8, your sweet spot should be f/ 5.6. If your lens’ widest aperture is f/ 4, it’s sharpest aperture should be f/8. Note that I said "should be"!

Generally speaking, your lens’ sweet spot is 2 stops above its widest aperture

That is a good general rule of thumb , and you'll find that most of the time it's pretty close to being true.

There are exceptions though, as mshockley hinted at. I know my nifty fifty, f1.8, tends to break that rule. While it has a couple sweetspots, it's sharpest is at F/8

[Jay Elle Eff]

Thanks everyone for your help.

[Steve_S]

On the 18-55, f//8 to f/11...............on the 55-250, f/5.6 to f/8 for the lower half of the zoom and f/8 to f/11 on the upper half of the zoom.

[ArmySoldier777]

Ya know... this is making me wonder if we should start a thread on the sharpest aperture for individual lenses.. Hmmm