When would you use f/22 ?

[Ottor]

OK, so perhaps except the long exposure .... under what conditions would you use such a small setting? I've actually never used such an extreme number, but think I'll play around a little..

r

[inkista]

I've only used f/22 for long exposures, as you've said. Most of the time, I prefer not to lose too much sharpness to diffraction effect, and on a crop body, f/16 gives me plenty o' depth of field.

[oldwolf]

Originally Posted by inkista

I've only used f/22 for long exposures, as you've said. Most of the time, I prefer not to lose too much sharpness to diffraction effect, and on a crop body, f/16 gives me plenty o' depth of field.

+1

I've only used it or higher for long exposures.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by oldwolf

+1

I've only used it or higher for long exposures.

I even try to throw another ND filter instead of stopping down.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I even try to throw another ND filter instead of stopping down.

Actually, I meant in conjunction with my 10-stop ND filter. It's the only way I can get down to 30-second exposures to erase people.

[RichardTaylor]

For me it is mainly when shooting extreme close ups of bugs etc to get some DOF

(1)

Canon 350D (Rebel XT) with Tokina 100mm F2.8 Macro lens.
ISO 400 1/6@F22 Natural light, tripod.

(2) 375mm with a on camera external flash. Hand held (Even @ F25 I have only a bit over 1/2" (12mm) DOF

Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/25.0
Focal Length 375 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired
Exposure Program Manual
Subject Distance 1.87 m (approx 6 feet)

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by inkista

Actually, I meant in conjunction with my 10-stop ND filter. It's the only way I can get down to 30-second exposures to erase people.

Exactly, but I'd prefer to just skip the f/22 altogether, open up to f/11 and throw another 3-stop on.

[Bluenoser]

As per RichardTaylor - Likewise for me - I use it sometimes when doing Macro to maximize DOF. Usually f16 covers what I want but there are occasions where f22 is required.

[ravncat]

Depending on the lens, the smallest aperture setting, such as f22, can also be used for making sunstars...

(and +1 on the macro comments or when you need more time)

Occasionally f22 is the only way to get enough depth of field that it is worth the diffraction effects (which aren't so bad if you don't intend to print large

[meadmaker]

I just flipped through lightroom's filter by aperture, and here are some of the times I've used f/22:

• Photographing a belly dancer. I wanted a slow enough shutter speed to capture the movement.
• Creating silhouettes. f/22 would prevent any detail from emerging from the near side of a backlit object.
• Trying to create reflections in water. Much like the belly dancer, a slow shutter speed is useful here. If you have a long exposure, then individual waves in water don't break up the reflection.
• Some times when I've been using flash indoors. This was mostly as I was learning to use controlled lighting and had the flashes set higher than I needed.
• Creating depth of field in a landscape, where I wanted things both a few feet away and at infinity to be in focus.
• Creating motion blur with water.
• When I was capturing some water droplets (such as here), the flash combined with the reflectivity of the water made me stop down quite a lot.