Aperture in Macro 2

This is a specific test to try different apertures in close up, near 1:1 lifesize. You can slide the sliders to compare different apertures. What seems clear is that the tips of the pine needles stand out best closer to a wide open aperture, and the dramatic sense of depth is lost down at f11 and beyond. But this test does not indicate that you should always be shooting near wide open when doing this sort of macro work: if the subject were an insect you might NEED much more depth of field to get what you want.

Each combination of focal length, distance, aperture, and subject has its own requirements. I suggest running tests like these to get a sense of what works when you are not under pressure to get results.

COMPARE to this test where the background is far off, where best aperture is much different.

spruce needles at f2.8
spruce needles at f4
spruce needles at 5.6
spruce needles at f8
spruce needles at f11
spruce needles at f16
spruce needles at f22
spruce needles at f32
spruce needles at f2.8
spruce needles at f4
spruce needles at 5.6
spruce needles at f8
spruce needles at f11
spruce needles at f16
spruce needles at f22
spruce needles at f32
spruce needles at f2.8
spruce needles at f4
spruce needles at 5.6
spruce needles at f8
spruce needles at f11
spruce needles at f16
spruce needles at f22
spruce needles at f32
Left
Right

At f2.8 the tips on certain needles stand out as in focus, but the depth of field is very shallow.

At f4 we still have a dramatic quality but with a bit more depth of field.

At f5.6 the depth of field vs drama might be maxed out: at smaller apertures the dramatic shallow focus look is lost.

f8 is a usually a reliable guess at 1:1, but in this case might be too small an aperture as the shallow focus drama is mostly lost.

f11 has so much depth that the image loses most of it's appeal.

f16 way too much depth of field for dramatic look. But for a butterfly, where depth is needed, f16 works well.

butterfly

 

f22, which can work well to isolate an insect against distant background, fails.

f32, the smallest aperture this lens can give us, give us the most depth of field but the least drama.

At f2.8 the tips on certain needles stand out as in focus, but the depth of field is very shallow.

At f4 we still have a dramatic quality but with a bit more depth of field.

At f5.6 the depth of field vs drama might be maxed out: at smaller apertures the dramatic shallow focus look is lost.

f8 is a usually a reliable guess at 1:1, but in this case might be too small an aperture as the shallow focus drama is mostly lost.

f11 has so much depth that the image loses most of it's appeal.

f16 way too much depth of field for dramatic look. But for a butterfly, where depth is needed, f16 works well.

butterfly

 

f22, which can work well to isolate an insect against distant background, fails.

f32, the smallest aperture this lens can give us, give us the most depth of field but the least drama.