Do you shoot wide open?

[Turbonetics]

Having a fast lens does not means u must shoot wide open,it is there when u need it at times imo.
most lenses sweet spot are usually a few stop down.
even though the 70-200mm II is already sharp wide open,it is even sharper when stopping down.
afterall it is what the photographer wants to achieve in a photo.

 

[shaylou]

If I didn't need or want to shoot at f/2.8 I'd get all f/4 glass saving a tone of money.

That's not really the point it's not a matter of need or want, it's about shooting wide open.. Actually on my 70-200 I shoot most people at 3.5. So if I started at F4 (to save money) I would still feel the need to stop it down and probably end up around f5 or so. So the wider the lens the better it is for me.

 

[shaylou]

can you post an example with exif data

Not really because like I said I don't shoot wide open.lol. I think it comes down to personal preference. It's kind of like how much a person will push their iso.

 

[simonblue]

I mainly shoot between say F5.6 & F8

 

[shaylou]

I shoot wide open if I need a shallow dof - I often wonder how many alledgedly soft shots are actually a result of the small dof wide open and people missing focus.


If there was a focus problem it would show up at F3.5 too. I'm not perfect I miss focus from time to time but that is not an issue for the most part. Plus this was really a question to get the opinions of others on whether they feel that shooting wide open provides acceptable results. The majority say yes.

 

[The23rdman]

Using wide apertures is creative rather than being strictly shallow DoF.

I didn't say otherwise. I said I use light of dof for that instead. I should have said I use light for subject separation instead dof.

 

[wave01]

i think it should be the op who i wanted to post an example

 

[sk66]

I shoot a lot of wildlife, BIF mostly... DOF is equally, or more important than SS for me. When you are talking about fast moving subjects that challenge the best AF systems, having more DOF can really help. And sharpness matters more than SS IMO. I'd rather get sharp face/eyes and blurred wings than an overall softer frozen image. I would say the same of most subjects.

I almost never shoot wide open unless I absolutely have to. I'll push the ISO first...that's why I use a D4.
I'll use wide aperture when I have to due to lack of light or separation requirements...but with long lenses you don't always need to be "wide" to have shallow DOF (or the appearance of it).