ƒ1.8 Is a Waste of Aperture

Ok, so not always, but I seem to rarely use it any more. And when I do, it's usually for artistic results. On my Canon EF50mm ƒ1.8(yeah, the cheap one), the DOF(Depth of Field) at ƒ1.8 is barely over an inch. However the bokeh is outstanding, even with the 5 blade pentastar look.

This is fine if your photographing insects, very small items, or even landscapes. But if your shooting a portrait, your model has to be facing the lens. If you try to pose them in a side shot, or even a look over a shoulder, the near eye will be clearly in focus while the far eye will be consumed in bokeh.

In studio, I rarely use a wider aperture than ƒ5.6 when photographing people. I like to have their whole head in the DOF.

The first pic, and all pics on this post, was taken with my EF50mm ƒ1.8 at an aperture setting of ƒ10.

This next pic was taken with an aperture setting of ƒ5 outside with a shutter speed of 1/400th. The bokeh is pretty smooth looking throughout the background. If you look close near the upper left corner you can see the 5 blade reflection off of a vehicle. No ƒ1.8 wide open aperture here.





Here is a pic of one of my lenses at wide open ƒ1.8 and a shutter of 1/125.





And another to show how shallow the DOF really is. ƒ1.8 and 1/1250th






As you can see, ƒ1.8 is a great tool to have. I just won't be employing it that often.