On 4 May 2007 11:39:40 -0700, LooksLikeRain
wrote:

I am a relative newbie to photography, and I have been trying to read
some good books to teach me the basics of exposure as well as
Photoshop CS2 tips and tricks. One question I have is regarding the
lens aperture in respect to the camera aperture. If my lens is only
rated for 3.4-5.6 aperture, then will it do me any good to set my
camera aperture to say f/11 or f/22 or is that just going to use the
minimum aperture the lens will allow of f/5.6?

You have to know a little lens-system history to realize how this
works (I'll use the Nikon system as an example, since I'm familiar
with it).

The original Nikon F lenses had a diaphragm that would be closed down
according to the aperture ring on the lens, but when mounted on the
camera, would be held open by a lever linkage. (This allowed for
full-aperture viewing.) When the shutter release was pressed, the
linkage would allow the diaphragm to stop down to the preset value,
for taking the picture. Then it would automatically open up again.

Starting with about the N2000 camera and the AIS lenses, the setting
of the aperture was transferred from the lens to the camera when using
certain program modes. That is, you would lock the lens at the minimum
aperture (say, f/22), and the camera would activate the proper
aperture by a differential motion of the linkage lever.

The G series lenses have done away with the aperture ring altogether,
and the aperture is set exclusively by the camera.

Now, to answer your question directly -- When you say your lens has a
"rated" 3.4-5.6 aperture, what you mean is that this is a zoom lens
with a *maximum* (widest) aperture of f/3.4 to f/5.6, depending on the
zoom (focal length) setting. What you should do is set the lens at the
*minimum* aperture (say, f/22). This will give the camera access to
the full range of apertures in the lens. (Remember, the lens starts
out fully open, and the camera stops it down the required amount
through the use of the linkage lever.) If, on the other hand, you set
the lens at f/5.6, the camera will not be able to stop it down smaller
than that no matter what it wants to do.

Think of the lens aperture ring as a limiter in the direction of
*larger* openings. If you don't have an aperture ring on your
particular lens, don't worry about it and just use the setting on the
camera.