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?

There's only one aperture. Generally speaking, you set it on the camera,
and the camera changes it in the lens.

Note that the aperture is a fraction: f/whatever. The minimum aperture
is the *smallest* aperture, which means the smallest fraction. The
minimum for your lens is probably f/22, though some lenses go to f/32
and smaller. f/3.4 is the maximum (largest) aperture for that lens.

The f/3.4-5.6 part tells us that the maximum aperture gets smaller the
more you zoom in, from f/3.4 to f/5.6. Most kit lenses do, and even many
pro-level ones. Some expensive zoom lenses are referred to as 'constant
aperture' lenses, which means their maximum aperture doesn't change as
you zoom in and out.

HTH.

--
http://www.xoverboard.com/cartoons/2..._argument.html