F8 and Be There

Walking around today, I’m finding that the old axiom “f/8 and be there” really does make sense. I can appreciate f/8 as a general-purpose aperture. With a 28mm lens, it typically delivers deep depth of field, which is helpful, and it’s a solid f-stop for range focusing.

That said, I’m also appreciating f/11, which almost turns the camera into a point-and-shoot. At f/11 I’m getting results that not only have character, but also very good resolution from the files. I’m seeing relatively little difference in contrast, microcontrast, or the overall look and feel of the photos at f/11.

Given the Leica M10 Monochrome’s tremendous latitude in dynamic range, and the fact that I’m using Auto ISO, I can get usable results well into the 25,000+ ISO range. In some cases, f/16 is also quite usable. I’ve used f/16 a number of times and never really had an issue.

I’ve heard about diffraction problems at smaller apertures, but I’m not sure I’m seeing them in the files—at least not on my screen. It’s possible they would become more obvious in prints or at much larger sizes, but I’m not seeing a huge quality drop-off. I’ve tested this on both the Leica Elmarit 28 and the Voigtländer Ultron f/2 28mm lenses.

Going forward, especially as it gets lighter with spring and longer daylight hours, I think there’s plenty of ambient and overhead light to support f/11—particularly in bright, high-contrast conditions, even with snow on the ground. And even when the light isn’t all that great, I’m going to try to stick to f/11 for a while. I think it will help me fiddle less with the camera and think more about composition.