From the course: What Video Camera Should I Buy?

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Lenses and aperture

Lenses and aperture

From the course: What Video Camera Should I Buy?

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Lenses and aperture

- In order to get proper exposure, you need to figure out how much light needs to be allowed to pass through the lens, so you can clearly see your subject, your shadows and your highlights. Something to consider when purchasing a lens is how wide it opens. Like a water faucet, the more you open a valve, the more water passes through the spout. Lenses are similar. As you open up the blades inside the lens, the more light passes through. This is called the aperture. As you can see here, the blades open and close as I increase and decrease the aperture. A number that tells how wide the aperture is is called the f-stop. The lower the number, like 2.8, the wider the aperture blades are, letting in more light. The higher the number, like f/16, the tighter the aperture blades are, restricting light coming in. Another thing to think about is how many blades make up the aperture. A higher blade count will make the circle more perfectly round. This is a big deal, because something beautiful…

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