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Examples of the effect of different shutter speeds on the crispness & detail of the moon; and, the relationship between the moon & a light cloud layer.

on October 05, 2010

moon photography night photography shutter speeds

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Full Moon rises over Mount Rainier at Sunset

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The f in f-stop stands for "focal length". Focal length is the length of a lens (18mm, 50mm, 200mm, etc.) The notation f/4 is a shorthand notation for the diameter of a lens opening, where focal length is divided by 4. F-stops show a ratio of the relationship of focal length to lens opening. Here is Ansel Adam's explanation, from his book, The Camera : “The lens aperture is simply the diameter of the lens opening, expressed as a fraction of its focal length. Thus a lens of 4-inch focal length with a diameter of one inch has a relative aperture of 4/1, or 4. The aperture designation is expressed as f/4, indicating that the aperture is the focal length/4. Another 4-inch lens that has a diameter of 1/2 inch would be an f/8 lens.” Adams, Ansel. The Camera . Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980: 46. Some examples: A 200mm lens whose aperture diameter is 50mm has an f-stop of f/4 200/50 = 4 A 200mm lens whose aperture diameter is 25mm has an f-stop of f/8 200/25...

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