Editing Camera (section)

==== Aperture ====
{{Main|Aperture}}
[[File: Lenses with different apertures.jpg|thumb|Different apertures of a lens]]

Light enters the camera through an aperture, an opening adjusted by overlapping plates called the aperture ring.<ref name="Columbia">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=camera|encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia|publisher=Columbia University Press|url=https://www.pin1.harvard.edu/pin/authenticate?__authen_application=HUL_ACC_MGMT_SVC&__hulaccess_gateway=ezproxy&__hulaccess_resource=zorecord&__hulaccess_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Ftopic%2Fcamera|last=Columbia University|date=2018|editor=Paul Lagasse|edition=8|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="How-Stuff-Works">{{Cite web|title=How Cameras Work|url=https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camera.htm/printable|access-date=13 December 2019|work=How Stuff Works|date=21 March 2001|archive-date=14 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214060333/https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camera.htm/printable|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Dawn">Laney, Dawn A. ..BA, MS, CGC, CCRC. “Camera Technologies.” ''Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science'', June 2020. Accessed 6 February 2022.</ref> Typically located in the lens,<ref name="Warren-Camera">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Camera: An Overview|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of twentieth-century photography|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|date=2006|editor=Lynne Warren|isbn=978-1-57958-393-4}}</ref> this opening can be widened or narrowed to alter the amount of light that strikes the film or sensor.<ref name="Columbia" />  The size of the aperture can be set manually, by rotating the lens or adjusting a dial or automatically based on readings from an internal light meter.<ref name="Columbia" />

As the aperture is adjusted, the opening expands and contracts in increments called [[f-number|''f-stops'']].{{efn|These f-stops are also referred to as ''f-numbers'', ''stop numbers'', ''steps'' or ''stops''. The f-number is the focal length of the lens divided by the diameter of the effective aperture.}}<ref name="Columbia" /> The smaller the f-stop, the more light is allowed to enter the lens, increasing the exposure. Typically, f-stops range from {{f/}}1.4 to {{f/}}32{{Efn|Theoretically, they can extend to {{f/}}64 or higher.<ref name="Dawn" />}} in standard increments: 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, and 32.<ref name="Britannica-Technology">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=technology of photography|encyclopedia=Britannica Academic|url=https://academic-eb-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/levels/collegiate/article/technology-of-photography/108552#36407.toc|access-date=13 December 2019|url-access=subscription|archive-date=10 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110043035/https://www.pin1.harvard.edu/cas/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fkey-idp.iam.harvard.edu%2Fidp%2FAuthn%2FExternal%3Fconversation%3De1s1%26entityId%3Dezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu%2Flts%2Fezproxyprod%2Fsp#36407.toc|url-status=live}}</ref> The light entering the camera is halved with each increasing increment.<ref name="Warren-Camera" />[[File:Daisies-Focus.jpg|thumb|right|The distance range in which objects appear clear and sharp, called ''[[depth of field]]'', can be adjusted by many cameras. This allows a photographer to control which objects appear in focus, and which do not.|alt=An image of flowers, with one in focus. The background is out of focus.]]

The wider opening at lower f-stops narrows the range of focus so the background is blurry while the foreground is in focus. This [[depth of field]] increases as the aperture closes. A narrow aperture results in a high depth of field, meaning that objects at many different distances from the camera will appear to be in focus.<ref name="Warren-35mm">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Camera: 35&nbsp;mm|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of twentieth-century photography|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|date=2006|editor=Lynne Warren|isbn=978-1-57958-393-4}}</ref> What is acceptably in focus is determined by the [[circle of confusion]], the photographic technique, the equipment in use and the degree of magnification expected of the final image.<ref>{{cite book|title=The British Journal Photographic Almanac|date=1956|publisher=Henry Greenwood and Co. Ltd|pages= 468–471}}</ref>