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Articles Table of Contents   Page 1: Keep and Use Classic Lenses For an Unusual Look Page 2: Shoot One and Only One Subject Page 3: Shoot One Lens, and Not a Zoom Page 4: Choosing a Lens by Focal Length Page 5: Fast Lenses—Shutter Speeds / Background Blur (Bokeh) Page 6: Shoot a Fast Lens at Dusk or Dawn Page 7: Blur Can Be Beautiful Page 8: Making Sharp Photos Handheld Page 9: Shoot Another Format (Size or Aspect Ratio) Page 10: Use Manual Exposure for Perfect Results Page 11: White Balance Tools Page 12: Understand Perspective and Size Variance Page 13: Look For Natural Patterns Page 14: Depth of Field Is Oh-So-Shallow Page 15: Depth of Field—How Far To Stop Down Page 16: Depth of Field and Megapixels Page 17: Never Go Traveling Without a Backup Camera Page 18: Don’t Assume a New Lens is Good! Page 19: Infinity Focus Requires Care! Page 20: How to Carry Large and Heavy Lenses Page 21: Shooting Tip: Use Mirror Lockup Page 22: Shooting Tip: Aurora Borealis Page 23: Shooting Tip: Grizzly Bear vs Black Bear Scat Page 24: A brief glossary of photographic terms

Fast Lenses—Shutter Speeds / Background Blur (Bokeh)

A “fast” lens has a large maximum “f” number (small numerically) eg f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2. A large aperture allows higher shutter speeds because it delivers a much brighter image.

A really fast lens is one like the Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux, reviewed as part of my Leica M9 review in DAP.

Background blur

Blurring the background is a big advantage of a fast lens. It allows the subject to stand out. See this page.

Fast shutter speeds

For the image below, a typical consumer zoom lens would have required 1/5 second at ~f/5 instead of the 1/60 second made possible by f/1.4. That’s one major advantage of a fast lens.

Shooting this scene under heavy foliage late in the day, the “fast” f/1.4 maximum aperture of the Zeiss ZE 85mm f/1.4 Planar came in handy at (1/60 sec).

Depth of field

Of course, there is no free lunch. Using a lens with a f/1.4 aperture at f/1.4 presents certain challenges in getting accurate focus, not to mention subjects moving at the same time. I shot a 2nd frame where I nailed the focus on the gander’s eye at left, and with the head turned just the best angle into the light—but the other ducks did not line up as directed.

Boy, that eagle would enjoy one of those fat city ducks...!