My father recently passed away. Thinking about his death and the impact he made in my life, distance memories surfaced. Memories of the things dad said to me over the years. Years before I went into photography I was watching dad going through some of his own junk and he came across an old view camera. He picked it up and turned it over a few times as he examined it. Has he took his final look he said, “F8 is great”. My father wasn't a photographer and at the time either was I. I did not know what he meant by his comment or even what F8 was. However, for some reason, that simple quote stuck. “F8 is great.”
When I finally got into photography and after learning the ropes, what dad said to me years earlier finally started to make sense. Without getting into the purpose behind a camera's aperture, F8 is in the center of the aperture scale. While teaching photography to my students (or anyone willing to listen) I have always told them that when in doubt, set the camera to F8. It is harder to go wrong with F8. Personally, I try and shoot wide open and don't set my aperture to F8 often (depending on what I'm shooting of course) but F8 is kind of an easy way to get a good capture of the subject you're photographing. Back in the old view camera days, it was harder to get a sharper focus and obviously the film being used wasn't as sensitive as later higher speed films. Therefore, using the center aperture of the scale was more desirable. That center can be as helpful when using today's cameras as well.
Years back I gave my daughter one of my first DSLRs I was no longer using. Has I handed it over to her I said in passing, “F8 is great”. She didn't ask and I didn't explain what I meant. She rarely uses that camera anymore and instead snaps pictures with her IPhone. I wonder if she'll remember that quote when I'm gone. F8 IS pretty great. Thanks dad.