Topic: f/8 and be there

[astrobeck]

Interesting, somewhat, article.
https://casualphotophile.com/2022/05/16/f8-and-be-there-origin-meaning/

I've never been an f/8 kind of shooter....
Anyone got any idea what that lens is in the photo in the middle of the article?

[Francois]

By looking at the bayonet, we can see that it's a lens that locks on the flange and not using a peg on the lens like Nikon and Minolta.
We know it's not a Canon FD as these are breech lock.

From the industrial design, I'd say it's a Yashica F/1.9. And a google search tells me it's a Yashica ML 50mm f/1.9 

[Pete_R]

Correct on the lens. It's not a great lens. The f/1.7 is better.

As for 'f/8 and be there', the writer doesn't understand exposure. I mean "and the shutter set to a general purpose speed". What?

The shutter should be set at the reciprocal of the film speed, just as with the sunny 16 rule.

[astrobeck]

Saying "general purpose" has always bugged me...it's like saying a standard size screen for a window. Too much fluff and not enough detail.

[02Pilot]

I've shot quite a bit without changing my exposure settings at all. For street photography with TriX or HP5, I normally focus at 10ft/3m, set the shutter to 1/125, and the aperture to f/8 or f/5.6. If it's a particularly dark day, I'll keep the settings and push the film. It's not perfect, but it doesn't have to be, and sometimes it's the difference between getting the shot and not.

One thing to consider re: Weegee is that he was shooting with a flash, which would have made results from relatively fixed settings far more consistent.

[Francois]

And also that the depth of field on a 4x5 is a lot different than on a 35mm for any given aperture.

And like Pete said, the Yashica 50mm f/1.7 is really good. It was my first lens on my first camera and I still have it.