aperture
Lens's adjustable hole
An aperture is an opening or hole, especially one that admits light.
In photography and optics, aperture refers specifically to the adjustable opening in a lens that controls how much light reaches the film or sensor: shooting at a wide aperture for shallow depth of field.
The word appears in technical contexts—telescope apertures, aperture cards in microfilm systems—but always retains the core sense of a gap through which something passes.
Lens opening ratio
- lensLight-focusing curved glass
- shutterHinged window covering
- exposureState of being unprotected
- bokehAesthetic quality of defocus
focus · diaphragm · iris · stops · wide-open · diffraction · vignetting · blade
Bodily passage entrance
vent · perforation · pore · crack · fissure · crevice · inlet · outlet
Learner or eye opening
- irisEye's pigmented disc
- eyeOrgan of sight
- retinaLight-sensing tissue layer
- dilationWidening of an opening
constriction · pinhole · accommodation · ocular · sphincter · dilated · contracted · photoreceptor
Unfilled space between
- openingGap or start
- windowGlass-fitted wall opening
- technicalityPrecise procedural point
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
escape · outlet · dodge · contrivance · exception
f-stop
Lens opening ratio
bokeh · focus · diaphragm · iris · stops · wide-open · diffraction · vignetting · blade · circular
orifice
Bodily passage entrance
cavity · vent · perforation · pore · crack · fissure · crevice · inlet · outlet · slit
pupil
Learner or eye opening
dilation · constriction · pinhole · accommodation · ocular · sphincter · dilated · contracted · photoreceptor
gap
Unfilled space between
- openingGap or start
- windowGlass-fitted wall opening
- technicalityPrecise procedural point
ambiguity · escape · outlet · dodge · contrivance · exception
counter
Flat service surface
- lens apertureOpening controlling light entry
- aperture priorityPhotographer chooses f-stop only