The easiest factor to understand which influences your exposure is your shutter speed. Have you ever taken a photo of your pet, or even your friend, while he/she was running around? And how did that photo turn out? Blurry? Simply a lucky guess, right? Well, not really… We will explain to you how this works as easy and as straightforward as we can. Before you know it, you will be rapid-firing that camera of yours to freeze those moments in time.
What is a shutter?
First, let’s discuss what exactly a shutter is. In front of your digital sensor, your camera uses a shutter mechanism to control the time that the light, which passes through your lens, hits your sensor for it to be recorded. See, when light hits an object, a part of it gets absorbed, and a part of it gets reflected. The latter share is what gets recorded by the camera as it hits the sensor. As the process of light bouncing of your subject is a continuous process, your sensor also is in a continuous process of recording, for as long as your shutter is opened.
Reading your shutter speed
Your shutter is able to move at a fraction of a second to block any excess light from hitting your sensor. Your shutter speed in your camera is indicated with the number ‘1’, followed with a forward slash ‘/’, and ends with a number that indicates the fraction of a second. For example: ‘1/80’ means that your shutter opens and closes within one eightieth of a second. If your shutter speed is set to a speed of second or more seconds, the shutter speed is indicated with the number followed by two apostrophes ‘ ” ‘.
Below, you will find a short table with full-stop shutter speeds that are most common in digital cameras.
Shutter speed | ||
---|---|---|
B (Bulb-mode) | In seconds | |
30” | ||
15” | ||
8” | ||
4” | ||
2” | ||
1” | ||
1/2 | In fractions of a second | |
1/4 | ||
1/8 | ||
1/15 | ||
1/30 | ||
1/60 | ||
1/125 | ||
1/250 | ||
1/500 | ||
1/1000 | ||
1/2000 | ||
1/4000 | ||
1/8000 |
If you think that an eighth of a second is fast, you may be astonished that some of the latest mirrorless cameras can achieve shutter speeds of 1/32000, though electronically. We will cover mirrorless cameras and electronic shutters in a later article.
Motion blur
The shutter speed that you require to capture your photo depends on your subject and the amount of motion involved from the subject. For example, if you are taking a photo of your favorite coffee mug on a table, you can be more flexible with your shutter speed, as you do not need to freeze any motion from that mug. However, if you are taking a photo of a soccer player who wants to make that important goal in the very last seconds of the game, your shutter speed is so much more important, as your subject is in motion to make the shot. If your shutter speed is fast enough, you will be able to successfully freeze the action in that moment in time. If your shutter speed is not fast enough, you will see that the soccer player is blurry, as your sensor was exposed to more light during the motion.
So, which shutter speed should you use for which situation? That depends. The speed at which your subject moves determines the required speed. A toddler that runs around the house is not as fast as a soccer player on the field. It will require some trial and error to see which shutter speeds would be fast enough to freeze your subject.
On a different note, it’s important to understand that your accessibility to higher shutter speeds also depend on the amount of light that is available on your subject and in the environment, as this relates to achieving a proper exposure. The less light that is available, the more light you will have to access through your aperture and ISO, as faster shutter speeds limit the amount of time that your sensor will be able to gather the light. The more light you have available, the easier it will be to reach those faster shutter speeds.
Lucky for you, we have created two separate articles for both ‘aperture’ and ‘ISO’. Head on over to each of these articles to expand your knowledge base.. the foundation of your understanding on exposure.
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