![]() Generally speaking, shutter speeds between 1/60 and 1/125 second (or faster) are safe for handheld shots. If you are using a very slow shutter speed, make sure your camera is stabilized on a tripod or other steady surface to prevent camera shake. When hand holding your camera, the slowest shutter speed you can shoot without introducing shake depends on many factors, including the focal length of your lens and whether or not it (or your camera) has image stabilization. On a tripod, a slow shutter speed will add motion blur to any moving elements in the frame, such as water and foliage, while stationary objects will remain sharp. This is how you can blur things like waterfalls or create star trails in the night sky. In the former example, you’ll want to try a slower shutter speed, like 1/60, while the latter example would require a speed of 1/1,000 or more.Įven slower shutter speeds lead to what’s called long-exposure photography. There are many situations when the choice between the two is a creative one, rather than a technical one.įor example, imagine a race car: Some may want a blurry effect to illustrate its motion around the track, while others may want to freeze it to show a specific moment, such as when it crossed the finish line. While a certain shutter speed is required to take a steady picture without a tripod, blur isn’t necessarily bad and sharpness isn’t necessarily good. In addition to its role in exposure, shutter speed controls how motion is captured by the camera. A fast shutter speed will freeze moving objects in their track, while a slow shutter speed will record the movement, allowing objects to blur. A shutter speed of 1/4,000 second is very fast and will let in very little light, while a shutter speed of 1/2 second will let in a lot of light. 1/30, 1/1,000) – you are telling the camera how quickly or slowly to open and close the shutter. When you set the shutter speed – usually measured in fractions of a second (e.g. ![]() Whereas the aperture determines the amount of light that’s coming through the lens, the shutter determines the length of time the sensor will be exposed to that light. The shutter lives just in front of the imaging sensor, and the shutter speed is the amount of time it stays open, like 1/60 second.Īperture and shutter speed work together. Just like the shutters on a window, a camera’s shutter opens to allow light in. ![]() Daven Mathies/Digital Trends What is shutter speed? When thinking about the f-stop, choose a smaller number (larger aperture) to achieve a shallower DOF, or a larger number (smaller aperture) to increase DOF.Ī large aperture (small f-number) can separate the subject from background and/or foreground. An image with a large DOF will have sharp focus from foreground to background, while a small, or shallow, DOF sees the focus concentrated on one particular plane, with foreground and background elements blurred away. Simply put, DOF is how much depth will be in focus within the image. (Hint: A lens’ maximum aperture will be part of its model name, like a 50mm f/1.8 or a 24-120mm f/4.)īeyond controlling the amount of light, aperture determines an image’s depth of field (DOF). How large your lens’ aperture can open will depend on your lens. So, when you are adjusting the settings, think of the opposite: If you want less light to enter (small aperture), go for a larger f-stop. By changing the aperture value, you increase or decrease the size of that opening, thereby allowing more or less light into the camera.Īperture is measured in f-stops, such as f/16 and f/4, but here’s the thing: The smaller the f-stop number, the larger the opening, and vice versa. The aperture is simply the opening within the lens that limits the amount of light that can pass through it. ![]() When you have a basic understanding of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO – which are also the basics of photography, in general – you’re well on your way to mastering your camera, even if you never open the user manual. How to use a histogram to expose photos.How to choose a camera: The ultimate guide to buying the right gear
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