Shutter speed explained — Camera Basics
Are you struggling with blurry & unsharp photos? Too dark, or too bright? Then a wrongly set shutter speed might be your problem.
Shutter speed is one of the three camera basics you need to understand before you can start taking amazing photos. If you know how a camera shutter works, this article is not for you. 👋
This is the first article in the Camera Basics series, stay tuned for “ISO explained” and the “Dream team of photography” and checkout the previously published “Aperture explained” article.
The camera shutter
Cameras have a shutter to regulate how much light is let through to the sensor or the analog film.
Imagine a curtain that protects your bedroom from sunlight. Easy right?
If you open your curtain in the morning and close it in the evening you have a shutter speed of ~12hrs 🤔 (useless I know).
If you just quickly open and close your curtain you have a faster shutter speed. (still doesn't make any sense)
All cameras work with this curtain principle. They have either a physical shutter, that protects the sensor or the film the same way your curtain on the window works or they have a digital shutter.
A digital shutter “opens” by letting more power to the sensor, which is the same as opening a physical shutter. These photos tend to be more grainy, hence this method is therefore mostly used in cheaper point and shoot cameras and mobile phone cameras.
How is the shutter speed measured
The shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second.
2 = 2 seconds
1/2 = 0.5 seconds
1/250 = 0.004 seconds
Fast vs Slow shutter speed
Let’s leave the curtain analogy behind and lets look at the actual shutter speed of your camera and what it means having a fast or slow shutter speed.
What does a fast shutter speed do to your photo?
It freezes your action. Are you into sports photography or are you just trying to run behind your toddler and get a sharp photo, then you need to use a fast shutter speed.
What does a slow shutter speed do to your photo?
A slow shutter speed gives you the possibility to be creative and experiment with blurry effects. Imagine a race car that is blurred out to emphasize its speed, a nice river that looks like cotton candy or a night shot with fancy car lights that spread all over your photo. Those effects are done with slow shutter speeds.
Affecting exposure
If you shoot in Manual mode M the shutter speed will also affect the exposure (brightness) of your photo. Step by step you are able to increase the brightness if you go from a fast to a slow shutter speed.
If your photo is underexposed try a slower shutter speed.
If your photo is overexposed try a faster shutter speed.
Watch out !!!
Be careful with your shutter speed. Having too slow of a shutter speed can ruin all your photos and you will be known as Mister Blurry Cam.
A general rule of thumb is not to go slower than 1 / focal length of your lens if you shoot handheld.
If you are shooting with a 50mm lens you should not go slower than 1/50s.
If you want to be totally sure that you don’t get shaky footage don’t use slower speed than 1/125s if you shoot handheld.
Modern cameras have stabilizers that let you use slower shutter speeds than cameras without stabilizers. Make sure you know your camera.
How to set your shutter speed
Most system cameras and certain point-and-shoot cameras have a menu dial which lets you chose the Shutter-priority mode.
Depending on the brand of your camera the letters or symbols might differ. Check your manual for Shutter-priority.
After selecting the Shutter-priority mode you should be able to adjust the shutter speed with your dial or knob or whatever input device the camera offers. Most cameras are displaying the shutter speed in full numbers instead of fractions of seconds. e.g.
2" = 2s
640 = 1/640s
Most modern cameras offer a range from 1/8000s up to 30s.
If you are shooting in Shutter-priority mode the camera tries to compensate your shutter speed up to a certain point by changing the aperture, to be able to snap a correctly exposed photo. If you don’t want your camera changing your aperture you should go with the all “Manual Mode M”.
Go explore & practice
Like everything in photography it takes time and a lot of practice to get good results. Make sure you are familiar with your camera and you know how you can adjust your shutter speed before you start shooting, your camera manual might be a good goto source or good old Google.
If this article was helpful to you, I’d love to get a clap or a comment below.
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