35
votes
Accepted
Why can't I shoot with a fast shutter speed with my continuous light at max power?
There is no reason whatsoever that you need to shoot a static object from a tripod with 1/100s or 1/200s shutter speed. The shutter speed has nothing whatsoever to do with "soft focus": it just has ...
- 406
28
votes
How is it possible to have shallow depth of field in very bright conditions?
The easiest way to solve this problem is to use a neutral-density filter. They are essentially neutral grey filters that cut down on the light reaching the film or digital sensor. Good ones are ...
- 1,760
28
votes
Accepted
How do fast shutter speeds actually work?
Let me add some images.
On a mechanical shutter, you have two physical curtains (A) that move when you take a photo (B). The shutter speed is the average time the gap is over a zone of the sensor (C). ...
- 25.1k
26
votes
How to capture rays of light in a photograph using a DSLR camera
The first step is to find a situation where the atmosphere is right for such effects to appear to the naked eye - whether it's steam or fog or dust or whatever else in the air that is reflecting the ...
- 5,158
22
votes
Accepted
What are the practical differences between the exposure settings my camera picked for me in auto mode and my own choices?
It's hard to really tell from the small versions here — which is a lesson in itself, because at 1280x850, which is a perfectly fine online viewing size, the differences really don't matter that much.
...
- 143k
18
votes
Accepted
Since the speed of light is so high, why does shutter speed even matter?
why does shutter speed modify picture sharpness/detail? Why do pictures get darker with faster shutter speeds, and brighter with slower shutter speeds?
These things happen because the light sensor in ...
- 31.7k
16
votes
Shutter speed calibration
Calibrating your Shutter Speed
Unless you are performing photographic telemetry or a variety of other niche scientific measurements, the only reason to know the exact length of your exposure is to ...
- 1,989
14
votes
Why do moving objects in photos appear blurry?
First, I'll talk about what cameras do normally, then about how motion affects this operation.
In order for an image to be sharp and in focus, all light coming from a single point on the object being ...
- 301
14
votes
Recommended shutter speed for action sports?
In general they like to use the fastest they can get away with. Just how fast that can be is subject to a number of variables.
What focal length? How far is the shooting position from the ...
- 175k
13
votes
Shutter speed -vs- effective image stabilisation
Image Stabilizations only compensates for camera movements.
IS has no effect on subject movements. None. Zero. Nada.
If your subject is moving, only a shorter exposure time ("faster shutter speed") ...
- 175k
13
votes
Is there any reason to change the ISO manually?
Is there any reason to change the ISO manually, rather than have it set automatically?
The primary reason to set ISO, along with shutter time and aperture, manually would be to totally control ...
- 175k
12
votes
Accepted
Are there any electric flashes that will work at shutter speeds like ¹⁄₁₀₀₀th of a second?
That camera with 1/60 sync (and says ASA) must be at least 40 years old. :) More modern cameras commonly allow 1/200 second shutter with flash.
But this limitation (of not allowing flash with 1/...
- 12.9k
12
votes
What does the ISO setting for mechanical 35mm film cameras actually do?
Usually, it does not affect or limit the aperture or shutter speed at all. Rather, it tells the exposure meter where the center is. In some ways, it's exactly like exposure compensation dials.
If the ...
- 143k
12
votes
What is the role of Shutter Speed while using a Manual Flash?
Flash duration is typically much shorter than most cameras' flash sync speed.
If the flash only has a duration of, say, 1/1000 second (or 1 millisecond), it matters not if the shutter is open 1/250 ...
- 175k
11
votes
Accepted
Can high/fast shutter speeds have negative IQ results?
In general, shutter speed can affect IQ in several ways:
Directly, by interacting badly with the natural pulsing frequency of lighting (particularly long-tube fluorescent lights and some cheap LEDs ...
- 2,255
11
votes
Accepted
Why use ISO instead of Aperture and Shutter speed?
All three have different uses and different .
Aperture
- by closing your aperture you're increasing depth of field and sacrificing light
- by opening your aperture you're decreasing depth of field,...
- 1,041
11
votes
How is it possible to have shallow depth of field in very bright conditions?
Some considerations:
Turn your ISO right down to the minimum value
Do you really need f/1.8? Depending on the composition of your shot you can usually still get decent shallow DoF up to around f/4....
- 398
10
votes
How can I take a photo using a slow shutter speed without it being overexposed?
You can close down the aperture and lower the ISO. This will help only up to a point.
After that, what you need is a Neutral-Density (ND) filter. Those filters serve to reduce the amount of light ...
- 103k
10
votes
Why isn't my Nikon D3400 freezing motion even with the shutter set to ¹⁄₄₀₀₀th of a second in View Finder Mode?
You're thinking about the speed wrong. At 1/4000th of a second, if it rotated nearly 4000 times per second, it would go all the way around in one frame. Talk about motion blur. :-)
It looks like ...
- 2,255
9
votes
Do fluorescent lighting and shutter speed create a problem with color cast?
The answers given by whuber and Matt Grum are correct, pointing out the flicker problem and some workarounds. My addendum comes 6 years after, where we are now beginning to see some real solutions to ...
- 745
9
votes
Shutter Speed from the Exif ShutterSpeedValue
Exif:ShutterSpeedValue is stored in rational form as an APEX value.
The APEX system is a way to calculate exposure and works using base-2 logarithms. The use of base-2 means a rise of one in the ...
- 27k
9
votes
Why can't I shoot with a fast shutter speed with my continuous light at max power?
Not sure what your subject is, but as was mentioned, you don't need fast shutter for a stationary subject with camera on a tripod. However, human or animal subjects can move.
But the obvious key word ...
- 12.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Why is my picture blurry?
... I thought it could have been caused by either poor lens quality, bad auto-focus, or motion blur, or is it perhaps something else?
If the problem is motion blur, you typically see a slight double-...
- 52.5k
8
votes
Why is my picture blurry?
All in all for the shutter time and subject matter you did very well to get a photo as clean as you did.
Here are the causes of the imperfections you notice in your photo:
The people in the photo ...
- 175k
8
votes
Do very short shutter speeds result in diffraction?
I know this is an old question, but just wanted to contribute a photo that exhibits a shutter-induced diffraction effect. My Nikon 1 V2 camera has both a mechanical shutter and an electronic one. When ...
- 659
8
votes
Why can't I shoot with a fast shutter speed with my continuous light at max power?
Here are some suggestions:
Move your light source closer to the subject or get a brighter light source.
Since you are using a tripod, and your subject is stationary, there is no need for fast ...
- 12.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Does a DSLR lens have a shutter speed?
As mentioned in comments, lenses don't have a maximum shutter time. They just let light through continuously, blocked by the camera's shutter from hitting the sensor.
You are also not limited by the ...
- 23.4k
8
votes
How do fast shutter speeds actually work?
You can take a picture faster than 1/250, it just means that any individual position in the picture has been exposed for that duration, but not at the same time.
On these pictures (both taken at 1/...
- 21.6k
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