Learn about shutter speed in digital photography

In traditional photography - film cameras, shutter speed - Shutter Speed ​​is a parameter that indicates how long the film is exposed to the scene being captured. The shutter speed in digital cameras is similar, it is one of the three important parameters to help you take high-quality photos. The other two important parameters are Aperture and ISO .

Learn about shutter speed in digital photography Picture 1 Shutter speed in digital photography

Shutter Speed ​​in digital photography

In digital photography, shutter speed is the time at which the image sensor captures the scene being captured, which is the time the camera opens the shutter to capture the image. Shooting speed is measured in seconds, in most cases fractions of a second. The larger the denominator, the higher the shutter speed - faster. For example, a shutter speed of 1/100 will be 1/30 faster.

In most cases you will usually use a shutter speed of 1/60 second or faster. This is because if you shoot at a slower shutter speed, the image will be more prone to blur due to camera shake when the shutter opens and closes.

If you're using a shutter speed lower than 1/60 of a second, you'll need a tripod or some sort of image stabilization technique - Image Stabilization is increasingly being developed and incorporated into digital cameras.

In-camera shooting speed usually has parameter setting steps with double values ​​such as 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, . The use of these double increment/decrement values ​​is for your convenience in remembering the aperture setting to double the amount of light. For example, when you increase the shutter speed by one level, you also need to decrease the aperture by one level to get an image with the same exposure.

Some cameras also offer very slow shutter speed options that aren't fractions of a second like 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, etc. These are speeds used in very low light situations. , when using special effects, or when trying to put a lot of motion into a single frame. Some cameras even offer a B or Buld speed option, which allows you to choose how long the shutter speed depends on how long the shutter button is pressed and held.

Learn about shutter speed in digital photography Picture 2 The effect of moving light when taking pictures at a very slow speed

How to set the shutter speed of a digital camera

Digital cameras do not always allow you to change the shutter speed setting, especially when shooting with automatic modes - Auto Mode or preset - Scene Mode. 

When you want to set the shutter speed, switch to the mode that allows you to choose the shutter speed yourself by exiting the auto mode - Auto and switching to one of the manual shooting modes - Manual, speed priority. - Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority - Aperture Priority or Program - Program.

Shutter-speed-priority or manual shooting modes are often used when you want to change the shutter speed.

For regular cameras, you probably need to go to the settings menu - Menu and navigate to the settings for shutter speed. Then select the shutter speed value you want or choose auto.

For higher-end cameras, there will probably be a dedicated Shutter Speed ​​button on the camera. Simply press it and rotate one of the dials to change the camera's shutter speed setting.

Some other cameras may have a dedicated dial dedicated to setting the shutter speed with different values, you just need to rotate the dial to select.

Learn about shutter speed in digital photography Picture 3 Dedicated dial dedicated to setting shutter speed with different values

If you don't see a button labeled Shutter Speed, it's still possible that your camera will allow you to program it to turn a multifunction button into a Shutter Speed ​​button. See the manual that came with your digital camera for how to use it. 

Matters needing attention when choosing shutter speed

When considering how to choose a shutter speed for a photo, you should always ask yourself what movement the subject needs to capture and how to capture it. If the subject is moving you have the choice of shooting it "freeze" as if it is standing still or keep it moving to intentionally blur the appearance of motion.

To freeze a motion in your shot, you'll need a faster shutter speed, and if you want to create a sense of movement in your shot you'll choose a slower shutter speed. The actual speed to change will depend on how fast your subject is and how blurry you want it to be.

Movement isn't always bad. For example, when you are taking a photo of a waterfall and want to show how fast it flows, when taking a photo of a race car and want to give the viewer a sense of its speed, or when photographing the stars in the sky and want to see how they move over a long period of time,. In these cases, low-speed shooting is the best option. However, you must note that a tripod is required - otherwise the image will be blurred due to the movement of the camera itself, which will be different from the blur caused by the movement of the subject to be photographed.

Learn about shutter speed in digital photography Picture 4 Compare photos taken at different speeds

You shouldn't think that shutter speed can be used on its own without taking into account the other two factors in the exposure triangle: aperture - Aperture and light sensitivity - ISO. When changing the shutter speed, you also need to change one or both of the other factors to compensate for the light of the balanced image.

For example, if you increase the shutter speed by one step from 1/125 to 1/250 you are halving the light, to compensate for this you may need to increase the aperture by one step, for example from f16. to f11. Other changes that can be chosen are to increase the light sensitivity - ISO to a higher level, for example from ISO 100 to ISO 400.

Focal Length - Focal Length and shutter speed

Another factor you also need to consider when choosing a shutter speed is the focal length of the lens you are using. Large focal lengths will suffer a lot from hand shake and you'll need to choose a higher shutter speed, unless your camera has Image Stabilization.

The "rule of thumb" to use for focal lengths in situations where image stabilization is not available is to choose a shutter speed with a denominator greater than the focal length of the lens. For example, if you have a 50mm lens, shooting at 1/60 is fine, but if you have a 200mm lens you may have to shoot at 1/250.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 08 May 2023