Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed

The shutter is a small flap directly in front of the sensor inside a camera. When a photo is taken this opens and closes to let light reach the sensor, creating the image. The shutter speed refers to how quickly or slowly the shutter opens and closes again.

The faster the shutter speed, the shorter the period of time the shutter is open for; a slower shutter speed allows the shutter to be open for longer.

Shutter speeds are measured in seconds, or fractions of a second. For example, a shutter speed of ¹/₁₀₀ means ¹/₁₀₀^th of a second, or, 0.01 seconds. This is also known as the exposure time because it’s the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light.

What Shutter Speed Effects
Shaking

You can avoid camera shake by using a faster shutter speed.

Motion Blur

Faster shutter speed. The subject will move less while the shutter is open, reducing the blurring effect.

Creative Effects

A few seconds to several minutes can completely change the look of an image. Shutter speed is perfect for creating blurred crowd shots, giving moving water a fog-like appearance and capturing trails of light. Alternatively, a faster shutter speed can capture frozen motion, like a bird in flight or water splashing.


Slow Shutter Speed                         Fast Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed and Filming

Shutter speed whilst recording video is nothing to do with the DSLR camera's physical shutter, it rather, has to do with duration that the camera uses for sampling light from the CMOS sensor.

The sensor collects light information over 1/60th of a second and passes that on as a frame to the video.

Shutter speed will affect the smoothness of movements and the amount of blur present in moving objects. For example, if you want to shoot a rainfall and have shimmering light from the rain, you use a high shutter speed. If you want it to look like it's pouring outside then use a slower shutter speed.

Part 6: Shutter Speed & FPS from --jL on Vimeo.

Basic rule of thumb for reasonably smooth movement is to have the shutter open for at least half of your frame rate speed or more. So for 30fps, keep the shutter at 1/60. Changing the shutter speed will work to get a better exposure of the image, but it will also change how your image looks.