shutter speed?

[speakers55]

Hi, I am new to photography, and was wondering what different shutter speeds do. Like slow shutter speeds and fast ones. What is a good shutter speed to use for pictures in the dark, with lights around, and a cars lights on, when it is moving, using a tripod? I tryed to do different speeds but all the pictures I took would come out really bad. Thanks for advice.

[Whiskey]

Thats a question that is quite hard to answer. First off, there is no one shutter speed that will work for everything, because the shutter speed is used to get a proper exposure. If you have a small f/stop, you would probably want a slow shutter for the right exposure, but if you have a big f/stop, a high shutter will give the same exposure result but with different dof. So question is, what are you trying to do? in sports, you want to capture action, thus you probably want high iso, fast shutter, large aperture. For landscape you would want small aperture, slow shutter, low iso. It really depends. Just remember, shutter is just one of three components to attain the right exposure, and even that has different methods of measuring. If im correct, the shutter opens up the sensor for "x" period of time. Hope this helps, although I doubt this is the type of answer you were looking for.

Whiskey

[speakers55]

Originally posted by Whiskey
Thats a question that is quite hard to answer. First off, there is no one shutter speed that will work for everything, because the shutter speed is used to get a proper exposure. If you have a small f/stop, you would probably want a slow shutter for the right exposure, but if you have a big f/stop, a high shutter will give the same exposure result but with different dof. So question is, what are you trying to do? in sports, you want to capture action, thus you probably want high iso, fast shutter, large aperture. For landscape you would want small aperture, slow shutter, low iso. It really depends. Just remember, shutter is just one of three components to attain the right exposure, and even that has different methods of measuring. If im correct, the shutter opens up the sensor for "x" period of time. Hope this helps, although I doubt this is the type of answer you were looking for.

Whiskey

Thanks for answering my question. That is what i was looking for. What do you mean by big and small f/stop?

[jinushaun]

F/stop is the measurement of the size of the lens opening (aperture). And... it works backward. So a small f/stop (ex: f2.8) is large opening and large f/stop (ex: f8.0) is a small opening.

[speakers55]

Originally posted by jinushaun
F/stop is the measurement of the size of the lens opening (aperture). And... it works backward. So a small f/stop (ex: f2.8) is large opening and large f/stop (ex: f8.0) is a small opening.

oh, Ok I see thanks!

[bdougr]

Shutter speed = how long the shutter is open
Apeture = how large the hole that lets light in


Use shutter speed to control motion
use apeture to control Depth of Field

and of course use both to control exposure. If your subject is sitting still and you use a tripod you can use any shutter speed. If your subject is in motion you need to either have a high shutter speed or pan the motion.




Useing apeture to control DOF gives you alot of control on artistic stuff.

f22

f10

f3

[PhillyCheese]

what about ISO, what is that, and what does it do in the camera?

i know how to use it, but im just curious what is actually is.

[Whiskey]

Originally posted by PhillyCheese
what about ISO, what is that, and what does it do in the camera?

i know how to use it, but im just curious what is actually is.

Not too sure right, but here goes, ISO is film speed. You can get different iso settings from

50
100
200
400
800
1600 not certain you can get iso 800-1600 for film, but its doable in digital.

for each time you double the ISO setting you are allowing twice the amount of light coming in. So for example, if you have a setting of f5.6 at 1/30s at iso 100, but say you cant handhold 1/30s, you will bump up the iso to iso 200, allowing twice the amount of light, and thus allowing you to shoot at f5.6 at 1/60s at iso 200. these two settings although different would allow the same exposure while maintaining the same dof. you should notice though that most prosumer cameras will only have a range of 50-400, and with each increase in iso setting, you increase noise values.

Whiskey

[bimmerdawg]

Very helpful info! I was messing with some of these functions on a A70 on my Vacation I just got back from. SO there are about 4 manual settings. I dont remember seeing DOF on the A70? I know there was Aperture, exposure, shutter speed, ISO... Does taking a pic at HIgh ISo always cause more Noise? And is DOF a function cameras come with Ex. above (f22- f3) THat was very interesting to see the difference in the pics above!

[bdougr]

Apeture controls DOF (depth of field)

and yes higher ISO always increases noise. There are ways to remove the noise later in photoshop. I use NeatImage

[bimmerdawg]

Will removing the noise pretty much smudge the image? Or is there a way to really remove noise without making image looked smudged?

[Whiskey]

I, like bdougr, use neat image. there are others you can try as well, such as noise ninja, both are equally as good, so go with the one that you like best. Yes, some techniques are not good for removing noise because they then to make the photo less sharp, or more plasticy. I would say, go d/l neatimage at www.neatimage.com and give the trial a try. You will see that it is quite good. Well worth the money they are asking for.

Whiskey