Camera shutter speed

To get decent photos, a novice photographer needs to figure out what aperture, sensitivity and shutter speed are. This article will focus on the mechanical processes of your camera, which allow you to freeze moving objects, show the speed by moving the shutter curtains.

I am glad to welcome you again, dear reader of my blog. You’re in touch, Timur Mustaev. Today I want to touch on another element of the exposition in more detail - exposure. Surely, you know that such a parameter is present in the camera. Surely heard of him? Many photographers often leave their tuning to the will of the “autopilot”, simply not knowing how to set it up.

Today I will tell you about excerpts, how to manage it, give a few historical facts, personal examples and tell you why it is needed in general.

Before continuing, I would advise you to familiarize yourself with such parameters as and. Since these parameters depend on each other, they make up the exposure.

So, let's begin.

Exposure is one of the most important parameters of the camera.

What it is? As the instructor of the photo workshop told me, camera exposure is the amount of time for which a certain amount of light falls on the photosensitive element of the camera. In other words, this is a parameter that determines how long the light will get on the matrix. This statement is also true for film machines.

What is exposure needed for?

How can she help us? The first and most important thing is getting a high-quality image. With its help, you can clearly take a picture of a running person or a rushing car, create beautiful drawings with light and blur unnecessary details in the picture. There are many applications for the extract, but it is classified very simply.

Classification.

So, the shutter speed of the camera can be short and long. A parameter is considered short from 1/60 to 1/8000 seconds, while a long one is from 0.5 seconds to 30 seconds. The first view allows you to get an image almost instantly, which is advantageous to use in dynamic scenes. The second view is more convenient for obtaining a beautiful image, getting rid of unnecessary details and drawing with light.

Speaking officially, there are many shutter speeds. Among camera manufacturers, there is a standard according to which a fraction of a second is indicated in the parameter value (for example, 1/1000), but, due to inconvenient recording, the denominator is taken as an indicator, and the numerator is omitted, that is, simply 1000. This designation is relevant for a parameter, if it is less than a second, and with a larger indicator, the number of seconds is simply recorded.

However, no matter how extensive the range of coverage of acceptable values, they were not enough. Therefore, they created unique modes for controlling exposure.

You can activate them far from every camera, and if there is an opportunity, you can activate it by setting a special parameter on the mode dial.

This is B or Bulb. It allows the shutter to be open while the shutter button is pressed. This can be convenient for shooting "photo".

An example from life.

In photo practice, our group was given several Canon 550D and Nikon D3100 devices to work with exposure time. On the first camera, I practiced the Freezelight technique, in Russian called light painting. The value was decided to be set for 30 seconds (maximum for this device). The quality of the pictures was quite pleased.

At the second Japanese, they decided to practice working with super-short value. For comfortable work without a tripod, the 1/1000 parameter was used, recorded as 1000 in the camera interface.

As a result, I did not lose. Canon showed better quality in low light with slow shutter speeds. Compared to Nikon, its frames were less “noisy”. But with the “instant” shooting, the results surprised me. Pictures were difficult to distinguish from each other, except that Canon showed better detail due to the larger number of pixels on the matrix.

Historical excerpt.

As you know, the first cameras were far from modern by the principle of obtaining a frame. Previously, there were no automated mechanisms to adjust camera settings. The setting discussed was no exception. Because of this, it could be called a strongly “human-dependent” parameter, because it was the photographer who regulated this setting.

It was carried out by opening and closing the lid of the chamber, and the time for which the lid was removed was considered to be endurance. Often, the parameter was calculated in minutes, because earlier the photosensitivity of the fixing layers was too low. Then a long shooting was a necessary measure, and this problem could be defeated only with the invention of film.

Since then, little has changed in the principles of operation of this mechanism. The most important of the innovations is the movement of the element that covers the photosensitive mechanism inside the camera carcass. Initially, it was just an internal shutter, but now it is special curtains controlled by a shutter mechanism.

In all devices, it works according to a roughly comparable scheme: when you press the shutter button, the curtains open apart for a predetermined amount of time. The latter can be determined automatically or set by the user with the mode turned on ( S   - on Nikon cameras and Tv   - on Canon).

What depends on the shutter speed besides the time it takes to get the light?

As a rule, during the “P” mode is on - the program mode, the aperture of the camera is fixed in a certain position. From this it follows that the luminance of the frame also depends on the time of shooting. Moreover, the shorter the capture time - the darker the frame. The exposure, otherwise called the amount of illumination, also depends on it. It is determined by the product of exposure to illumination.

It is the parameter discussed today that can serve as the cause of the so-called time parallax. The fact is that in older devices the shutter curtains did not open the entire photosensitive layer at once. Opened on a certain part of the frame for a set time. Because of this, while shooting a moving subject, the latter could be distorted.

The dependence of this phenomenon is this: the greater the difference between shutter speed and shutter time, the more noticeable is the time parallax.

Shutter speed control - improving the quality of photos.

“How do I set the shutter speed?” You ask. This can be done in several ways. The first is to set the “M” parameter on the wheel of the camera’s camera modes, and change directly the required parameter or set of parameters. You can also set the mode to “A or Av” - shutter priority, in which, with a change in the hole, the frame capture time will also change. It is possible to adjust using photosensitivity (ISO). It can be changed even in automatic mode.

On old cameras, which were not full of a large number of electronic mechanisms, a special drum stood out to adjust shutter speed. He cocked the camera shutter and held back the curtains. Thanks to this element, the film was simultaneously rewound and the shutter cocked, which is why during the descent the opening curtain was ahead of the closing one. A gap was formed through which additional exposure of the frame passed.

This was the so-called “additional endurance”, it could serve both positive and negative service. Due to improper settings, the image may have been overexposed, important details blurred. The most important thing here is to choose the right parameter, and here I can help you, except perhaps with advice: do not photograph the dynamics on long exposure, and the stats are too short.

Tip. For short exposures, in poorly lit places, always remember always use a tripod to avoid getting blurry shots!

Examples of the use of exposure by well-known photo masters.

Example 1. Photo by Joel Tjintjelaar.

In this picture we can see why you can use the slow shutter speed:

• First, look at the sky. It can be seen that it is heterogeneous, there are more brightened areas, but at the same time, specific details of the clouds are not visible, and this gives the photograph the greatest expressiveness.
• Secondly, look at the water. It turned into an absolutely smooth surface, without a single wave.

In real life, such a phenomenon is impossible to see, it looms only when shooting with a long shutter speed.

Example 2

One of the most famous examples of working with time is light capture. The authorship, unfortunately, is not indicated. Here we can see how exposure affects the clarity of the resulting frame. The first quarter shows an example, more or less significant. It is such a photograph among the masters that is considered the most successful shot of the waterfall, since extra details are not shown here.

The frames from the second and third quarters will be considered the most unsuccessful. The pictures here were blurry and not blurry at the same time. There are little things that should be visible, but, due to the blur, it is very difficult to make out. The last frame can also be considered turned out. Sharpness and sharpness is enough to consider all the little things.

Example 3. Sports photo by Ammar AL-Othman.

One of the best examples of using short shutter speeds. Taking pictures on a long one was stupid here: everything, including the pilot of the scooter, would have been blurry. Here, in clarity, only what is needed, without which the frame would not make sense. This picture also characterizes the instant photo as the main subspecies of sports photography.

I didn’t want to disregard one very good and useful video course “ Digital SLR for the beginner 2.0". It tells you in detail about getting gorgeous photos, especially if you're a beginner. Many practical examples that will help you understand the essence of photography. This is a course I recommend to all my friends who start taking pictures. And since you, the reader of my blog, then you are my friend, then this course will be useful to you.

Subscribe to the blog and you will learn a lot about the capabilities of your cameras and, perhaps, draw inspiration for creating new photo masterpieces. Until next time, friends.

All the best to you, Timur Mustaev.

To get a good shot, not exposed or darkened due to lack of light, you must be able to use a parameter such as shutter speed.

With the help of small tricks, she opens up a lot of opportunities for the amateur photographer. Exposure is one of the 3 components of the exposure.

Definition

The shutter speed on the camera is the period of time during which a beam of light falls on a photosensitive material or on a matrix. Translating into everyday language, this is the fraction of a second that is enough for the camera to fix the image on the medium. Moreover, film and digital cameras operate on the same principle. While we press the shutter button, a special shutter on the matrix opens, skipping the image, which for the device itself looks like a stream of light radiation, which the human eye converts into a specific composition.
  In mirrorless devices there is no curtain, so there is nothing to open there. They just happen to instantly update the matrix with each picture. The principle of operation of the shutter speed remains the same.

The exposure in photography is a combination of the shutter speed, the degree of closure of the lens of the lens with aperture blades, and the ISO sensitivity level

What is the exposure measured

Since exposure is a period of time, it is customary to measure it in units of time. Hour, minute, second, split second and so on. Of course, this is only conditional, in fact, exposure in 99% of cases is measured in fractions of a second, because even one second is a long exposure. Its changes directly depend on the amount of natural or artificial lighting at the shooting location.

Shutter speed scale

In order to make it easier to navigate, among photographers, a table of exposure and aperture, which is also called the “table of exposure values”, has long been invented. The plate is primarily used to fill the hand and eye, because using the table, the amateur photographer will soon be able to independently select the necessary values.

Also, there is a single aperture shutter speed - the ISO table, which allows you to correctly select values \u200b\u200bin various non-standard conditions with poor or, conversely, oversaturated lighting. It also displays the ISO value, which is responsible for photosensitivity. The larger the value, the greater the noise output.

How to set shutter speed

Aperture and shutter speed adjustment in almost all devices can take place automatically, but automation can not always accurately read the shooting conditions, so you often have to adjust the settings completely manually or in shutter priority mode. Its designation on the camera’s wheel is “S” or “Sv”, from time to time the manufacturer designates this mode as “Tv”, for Canon, for example. When this mode is turned on, all the amateur photographer needs is to rotate the shutter speed dial, and the aperture will automatically adjust.

If you don’t know how to take a shutter speed on the camera, open the instructions for your camera, everything is simple and described in detail where the function for adjusting the values \u200b\u200bis located. But it so happens that the manufacturer’s manual for the technique is written only in the native English language, and you have a tight time with it, you can turn to experienced photographers, they will tell you how to set the shutter speed and aperture correctly.

Shutter speed value in a photograph

The shutter speed is divided into a very short (about 1 / 4000s or less on professional cameras) and very long (30’s). The first type is used when shooting dynamic objects. For example, a player in a football match or a horse rider in horse racing and so on. Due to the fact that a beam of light of a very short period of time falls on the diaphragm, the image is obtained as clear as possible. The second type of shutter speed is used in poor lighting or light objects.

For example, with a slow shutter speed, you can shoot a good night sky. If you set a super-large value, you can even capture the movement of the celestial bodies, receiving a kind of spherical photo.

Image Dependence on Exposure

There is a simple rule in photo maker: the higher the shutter speed, the smaller the depth of field. A slow shutter speed on the camera output gives the pictures as if smeared. They are most often used when photographing with a light pen or light rivers obtained using a stream of moving machines.
  To prevent blurry images, photographers use tripods that provide a fixed surface for the camera. Also, in everyday life a camera cable or remote control is used, with which you do not even need to touch the device itself, so as not to create additional movement.

Below is the “ photographer cheat sheet"- table of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The top row - the value of the opening of the diaphragm " f", average - excerpt   in seconds and its shares (shutter speed), and the bottom - ISO   (photosensitivity). But it is worth considering that this is only a set of basic principles that help to understand the meanings of all three components of the exposure.

conclusions

A modern camera from the Soviet film, for example, differs in fact only by the medium on which the picture is saved. Everything else - the principle of work and tricks when shooting - remained the same. Unless the “figure” allows you to make at least a thousand frames of one exposure, so that you can choose the maximum quality, as well as use all the shooting options in the “digital negative” - RAW standard. Holders of film technology could not afford such a luxury.
  As for exposure, it is a universal tool for all occasions of a photographer. With it, you can remove the clear emotion of some running person. And with the help of it you can remove a person so that he will seem only a ghost.

Hello friends! Andrei Sheremetyev is with you, and in this article we will focus on the exposure of the camera. You will learn how to configure it, how to use it, and how to significantly reduce the number of defective frames.

• What is exposure
• What is measured and how is the shutter speed indicated?
• Short and long exposure, why the photos are “blurry”
• "Shake" Dependence of shutter speed on the focal length of the lens
• How to set shutter speed

So, pick up a camera, and in parallel in the study of the article, practice. Let's get started.

Exposure is one of the main parameters that affect how the photo will turn out. Together with "" and it determines whether the photo will be light or dark, whether the object in the picture is sharp or blurry. But first things first.

What is a shutter speed?

Exposure is the time that the shutter of the camera opens to let a light beam pass through the lens onto a photosensitive element - the matrix. In mirror and some mirrorless cameras, a mechanical shutter is installed, which is a sliding shutter that opens for a given exposure time. In simpler digital compacts, this mechanism is not. The shutter speed in digital compacts or soap dishes is the time the camera’s matrix is \u200b\u200bturned on, in order to capture the image from the lens.

What is measured and how is indicated excerpt?

Since the shutter speed is time, it is measured in seconds, and fractions of a second, for example, if the shutter speed is less than a second, then it is indicated as 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/1000. It’s nothing but a mathematical fraction, and it’s very important to remember - the larger the denominator, the shorter the shutter speed, which means that the shutter will let in less light. For example, shutter speed 1/250 second is shorter than 1/60 second. Excerpts longer than one second are indicated as: 2 ”, 5”, 10 ”(2 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, respectively). On the sLR cameras   we can see both the fractional image of the shutter speed (1 / x) and the designation of only the denominator (x), this is the same value.

To understand what shutter speed is set, it is very important to pay attention to 2 lines next to the number ("), I repeat, if there are any, then the shutter speed is more than one second, if not, it means less and we have a shutter speed of 1 / your number format.

Another example: if you changed the shutter speed from 1/100 to 1/125, you decreased the shutter speed; if you changed from 1/250 to 1/200, you increased the shutter speed.

About what extracts what to shoot will be discussed later.

Photos that are too dark and too light, what are the reasons?

Now let's talk about why the photos are too dark or too light. This is the topic of a separate article, as most beginners in the first stages of the development of the camera have problems with overexposure or overexposure (underexposed or overexposed photos). In short, the illumination in a photograph is affected by 3 parameters - shutter speed, aperture, and matrix sensitivity (ISO, ISO). Now we’ll talk about shutter speed, i.e. how lighting changes when it changes, if the other 2 parameters (aperture and ISO) are not changed.

It's simple: If the photo is too dark, it means that there is not enough light on the matrix, and that means we have set the shutter speed too short.

If the photo is too light, then on the contrary, the shutter speed is too slow, and you need to reduce it.

How is that? Such photos can be taken when you shoot in automatic or programmed shooting modes,when the camera’s automation selects all the settings for you, and it’s mistaken, still the automation is not a person. This can also be the case when the metering meter (illumination) did not correctly determine the overall illumination of the frame, this happens if, for example, there is a bright light source in the frame.

Short and long exposures, why are photographs “blurry”?

In addition to illumination, exposure also affects the image itself, and objects on it. These properties are often used as an artistic element. A very telling example when fast-moving objects are blurry. Using exposure, you can also “freeze” fast-moving objects, for example, a drop of water in the air, a bird in flight.

Here are some examples:

By the way, when I wrote this article, the news came that I won the photo contest SAILING PHOTO AWARDS 2014, in the nomination "Landscape of the season"! The photo was taken just at a slow shutter speed (about 2 seconds), due to which the moving background was blurred (because the yacht was moving at a certain speed), and the stationary objects (the yacht itself) remained sharp.

So, remember:

Short shutter speeds are needed to “freeze” fast-moving objects (race cars, birds, drops, children, etc.)

Long exposures are needed to blur moving objects, such as water in a river, passing cars.

If you get blurry shots, then you need to reduce the shutter speed. Its value must be selected based on the specific situation and lighting,

"Shake" and the dependence of exposure on the focal length of the lens

Due to the fact that you and I are not robots, the so-called “shake” often arises - a slight blur of the photo due to the trembling of the hand on which you stand, or the wind. To avoid this, you need to choose the correct shutter speed.

There is such a recommendation that for a camera with a full-frame sensor, the minimum allowable shutter speed for handheld shooting should be at least the focal length at which you shoot. For example, if you have a lens of 70-300mm, then when shooting with maximum zoom (i.e. 300mm), the minimum shutter speed should be at least 1 / 300s, when shooting at 70mm - 1 / 70s.

On crop mantrits (these are all amateur cameras Kenon and Nikon), the formula is as follows:

your focal length (FR) multiplied by the crop factor (1.5 for Nikon, 1.6 for Kenon)

For Nikon: FR x 1.5 (for example, when shooting on a 50 mm lens - minimum shutter speed - 1 / 75s)

For Kenon: FR x 1.6

But here it’s important to say that everything is very individual, someone’s hands can move as they walk in anticipation of a photo of a masterpiece, someone else is like a rock, therefore, the above is recommendatory in nature, it’s important that you know what a shake is, where she is taken, and what to do with her. Take your camera, shoot different scenes with different settings, analyze the result, and you will understand.

How to set shutter speed?

Finally, we come to the main thing, to practice. You can only set the shutter speed in the semi-automatic shutter priority mode (indicated by “S” on Nikon and “Tv” on Canon) and in manual mode “M”. In other modes, it is automatically selected. What kind of regimes are these? Shooting mode "M" is a mode with a fully manual settings, i.e. You set the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO yourself. Shutter priority mode “S” or “Tv” is a mode where you set only shutter speed and ISO, the camera automatically selects the aperture based on the characteristics of your lens. I will tell you more about shooting modes in a separate article.

Now I propose to consolidate the studied material, and do the following exercise:

1. Set the shooting mode to “M” on the camera (to do this, turn the mode dial until the white risk is combined with the mode we need)
2. Take a test shot
3. Use the wheel to change the shutter speed value (ISO and aperture remain unchanged) and take a frame, change and take a frame, and look at the result, experiment.

If the camera is not at hand, or too lazy to get it, it will help!

The essence of this exercise is to understand how endurance works, to learn what shake and lubrication are. Later, when you get such shots, you will already know what it is.

So, we figured out one of the 3 most important parameters in photography. In order to get good photos, you need to clearly know what all 3 affect, and be able to use them, be sure to read the following articles. With you was Andrei Sheremetyev, successful shots!