Camera Tech: Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the speed in which the lens gate on a camera opens and closes during a shot or whilst filming, on DSLR cameras this speed can be manually adjusted to create different effects. Shutter speed effects the amount of time the camera sensor is exposed to light and can also affect how movement appears in the image. For example a slow shutter speed would mean the camera lens gate is left open for longer periods of time, exposing the cameras light sensor for longer and capturing movement at a slower rate, whereas a fast shutter speed would rapidly open and close the cameras lens gate, limiting the amount of time the sensors are exposed to light and capturing quick movement instantly.

Shutter speed is measured in direct relation to the cameras Aperture settings at a 2:1 scale e.g. an aperture of f/2.8 is equal to a shutter speed of 1/1000s so the wider the aperture the faster the shutter speed this is to ensure that the camera is exposed to the correct amount of light to produce the image and is not overexposed, the highest shutter speed for a typical DSLR camera today is roughly 1/1600s with the lowest being 1/10s. Below is an example of how shutter speed can effect an image.

The first image is taken with a very high shutter speed to quickly capture the movement of the object and the far right image is taken with a slow shutter speed which is exposed longer and thus captures more of the objects movement which blends it together and creates a blur of motion.

While being used in tandem with other settings such as Aperture if the aperture is set on a low setting and the aperture is very wide then a quicker shutter speed would be required otherwise it would be too overexposed to light, this is also true if a high ISO is being used as the cameras sensor would be more sensitive to light so a faster shutter speed would ensure that the camera is not exposed for too long, if the aperture was a very high setting and it was a very narrow depth of field with a low ISO a slower shutter speed would be used otherwise the image would be underexposed and would appear very dark.