Shutter speed

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Shutter speed refers to the duration of the exposure, in fractions of a second. Values are usually quoted as 1/15, 1/30, 1/60 etc, although, confusingly, some people refer to 1/30 as 'shutter speed 30'.

Key shutter speed concepts are:

Hand-holding rule of thumb: traditionally, for 35mm film or an FX sized sensor, the shutter speed for hand-holding should be the inverse of the focal length or faster to avoid blur. In other words, if your lens is focal length 50, you should be shooting with a shutter speed of 1/50 or faster (most cameras do not have a 1/50 setting, so use 1/60 or faster).

This is modified as follows: For DX sensors, the shutter speed should be multiplied by 1.5, eg, focal length 50 requires a shutter speed of 75 or higher.

Using Vibration Reduction, shutter speed can be reduced by 1-2 EV, and, for VR II, by up to 4 EV.

Using a flashgun or studio strobe, the shutter speed should be set to the sync value of the camera or lower. Setting a higher value will result in banding on the image. The actual exposure time will be the duration of the flash, typically 1/2500 of a second, which means that a lens of focal length 2500 could be used.

When the movement of the subject is rapid, a high shutter speed must be used — typically 1/500 or 1/1000, irrespective of the focal length of the lens. Vibration Reduction will not have any benefit for fast action shooting.

Intentional blur effects are achieved by using a low shutter speed. These could be used with panning or when photographing moving water, which takes on a fine, downy appearance when shot at slow shutter speeds. A low ISO, a high aperture and Neutral Density Filters can be used to prevent over exposure.