
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Shutter Speed
The shutter speed refers to the amount of time that the shutter of the camera is open and the film is exposed to the light.
The speeds available on a camera depends on the design of the shutter and camera. Normal settings will include speeds of 1 to 1000. A shutter speed of 1 indicates that the shutter will be open for 1 second. A setting of 2 will indicate that the shutter is open for half (1/2) a second. On a setting 60 the shutter will remain open for one sixtieth (1/60) of a second, etc. Each setting on the shutter speed is also known as a STOP. Each STOP will expose the film for exactly half or double the amount of time, depending on the side to which the setting was done.
Handspeed Limit
The hand speed limit is the minimum shutter speed at which a photograph can be taken without supporting the camera on a tripod. At lower shutter speeds camera shaking can influence the sharpness of the photo. A safe rule to follow is to ensure that the shutter speed setting is higher than the focal length of the lens. (As an example, for a focal length of 50mm, the shutter speed setting would be 1/60th of a second and for a focal length of 200mm the shutter speed setting would be 1/250th of a second.)
