Help me understand shutter speed?

Question

I am reading Understanding Exposure right now and in the book (and on other photography sites) it mentions "1/500 sec" or "1/90 sec. I understand that shutter speed is set by fractions of a second basically double or half. However, my question is...when I look at the shutter speed on my DSLR it shows it in different numbers...can someone explain the conversion for me? Example...1/500 sec = 'blank' on my camera. This is probably a very stupid question but a little help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

For all shutter speeds less than 1.0 second, you must take the reciprocal of the number shown. Example: 60 means 1/60 of a second.

Answer 2

It sounds like you understand the basic concept. The shutter speed means how long the shutter will stay open when you press the button, and like you said, it's usually measured in fractions of a second. This applies to both film and digital cameras.



The larger the number, the faster the shutter speed. So obviously 1/500 would be a much faster shutter speed and a shorter exposure time than 1/90.



I'm not sure what you mean with the other part of your question. What is it showing on your DSLR? Shutter speeds are only written in one way. It will be a fraction, or sometimes it might just give a number like 500 instead of 1/500, because it's assumed that it's a fraction of a second.



But if you use manual exposure, remember that you also have to adjust the aperture. The ISO rating, shutter speed and aperture all combine to determine the overall exposure of a picture.



The aperture (F-stop) also determines what's called the "depth of field" but if you want you can do more research about that on your own. I don't want to confuse you with too much information. Basically, it means the distance in front and behind the subject that will be in focus.

Answer 3

Don't know what camera you have but as far as I know ALL slr's show the shutter speed in the same way.

I.e. under 1 sec would show as 1/2000, 1/500. 1/250, 1/16. 1/2 etc

That being the fraction of a second.

1 and over normally show in the display as 1", 2" etc



Never heard of "blank" - I can only therefore suggest that you look at the camera manual as you may well be reading the settings or display incorrectly.

Alternatively post on here what camera it is and I am sure one of the "experts" will give you an answer.



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Answer 4

This is useful. Try this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_speed



1/10 of a second http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/3299017712/



0.7 second (on a tripod) http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2520715156/



Much faster here, to freeze the motion, http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2420512804/



and so on