Some thoughts on shutter speed selection for beginners

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day all

I often see notes here & elsewhere asking "what sort of shutter speed do I need for ....? "

I have made up this sketch hopefully to help people
[image note ... for some reason at the moment, the image does not want to display full size - please click on it to wake it up :D ]

http://s1.postimage.org/1vvenewqs/A4_Guide_to_Shutter_Speeds.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1vvenewqs/)

ps: if you want a full-size copy, please PM me
Regards, Phil

[Nikkie]

Gee thanks Phil this is great well done and easy to follow chart thanks again I ll try some of these for sure using this as a guide thanks again :th3:

[colinbm]

Great work Phil, Thanks.
Now what aperture will I use with that one & will ISO 100 or 400 be better :scrtch: :confused013
Col

[ozstrap]

nice chart~
easy to understand for beginner like me:)

[graemelee]

Yes great aid.cheers

[luepit]

Great summary. thanks.

[Lucky23]

Thanks mate. Got it saved and i'm sure i'll be referring to it in the future.

Cheers,

[CookCleanCraft]

Great chart! I'm still getting my head around shutter speed (along with a lot of other things :) ). A nice extra touch would be to put on when you need to use a tripod/stabilising device.

[gennadyk]

awesome! very helpful.. thx

[Christus86]

wow - that's really helpful - thanks!

[BecdS]

Thanks a tonne for this, Phil! I'm not quite up there in the post count yet and so I can't PM yet. Could you please send it to me? It would help me a tonne! :th3:

[ving]

nice charty warty! :D

[Danielle10]

Aren't you good!
Thanks for that :)

[jdbb]

What a great idea - makes it easy to understand. Thanks.

John

[colinbm]

Great chart! I'm still getting my head around shutter speed (along with a lot of other things :) ). A nice extra touch would be to put on when you need to use a tripod/stabilising device.

About 1/60 of a second is the change over from hand-hold & tripod held :cool:
Col

[nightbringer]

Great flowchart! I'll definitely have to print this out and keep it somewhere prominent.

[AdamR]

Thats a nice simple idea. I have shot for years and years and still to this day though have not found a use for shutterspeed mode. But I like how this gives a picture of where you need to be. Control of aperture to get to the desired number would also be a good learning tool. ie. Find the appropriate aperture and ISO combo to get the desired shutterspeed.

I think the 1/60th is the crossover to tripod is misleading in some aspects although as a general rule I suppose its okay. To me I would recommend to use a tripod in any situation where you have the choice. Obviously with candid shooting its not there, but even if I had shutter speeds up over 1/500th I would still use one for landscapes.

Anyways my way of saying these are good guides, but learning comes through experimenting and all rules have exceptions.

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day all

Thanks all for the feedback for this posting
cc- Re the "1/60th sec postings ..." - way back in the mid-1960s when I got into SLR use and longer than 'normal' lenses I quickly realised that 1/60 was inadequate as a minimum speed ... and yet that speed was often quoted in literature. I experimented at the time and found a method that worked - wrote to the old 'camera' magazine suggesting the following formula:-

>> "the minimum shutter speed for hand holding should roughly equal the mm of the lens in use - and for a big zoom lens, the mm's to be considered are the mm's of the maximum focal length"

The letter was edited and published with several others on the subject - and the theory has since become folk lore with many claiming its 'invention'

Regards, Phil

[CarlR]

Of course, VR becomes another factor complicating rules of thumb.

[ricktas]

Thanks a tonne for this, Phil! I'm not quite up there in the post count yet and so I can't PM yet. Could you please send it to me? It would help me a tonne! :th3:

Yes you can. PM's work after a lot less posts than you have.

[Healz]

What a great help to all beginners.

[MarcusG]

Many thanks! Might print myself off a copy to keep with my gear.:th3:

[Allie]

Thanks for sharing that chart and very useful accompanying images - in the meantime I have bookmarked that page for the future.:th3:

[sid]

Very useful chart, though one must be knowing his camera and ISO capabilities to use shutter mode, I feel.

[achee]

I experimented at the time and found a method that worked - wrote to the old 'camera' magazine suggesting the following formula:-

>> "the minimum shutter speed for hand holding should roughly equal the mm of the lens in use - and for a big zoom lens, the mm's to be considered are the mm's of the maximum focal length"


Ah, so you came up with that? Good on ya! I've always keep that rule of thumb in mind.

If anyone is struggling to understand what the above means... if you're shooting at 30mm, your shutter speed should be at least 1/30s. 200mm, 1/200s. This applies to handheld shooting, and it may differ depending on how steady you are.

Regarding VR / IS / OS / etc: They usually claim somewhere around 3-4 stops. If you should be shooting at 1/100s, 3 stops theoretically means you can shoot at 1/12s (divide 100 by 2 three times).

In practice, don't shoot at the 'lowest possible speed' unless you have to, in which case take more photos to increase your chances of getting a keeper.

[Katt]

Extremely helpful. I have printed it & packed in with my gear ready for an outing tomorrow night. Thanks again. :)

[kleinpark]

Thanks for the chart. Being a complete novice, this will help me alot :)

[asiona]

Hi OzzieTraveller


Thanks for the chart. I will print it out and have it with my camera all the time for reference. Hopefully i will add more info about aperture to make it more comprehensive when i am more familar with DSLR.

[Gecko Girl]

What a great resource! Thank you so much :)

[kroppkaka]

I am a beginner and this chart is of great help.
Thank you.

[Boomshanka]

That's a great guide. Sometimes I think I go way too fast or slow for what I'm trying to achieve by the looks of things.

[hongbongkid]

Thanks for the chart! Great for newbies! :wd:

[Fedgrub]

Great chart, thanks!

[Katt]

This is great Phil. I deliberately stay in AV because shutter speeds confuse me. This should help draw me out of my comfort zone.
Katt

[melmo78]

awesome chart thanks heaps for putting that together,its people like yourself that make this such a great place

[OzzieTraveller]

Thanks everybody for your +ve comments

A number of APers have PM'd me to request a PDF copy of the chart & most have received it okay
A problem I have is that I cannot [to my knowledge] attach a PDF to a PM message - so I need to ask for your email address to attach it to an email msg .... and some Apers who receive this request never get back to me ...

Q- mods?? is it possible to attach a PDF to a PM??

Regards, Phil

[gordolake]

Cheers nicely done :)

[ricktas]

Thanks everybody for your +ve comments

A number of APers have PM'd me to request a PDF copy of the chart & most have received it okay
A problem I have is that I cannot [to my knowledge] attach a PDF to a PM message - so I need to ask for your email address to attach it to an email msg .... and some Apers who receive this request never get back to me ...

Q- mods?? is it possible to attach a PDF to a PM??

Regards, Phil

The attach to PM option disappeared with the site software upgrade. It has been requested as something a lot of forum owners would like back in a future update.