F stop list
The faster the subject is moving the faster the shutter speed needed to freeze it.Ī slow shutter speed was used, so the subject is motion-blurred A Shutter Speed Tip
The impact of a fast shutter speed is that it’s more likely to freeze any movement in your subject. From 1/8th to 1/125th is increasing the shutter speed by 4 stops. This doubles the amount of time light travels to the film.Ĭhange from 1/500th to 1/60th is decreasing the shutter speed by 3 stops. This halves the amount of time light travels to the film.Ĭhanging from 1/60th to 1/30th is decreasing the shutter speed by one stop. Some ExamplesĬhanging from 1/125th of a second to 1/250th of a second is increasing the shutter speed one stop. When you decrease the shutter speed by one stop you are doubling the amount of time light travels through to the film. So, when you increase the shutter speed by one stop, you are halving the amount of time light travels through to the film. This is called changing the settings by one “Stop”. With shutter speeds, changing from one setting to the next halves or doubles the amount of time light is able to travel through to the film behind. Doubling and halving is the underlying system behind how exposure works. The numbers double and halve for good reason too. This standardisation was introduced in the 1950s so older cameras might have different numbers, but the principle is essentially the same. The slight discrepancy is just a product of rounding to keep the numbers, well, round.
With the exception of the difference between 8 and 15 and 60 and 125 the numbers double or halve. Looking at the scale of numbers you might also note that there seems to be a system, though the system isn’t quite right. Shutter speed dial with the speed set to 1/250th of a second Doubling and Halving A slow shutter speed let light through for a longer amount of time, and a fast shutter speed lets light through for less time. The amount of time a shutter is open is defined by the “shutter speed”. Close it and it prevents the light from hitting the film behind. Open the shutter and light travels through to the film behind. Inside all cameras, there is a component called a “shutter”. And so, the best place to start is to understand what they do and how they work. As a definition, it overlooks many potential creative goals – but to obtain the correct exposure, it is important to understand all three of the key variables, and indeed the relationship between them.īefore we get to the relationship between them, it’s useful to understand how each one of the variables has a different impact on how your photo will look. This is about the most simple definition of correct exposure I can think of. It’s worth noting at this stage that the concept of “Correct Exposure” is a very deep hole – so for the sake of this post, let’s just assume we always want to achieve an even distribution of light, mid and dark tones across our photo. By understanding the exposure triangle it is not only possible to achieve correct exposure, but it also opens the up doors to greater creativity within photography. With there being three variables, the relationship between them is often referred to as the “Exposure Triangle”. These three variables amount to what’s called “Exposure”.Įxposure defines how light or dark a photo will be. The first thing to understand about these three variables is that if you strip a camera back to its most basic function, shutter speed, aperture and film speed are the only things beyond light itself that you need to understand to take a photo. 6 Reciprocity – The Relationship Between the Variables.4.4 The Impact of Different Film Speeds.2.4 The Impact of Different Shutter Speeds.