Shutter Speed

Shutter speed controls exposure (brightness/darkness) but what other factor does shutter speed control?

• Depth of Field

• Digital Noise

• Motion blur

• Blurriness of the image

Answer explanation

Correct! The shutter controls the TIME that light is allowed into the camera. As long as the shutter is open, light is recorded, no matter what moves or doesn't.

Which is the fastest shutter speed?

• 1/8

• f/2.8

• 1/500

• 400

Answer explanation

Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. This isn't always reflected on the top dial, but it's still the case. 1/500 is a shorter duration than the others. It is one-five-hundredth of a second. That's far less than one-eighth.

Which shutter speed is more likely to capture motion blur?

• 1/500

• 1/2000

• 1/4000

• 1/15

Answer explanation

1/15th of a second is the slowest shutter speed here. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. The smaller the fraction, the shorter the shutter speed. 1/4000th is the smallest shutter speed, and the most likely to FREEZE motion, not capture motion blur.

Let's say your shutter speed is 1/125, but you want to capture a picture like the one you see here. You need to slow your shutter speed down by 3 stops to 1/15th of a second. If you change nothing else, what will be the result?

• The picture will be overexposed by 3 stops.

• The picture will be underexposed by 3 stops.

• The picture will be perfectly exposed, nothing else needs to change.

Answer explanation

When you slow the shutter speed, you allow light in for longer. More light means a brighter picture. A brighter picture means overexposure.

This picture shows shutter speed values at full stops. Your settings are: ISO 200, Aperture f/2.8, Shutter speed 1/30. You change your aperture to f/5.6, which *decreases* the exposure by 2 full stops. What should your new shutter speed be? (faster or slower shutter speed?)

• 1/60

• 1/125

• 1/8

• 1/2

Answer explanation

If you decrease the exposure by 2 stops with the aperture, you need to increase it by two stops with the shutter speed. That means you will need to slow the shutter speed down, increasing the time light enters the camera, to compensate for the loss in light let in by the aperture.