shutter speed?

[bcox]

This may be a silly question, but I have a 70-300 oli dont use because it doesn't have image stabilization but my regular lens quit on me. I shoot my sons soccer games and if I use a mono pod and a fast enough shutter speed that should be alright wouldn't it or is the IS that much better that I should be using a lens with it?

 

[mortimerhill]

IS is to counter camera shake, not to stop motion blur of the subject; If you're shooting football, then a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action will be fast enough to prevent camera shake.

 

[bcox]

Thank you!

 

[barryjarvis]

IS is to counter camera shake, not to stop motion blur of the subject; If you're shooting football, then a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action will be fast enough to prevent camera shake.

Can i just jump on this and ask a quick question?

As i'm literally only a couple of days in to my DSLR life, i'm wondering what shutter speed would be considered fast enough to 'freeze the action'?
Or does that vary depending on equipment?

 

[Furtim]

Can i just jump on this and ask a quick question?

As i'm literally only a couple of days in to my DSLR life, i'm wondering what shutter speed would be considered fast enough to 'freeze the action'?
Or does that vary depending on equipment?

It really depends on the action - a fast moving car will require a faster shutter speed than a slower moving runner for example.

If in doubt try starting at 1/250 and take it from there - at least with digital you can keep chimping and adjust if needed.

 

[realspeed]

Barry can I answer this

There is no set speed to freeze action. Why? well it depends on how far away the subject is and how fast its moving. Again there are two situations regarding freezing action and that is panning with a camera to freeze the subject with blurred background (following the subject) or having the camera looking at a fixed point and the subject going across what the camera is looking at, such as a stream for example.

Then it depends on how "fast " a lens is. An f2.8 lens will allow a camera a higher shutter speed ( more light onto the sensor) than say an f5.6 lens.

Another factor assuming daylight is how bright the day is, A sunny day ( whatever that is) will allow a faster speed than an overcast dull day, which will produce a different camera setting altogether

Also The ISO setting has to be taken into consideration as Shutter -ISO -Aperture all work in conjunction with each other. Gets confusing doesn't it

I would suggest putting your camera into Aperture priority and take a picture of a moving subject then without editing download something like KUSO exif and check what the camera readout is from there.

Link

http://kuso-exif-viewer.softpedia.com/

Once downloaded all you do is right click over the picture and the 4th one down on the drop down list will be Kuso which gives more details about you picture than you will imagine and even more if you tick the box at the top of Kuso

Oh and its a free download

You don't say what camera you are using but if you can set the camera to focus priority before shutter release will help a lot. A1 and A2 setting on the Nikon D300

If you are just starting out with a DSLR don't try and do/learn everything at once it makes things much harder. Obviously you don't want to use auto mode and let the camera work everything out for you, nor do you want to go into manual mode until you get used to different settings.

Photography is a case of the more you know the more there is to learn.



Anyway that's the basic answer to your question

Realspeed

 

[nickjohnwatson]

Can i just jump on this and ask a quick question?

As i'm literally only a couple of days in to my DSLR life, i'm wondering what shutter speed would be considered fast enough to 'freeze the action'?
Or does that vary depending on equipment?

The general rule of thumb is that your shutter speed needs to be equal to or higher that your focal length. So for example if you are using say a 70-200 on a full frame camera the lowest shutter you should use to avoid camera shake is 1/200 but if you are using a crop sensor say for example a canon 450/550/50D etc then you will need to take this into account so 1/320 would be the recommended minimum shutter speed. Obviously these are just guidelines and different situations call for different settings

Hope this helps

 

[Furtim]

The general rule of thumb is that your shutter speed needs to be equal to or higher that your focal length. So for example if you are using say a 70-200 on a full frame camera the lowest shutter you should use to avoid camera shake is 1/200 but if you are using a crop sensor say for example a canon 450/550/50D etc then you will need to take this into account so 1/320 would be the recommended minimum shutter speed. Obviously these are just guidelines and different situations call for different settings

Hope this helps

Useful info on eliminating camera shake, but just to keep it clear for Barry, that's not the same as freezing the action (although it may have the side effect of doing so, given it is also adjusting the shutter speed).

Realspeed hit the nail on the head.

 

[TCR4x4]

People managed to shoot fast action for many years before IS was even invented. Many still do!


All IS does is allow you to use a slower shutter speed when handholding than you might be able to without.

 

[nickjohnwatson]

Useful info on eliminating camera shake, but just to keep it clear for Barry, that's not the same as freezing the action (although it may have the side effect of doing so, given it is also adjusting the shutter speed).

Realspeed hit the nail on the head.

My brain's in Sunday mode! Apologies :-D

 

[barryjarvis]

Wow, guys, thanks for the answers...
I think for the time being i'll be reading up on things, and watching youtube videos, and just generally playing around with some settings...
I popped the camera (a Nikon D3200 by the way) in to manual earlier, and took a few slow shutter shots, whilst changing iso settings and playing with iso compensation etc.

I'm off to our caravan next week which has some stunning scenery around it, including a couple of miles of beach across the road, so am going to try and get the some shots of the sea - the 'milky water' effect as i like to call it

thanks once again guys - i can see me learning a lot here!

 

[drexyl]

My answer would be. It'll be fine.

I turn the image stabilisation off on all my lenses.

 

[G.K.Jnr.]

The general rule of thumb is that your shutter speed needs to be equal to or higher that your focal length. So for example if you are using say a 70-200 on a full frame camera the lowest shutter you should use to avoid camera shake is 1/200 but if you are using a crop sensor say for example a canon 450/550/50D etc then you will need to take this into account so 1/320 would be the recommended minimum shutter speed. Obviously these are just guidelines and different situations call for different settings

Hope this helps

Hi, Not sure if Im correct but the general rule of thumb quoted is perfectly correct, but when putting a 70-200 lens on an APS-C size camera isn't it still a 70-200 lens.

The effective focal length has only changed because of the crop factor so surely the the rule of thumb as for the slowest shutter speed should remain the same.
You're only enlarging so to speak the central area of the frame, you're not actually using a longer lens.

I'm probably wrong but it was just my figuring out.

 

[ernesto]

Even if it is not physically changing the focal length the affect is the same as it is still a more zoomed in view and any camera shake will be more apparent.
Same effect as digitally zooming in a small lens.

 

[wyx087]

Hi, Not sure if Im correct but the general rule of thumb quoted is perfectly correct, but when putting a 70-200 lens on an APS-C size camera isn't it still a 70-200 lens.

The effective focal length has only changed because of the crop factor so surely the the rule of thumb as for the slowest shutter speed should remain the same.
You're only enlarging so to speak the central area of the frame, you're not actually using a longer lens.

I'm probably wrong but it was just my figuring out.

You are correct with regard to how crop factor works, but also your field of view is changed to full frame equivalent of 300mm, so you should take that into account.

Imagine this: take a shot with a standard 50mm at 1/50s. Everything looks fine but when you zoom in, you might see slight blur. Same principle is true for crop sensor cameras, you are effectively zoomed in by the crop factor, so you will also have to take that into account.

End of the day, it's just a rule of thumb, with good techniques you can use slower shutter speed, with worse techniques you will need faster.



For freezing motion, I'd say 1/125 for non-sporty people, 1/250 to 500 for sports, around 1/800 for jets in airshows.