Some help with shutter speeds

Ben-Whitehouse

Ben-Whitehouse

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Ben Whitehouse
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Hello everyone, I am really quite new to photography and really enjoying it. I'm doing a photography module for university and one of the task's for it is with shutter speeds. This is the brief:

"Photograph a moving object at the following shutter speeds, 1 second, ½
second, ¼ second, 1/30th second, 1/125th second and 1/500th second"


I have a Nikon D40 and can find 1, 1/30, 1/125 and 1/500 but I'm having trouble understanding ½ second and a ¼ second and what this relates to on the camera's shutterspeed settings . I know this may be a stupid question to ask can anyone help me? :shrug:

Ben
 
I don't quite get what you mean in the last paragraph of your post, what do you mean you're 'having trouble understanding 1/2 second and 1/4 second'? They're just fractions, the same as 1/30, 1/125 etc?
 
I don't have my camera to hand, isn't it something like 0"5 for half second?
 
Sorry for making it hard to understand as I don't really understand it myself.

On the shutter speed settings It doesn't present them as 1/125 or 1/500 i think it presents them as 125 and 500, so I presume that 1/125 is 125.

Is this right or am I being a complete plum? Sorry if this is really stupid but numbers are really not my thing.
 
if you can find the other shutter speeds then turn your dial the other way half a second reads 2 quarter is 4 and 1should look like this 1" on your top display also put your camera in s mode shutter speed priority hope this helps
 
also 1.3 is one and a third seconds its old money fractions not decimal
 
Yep if it say 125 or 500 on your camera it will be 1/125 and 1/500

Like wise

1 second = 1" on camera
1/2 second = 2 (note it does not have a little symbol after it)
1/4 second = 4 on the camera
1/30th second = 30 on camera
1/125th second = 125 of a second
1/500th second = 500 on the camera

Simply it means that is how fast the shutter will fire
Easy to experiment with the digi camera, set you camera up on a tripod and at 500, then get someone to run past and fire the shutter, you should see the person fairly static on the image, like you have frozen them.

Repeat again but this time set the camera to 1" second, now you should see the person as a blur when you look at the image.

Bit of practise is all you need then you will get the hang of it.

Good luck :D

Having just read the other replies, the joy of the digital camera :lol: is that you can set the numbers, and every other one inbetween, if you want. Some do in whole stops, some in 1/3 of a stop some in 1/4 of a stop. Don't worry to much about them just stick to the whole numbers for the moment and you shoulf be ok.
 
just checked on the net your camera goes from 1/4000 of a second (very fast) to 30 seconds (very) slow
 
Knikki said:
Yep if it say 125 or 500 on your camera it will be 1/125 and 1/500

Like wise

1 second = 1" on camera
1/2 second = 2 (note it does not have a little symbol after it)
1/4 second = 4 on the camera
1/30th second = 30 on camera
1/125th second = 125 of a second
1/500th second = 500 on the camera

Simply it means that is how fast the shutter will fire
Easy to experiment with the digi camera, set you camera up on a tripod and at 500, then get someone to run past and fire the shutter, you should see the person fairly static on the image, like you have frozen them.

Repeat again but this time set the camera to 1" second, now you should see the person as a blur when you look at the image.

Bit of practise is all you need then you will get the hang of it.

Good luck :D

Having just read the other replies, the joy of the digital camera :lol: is that you can set the numbers, and every other one inbetween, if you want. Some do in whole stops, some in 1/3 of a stop some in 1/4 of a stop. Don't worry to much about them just stick to the whole numbers for the moment and you shoulf be ok.
Click to expand...

nice reply knikki wish i could type that much ha ha takes me ages said the two fingered typer
 
Obviously the course task has made you learn something to be able to complete it.. got to be a good thing :)
 
Told ya TP is the best forum bruv! Loadsa nice, helpful and knowledgable peeps about.

Now post up some photies you been takin with that there new Nikon! :thumbs:
 
dinorock said:
nice reply knikki wish i could type that much ha ha takes me ages said the two fingered typer
Click to expand...

It was only cause I was waiting for some software to load on another machine :)

But glad to help out
 
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