page_title: Shutter speed
section_title: Creative utility in photography
hierarchical_section_title: Shutter speed / Creative utility in photography
caption_attribution_description: English: Sparklers with a slow shutter speed of 4 seconds. Taken new years eve 2008 in a public park in Dover Heights, New South Wales. I got my young cousin to stand as still as possible whilst rotating both sparklers in a circular motion
context_page_description: In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time when the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light, also when a camera's shutter is open when taking a photograph.
  The amount of light that reaches the film or image sensor is proportional to the exposure time. ​¹⁄₅₀₀ of a second will let half as much light in as ​¹⁄₂₅₀.
context_section_description: Shutter speed is one of several methods used to control the amount of light recorded by the camera's digital sensor or film. It is also used to manipulate the visual effects of the final image.
  Slower shutter speeds are often selected to suggest the movement of an object in a still photograph.
  Excessively fast shutter speeds can cause a moving subject to appear unnaturally frozen. For instance, a running person may be caught with both feet in the air with all indication of movement lost in the frozen moment.
  When a slower shutter speed is selected, a longer time passes from the moment the shutter opens till the moment it closes. More time is available for movement in the subject to be recorded by the camera as a blur.
  A slightly slower shutter speed will allow the photographer to introduce an element of blur, either in the subject, where, in our example, the feet, which are the fastest moving element in the frame, might be blurred while the rest remains sharp; or if the camera is panned to follow a moving subject, the background is blurred while the subject remains relatively sharp.
  The exact point at which the background or subject will start to blur depends on the speed at which the object is moving, the angle that the object is moving in relation to the camera, the distance it is from the camera and the focal length of the lens in relation to the size of the digital sensor or film.
  When slower shutter-speeds, in excess of about half a second, are used on running water, the water in the photo will have a ghostly white appearance reminiscent of fog. This effect can be used in landscape photography.
  Zoom burst is a technique which entails the variation of the focal length of a zoom lens during a longer exposure. In the moment that the shutter is opened, the lens is zoomed in, changing the focal length during the exposure. The center of the image remains sharp, while the details away from the center form a radial blur, which causes a strong visual effect, forcing the eye into the center of the image.
  The following list provides an overview of common photographic uses for standard shutter speeds.
  ​¹⁄₁₆₀₀₀ s and less: The fastest speed available in APS-H or APS-C format DSLR cameras (as of 2012). (Canon EOS 1D, Nikon D1, Nikon 1 J2, D1X, and D1H)
  ​¹⁄₁₂₀₀₀ s: The fastest speed available in any 35 mm film SLR camera. (Minolta Maxxum 9xi, Maxxum 9
  ​¹⁄₈₀₀₀ s: The fastest speed available in production SLR cameras (as of 2013), also the fastest speed available in any full-frame DSLR or SLT camera (as of 2013). Used to take sharp photographs of very fast subjects, such as birds or planes, under good lighting conditions, with an ISO speed of 1,000 or more and a large-aperture lens.
  ​¹⁄₄₀₀₀ s: The fastest speed available in consumer SLR cameras (as of 2009); also the fastest speed available in any leaf shutter camera (such as the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1) (as of 2013). Used to take sharp photographs of fast subjects, such as athletes or vehicles, under good lighting conditions and with an ISO setting of up to 800.
  ​¹⁄₂₀₀₀ s and ​¹⁄₁₀₀₀ s: Used to take sharp photographs of moderately fast subjects under normal lighting conditions.
  ​¹⁄₅₀₀ s and ​¹⁄₂₅₀ s: Used to take sharp photographs of people in motion in everyday situations. ​¹⁄₂₅₀ s is the fastest speed useful for panning; it also allows for a smaller aperture (up to f/11) in motion shots, and hence for a greater depth of field.
  ​¹⁄₁₂₅ s: This speed, and slower ones, are no longer useful for freezing motion. ​¹⁄₁₂₅ s is used to obtain greater depth of field and overall sharpness in landscape photography, and is also often used for panning shots.
  ​¹⁄₆₀ s: Used for panning shots, for images taken under dim lighting conditions, and for available light portraits.
  ​¹⁄₃₀ s: Used for panning subjects moving slower than 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) and for available-light photography. Images taken at this and slower speeds normally require a tripod or an image stabilized lens/camera to be sharp.
  ​¹⁄₁₅ s and ​¹⁄₈ s: This and slower speeds are useful for photographs other than panning shots w
caption: Sparklers moved in a circular motion with an exposure time of 4 seconds. This is an example of Light painting
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