Shutter speed, aperture and ISO

[bigtourist]

Hi

I'm a newbie to photography and have a couple of questions regarding shutter speed, aperture and ISO, in particuarly the first 2 things.

1. When do you know when to change shutter speed, and when to change aperture?
While aperture refers to the size of the len's hole (hence controlling the amount of light to let in), shutter speed refers to the speed which the shutter is open for (which also controls the amount of light to let in). Since both aperture and shutter speed controls the amount of light to let it, how do you choose which one to change? I'm thinking that shutter speed probably has more to do with motion and movement (eg. if you want to take a photograph of someone running you have to use a faster shutter speed?). It would be great to get some exact clarfication.

2. Does shutter speed also come in 'stops' like aperture?
I realised that if I take a photograph many times and changing the shutter speed, the picture (in terms of brightness) changes quite gradually (for example, a picture i take with 1/10 and 1/12 shutter speed looks about the same). So I'm thinking perhaps it is similar to aperture (1 full stop = 3 turns of the dial). Is this the same for shutter speed?

That is the only 2 questions I have for now. I am still alright with ISO But in particuar I have to hesitate for quite a long time when I need to change the settings because I don't know which one to tackle first

[worry rock]

Hey. I'm new to photog too but I will try my best to help. I can help with only question one though.

1. ah yes you're partly right bout aperture and shutter speed but there is a difference between the two in terms of its function. The aperture determines the size of the opening of the lens (the amount of light) while shutter speed controls amount of time sensor is exposed to light (the speed the light takes to come in). But essentially both does determine the 'lighting' of the photo, like how bright or dark it is. To me, its about finding the balance between the two, means for example when you use larger aperture (like 3.5) then your shutter speed need to be faster to compensate the large amount of light coming in. When your surrounding is dark, first you set the aperture to something low like 3.5 or even 2.8 if your lens can do that. So you set the aperture according to the surrounding you're in - dark or bright. As you take different subjects or different things around the surrounding you're in, you adjust your shutter speed accordingly. If subject is too dark, then you could increase your shutter speed to allow larger amount of light to come in at a faster speed. Generally I keep my aperture the same when I'm shooting in one place, especially indoors. But this does not mean that aperture is rigid and cannot be adjusted. You could also adjust aperture if the surrounding area gets too dark or too bright. Oh yes and shutter speed can be used for movement, motion (faster = freeze motion. slower = creative blur). Hope I'm right and you find this helpful. Hard to explain in sentences.

[Poseidon]

Hi there,

1. Shutter speed controls the speed at which the aperture opens and closes, and will affect the following in a photograph.

(a) Brightness (amount of light entering the camera is affected by the duration upon which the sensor is exposed to light)
(b) Motion blur & Camera Shake (the longer the shutter speed, the more motion blur (subject movement) and camera shake (movement of your camera)

2. Aperture will control the size of the opening which in turn affects the following:

(a) Brightness (amount of light entering the camera is affected by the size of the opening)
(b) Depth of Field - this affects the region of sharp focus in an image. A larger aperture will give a shallower depth of field and vice versa.

Hence, you will change aperture and shutter speed depending on which is more important. if depth of field is more important, then you will change shutter speed since you don't want to affect depth of field, and vice versa.

You are also correct to say that a faster shutter speed will allow you to "freeze" the movement of a running person; hence in that shot, if a sharp image is required of the running person, you will adjust aperture rather than shutter speed.

3. Both shutter speed and aperture comes in stops. Stops is actually a measurement of how much light enters the camera, and since both shutter speed and aperture affect this, both will have stop values.

As for the number of turns of the dial, I believe that is something you can set with your camera. Your camera may have a custom setting to say whether the stops are adjusted in 1/2 stops or 1/3 stops. In your case, probably the latter since you need to turn 3 clicks to get one stop.

With digital cameras (and films last time); the last factor is of course, ISO, and in most cases for digital cameras (not film!), we adjust ISO first before considering the other two; subject to the ISO still being within acceptable non-grainy limits. In the film days, we adjust ISO last as it involves changing film, which is more troublesome.

Do feel free to ask more if you still have questions and we will try our best to help.

Hi

I'm a newbie to photography and have a couple of questions regarding shutter speed, aperture and ISO, in particuarly the first 2 things.

1. When do you know when to change shutter speed, and when to change aperture?
While aperture refers to the size of the len's hole (hence controlling the amount of light to let in), shutter speed refers to the speed which the shutter is open for (which also controls the amount of light to let in). Since both aperture and shutter speed controls the amount of light to let it, how do you choose which one to change? I'm thinking that shutter speed probably has more to do with motion and movement (eg. if you want to take a photograph of someone running you have to use a faster shutter speed?). It would be great to get some exact clarfication.

2. Does shutter speed also come in 'stops' like aperture?
I realised that if I take a photograph many times and changing the shutter speed, the picture (in terms of brightness) changes quite gradually (for example, a picture i take with 1/10 and 1/12 shutter speed looks about the same). So I'm thinking perhaps it is similar to aperture (1 full stop = 3 turns of the dial). Is this the same for shutter speed?

That is the only 2 questions I have for now. I am still alright with ISO But in particuar I have to hesitate for quite a long time when I need to change the settings because I don't know which one to tackle first

[johnnyglaire]

Nice posts here. I'm also new in this forum and I'm also a beginner when it comes to photography. I'm really confused at aperture,iso and shutter speed thingy.

[worry rock]

Hey johnny. Yeah I'm new to photography and the forum too. But glad there is such a photog community like Red Dot Photo. Brings us photographers closer and we can help one another learn new things. I post some photog questions, hoping pple can help me with them.

[bukitimah]

As. Newbie myself, all these technical terms sound so alien and by the time I want to react, it is game over. After 5 months, I find that I am using aperture or speed priority setting most times. For fast moving subject, you have set to speed. End of the day, all the theory is just a guide. You just got to keep shooting at all settings and see which is your preferred shot.
Hope that helps but may not be the correct advice. I am still learning and there are many experts willing to part and give their advise here. So post the photo and seek their comments. It is free!

[solvere.studio]

check out bryan peterson youtube videos
good explanation of these 3 variables