Shutter speeds

Gaz

Warning ! Complete newb alert and possible silly question ....

Right so , im trying to get use to my new camera (Lumix FZ18) and im having real problems with shutter speed.

Am I right in thinking the following ...
If i set the shutter speed to slow , 2 - 3 seconds I can get those misty moving water effects etc ?
Then if i set it fast , say 1/200 or faster I should get clear shots from fast moving subjects ???

My problem though is the faster I set the shutter speed the darker the picture becomes , to the point where its almost completely black.

Your help is appreciated !

Alanstrainor

2 to 3 second would probably be way too long to get that misty shot you're looking for, although it does depend on how much light there is. The reason your images are becoming dark/black with faster shutter speeds is because the faster the shutter speed the less time the light has on the sensor, ie less light gathered so the picture is dark. If you were to use an overly long shutter speed such as 2 seconds in daylight, chances are you would have a completely white image as there is far too much light being gathered by the sensor. Does this help at all?

If you want to get low light fast shots you'll need to bump up the ISO setting, this increases the sensitivity of the sensor therefore it images will be brighter with less light.

elven

Ok - there's two things that give you control over the amount of light getting in to the camera - one of them is the shutter speed and the other is the aperture. the aperture is a hole, basically, and you can make it bigger or smaller.

If you shorten the shutter speed, you're going to have to open the aperture more to compensate and let in enough light to expose the picture properly. That means a smaller 'f' number. If you have a Tv mode, or 'shutter priority', your aperture will be set automatically when you choose the shutter speed.

Bear in mind, you need upwards of 1/600th of a second to stop moving water...

I think there's more in-depth explanations in the faq - check out the basic lens advice link.

TYR ->

The light in the picture also has to do with what lens you use. e.g i have a 18-55mm basig lens. The setting that i use is Tv (shutter speed) 1/200, but i use flash, but mostly i take portraits. I know alot of people says flash is a no-no. But what u can do is to try and mess with the ISO as well. The higher ISO u have, the brighter it gets, BUT also, the higher ISO u go, the more noisy the picture gets. So I wouldnt recommend to go over ISO 400.

Paulw

Here's a useful article. It talks about the exposure triangle, with ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography/

opentarget

hi, im a total newbie as well so were both in the same boat here i just got my D60 the other day and so far have practically no time to shoot with it....poor me, i found this site this morning ;
http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/understanding-exposure.html

seams good.