Knowing how your camera operates helps you operate it better.
Though cameras may have shaken off some of their reputation as alchemical machines, some of their basic functions are still mystifying. Understanding the basics of a camera, such as shutter speed, is the first step to taking better pictures, especially with a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) or a high-end point-and-shoot digital camera.
Shutter Basics
Every time you press the button to take a picture you use the shutter. The shutter is perhaps the more important part of the camera: it opens and closes to allow light to reach the sensor (or film) and it is the primary mechanism that controls exposure. Your camera's shutter speed is a measurement of the time that the shutter is open, allowing light to filter through after the shutter button is pressed.
Shutter Speed and Film
A manual SLR film camera features a knob or dial on top with a series of numbers ranging between 1 and 1/4,000, depending upon the model. This was the shutter selection dial. Most SLRs made before the age of DSLRs had a light meter inside the viewfinder and a needle that bobbed around as the scene got lighter or darker. Spinning the shutter dial would alter the light reading on your camera, increasing the light as the number got smaller and decreasing it as the number got larger. In the manual SLR days, you controlled your shutter speed.
Controlled Shutter Speed
Most beginning photographers shoot using their digital camera's auto mode. In this mode, every photographic setting is controlled by the camera, which takes millions of sensitive readings as you point the camera at different subjects. Most significantly, the camera reads the light level to determine how long the shutter needs to remain open to expose the photo. It is a complex calculation, involving more than the shutter speed, which works in tandem with the aperture of the lens. A wide aperture and slow shutter will result in white, over-exposed images.
Reviewing and Changing Shutter Speed
After you take a few pictures, review them on your camera in the Advanced Review mode. You can access this mode by pressing the menu button or the info button on compact digital cameras. For Nikon and Canon DSRLs, you will need to press up or down on the control pad. Notice the shutter speed as it relates to the brightness or darkness of the shot. If your camera allows -- and not all do -- you can change the shutter preferred shooting mode and the values to make your shots brighter or darker. This will give you a good understanding of how your camera determines shutter speed.
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