Shutter speed translation: I'm trying to figure what the numbers on my shutter speed mean like 1oo,16o 25o,5ooand so on. I'm trying to learn about blurring speed .Instrcution say set...

rexxal

I'm trying to figure what the numbers on my shutter speed mean like 1oo,16o 25o,5ooand so on. I'm trying to learn about blurring speed .Instrcution say set at 1/15 of a second which isn't on my dial/screen.

Help!

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

Those are fractions of a second - 1/100th, 1/160th, etc If you don't have 1/15th,or "15", use the next closest - there's probably a 1/20th or 1/10th.

rexxal

Oh. Funny the instruction book doesn't tell you me something this obvious.

RiverNan Loc: Eastern Pa

Well...i think it might be helpful if you consider this.
the higher the numbers the faster the speed. Likewise the lower the numbers the slower the speed. Go to somewhere where you can see water running. Shoot fast to slow.
what you will see is at a fast shutter speed you can stop the action. at a slow shutter speed the water blurrs. Get it?

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

rexxal wrote:

Oh. Funny the instruction book doesn't tell you me something this obvious.

Ain't your fault!
Camera manuals are written by engineers in their native language (Japanese), then translated into English (and other languages) by more Japanese. I worked for a Japanese company (Kowa Optimed) for several years. One of my jobs was to translate Japanese-English into American-English.

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

actually it isn't the job of a camera manual to teach fundamentals of photography. That's what an introduction to photography book is for, either checked out from a local library or purchased at a bookstore. (not so subtle hint)

rexxal

Yep,bought one of those too.

BBNC

Right! The camera user manual pages are so stuffed with all the bells and whistles they don't have room for anything on basic photography.

The manufacturers are selling two things; features, which have nothing to do with taking a good picture, and Megapixels, leading folks to believe all they have to do is turn it on and let it do it's thing.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

Some cameras will show the shutter speed in fractions, others don't.

This is not a new item with digital, with film cameras, especially before the micro chip shutter speed indicator only mentioned the base number never the fraction.

Photographers tend to use the base number as it is a mouth full to quote the fration.

Bekkie Loc: Ohio, USA

I had the hardest time with this until I learned that, on a Nikon, the fractions are listed in whole numbers e.g. 125 which means 1/125th of a second.

When you get to shutter speeds 1 second or longer they appear like this; 20" (with the quote mark behind the number) This means the shutter speed is 20 seconds.

Hope this helps some.

rexxal

Yes very much-thanks.That makes more sense.

xpane

I agree with you but wouldn't it be nicee if everyone had the same nomenclature as sop? James

sinatraman wrote:

actually it isn't the job of a camera manual to teach fundamentals of photography. That's what an introduction to photography book is for, either checked out from a local library or purchased at a bookstore. (not so subtle hint)

xpane

I work in construction and I would interpret that as an inch sign, as in 20 inches. Wouldn't it be easier for us if they put a 1 meaning 1 second? Just a thought to those engineers. Or you could say it is equal to 20" (inches of mercury) as in pulling a vacuum on a refrigeration system. lol

Bekkie wrote:

I had the hardest time with this until I learned that, on a Nikon, the fractions are listed in whole numbers e.g. 125 which means 1/125th of a second.

When you get to shutter speeds 1 second or longer they appear like this; 20" (with the quote mark behind the number) This means the shutter speed is 20 seconds.

Hope this helps some.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

xpane wrote:

I work in construction and I would interpret that ... (show quote)

In terms of Longitude and Latitude, when you have a location such as 72° 6' 22" by 37° 15' 10", obviously the (°) means degrees, the (') means minutes, and (" ) means seconds.
Maybe that will help, too!

xpane

That's funny

Indi wrote:

quote=xpane I work in construction and I would in... (show quote)