Along with the aperture you choose, your shutter speed is the other setting which determines the amount of light that hits your sensor.
Think of the shutter as being like curtains which sit in front of the sensor and stop the light getting in - though they are top and bottom, not left and right! When you open the curtains, light hits the sensor and exposes the image, and when you close them again, the image stops exposing.
When you’re not taking a shot, the shutter is closed - then when you press the shutter button it opens, stays open for a set amount of time, and then closes again. So shutter speed is measured in fractions of time.
However, this amount of time is often referred to in two different ways, which can cause confusion. So to clarify, a slow shutter speed is the same as a long exposure, and a fast shutter speed is the same as a short exposure.
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How shutter speed is measured
The standard range of shutter speeds on most entry-level cameras goes from 1/4000 (a four thousandth of a second) through to whole numbers – as listed below. You may see some others as well, including faster ones, depending on your specific camera.
The accepted norm is that 1/100 (a hundredth of a second) is a level at which most people can hold a camera steady without their hands moving while the shutter is open, and so causing 'camera shake'. You may find you can hold your camera steady at slower speeds, but it’s a good baseline to work to. Just experiment and see what you can get away with.
The full range of settings from 1/100 is as follows:
Faster than 1/100
1/100, 1/125, 1/160, 1/200, 1/250, 1/320, 1/400, 1/500, 1/640, 1/800, 1/1000, 1/1300, 1/1600, 1/2000, 1/2500, 1/4000
Slower than 1/100
1/80, 1/60, 1/50, 1/40, 1/30, 1/25, 1/15, 1/10, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1" - and then whole numbers from there, denoted by double quotes after the number, as shown here.
Some cameras show the 1/ at the start, and some just show the whole number, so if all you can see is ‘500’ for example, that’s still the same thing – it means 1/500, but it’s just not showing the 1/.
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Why shutter speed matters
It’s easy to think of a second as being quite a short, or fast, amount of time, but actually in photography terms it isn’t - as you, or your subject, can move a long way in a second!
This is why you need 1/100 as a minimum, to guarantee a sharp shot - or even faster if your subject is moving. Exactly how fast depends on the speed of movement, but as a guide:
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Slow movement - 1/250
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Medium movement - 1/500
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Fast movement - 1/1000
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​​​At the other extreme, 1/4000 is a very fast shutter speed - so even if the subject is moving, it should definitely still be sharp, as it did not have time to move while the shutter was open. This is known as ‘freezing the action’ and is a great artistic effect that can be achieved by controlling your shutter speed.​​
Artistic effects with slow shutter speed/long exposures
When you're trying to achieve a sharp shot, it's essential to use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action. But there are also some great artistic effects that can be achieved by intentionally using a slower shutter speed - allowing elements of your image to move while the shutter is open, and so create blur.
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Examples that you may have seen including a smoothing effect on moving water, or car headlight trails at night. In both cases, the subject (the water, or the cars) has moved while the shutter is open, which is what creates the motion blur effect.
For more information on how to achieve this, visit the 'More Information' page on Photographing Moving Subjects.​
​​Shutter speed and telephoto lenses
If you're using a longer telephoto lens - around 300mm or above, then it becomes more difficult to hold your camera steady when you are zoomed-in - as the effect of any hand movement is magnified, because you are looking at a much smaller part of the scene.
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This is less relevant if you are only using a short zoom such as an 18-55mm kit lens, which is what most entry-level cameras come with - but do bear it in mind if you are using a much longer focal length.
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To compensate for this, some people use a rule known as '100 over the focal length' - which basically means that at 300mm you would use 1/400 minimum and so on - but this is only a guide, and isn't always possible, depending on the available light!
Likewise, you may hear people saying that your shutter speed should always be twice your focal length - so for example at 300mm you should use a minimum shutter speed of 1/600 - but again, while this is the ideal, it is not always practical!
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