what is aperture and what is shutter speed used for?

Question

examples would be nice please. thanks

Answer 1

Aperture is the lens opening. By increasing or decreasing the lens opening you can increase or decrease the amount of light entering through the lens. It is denoted by a series of numbers like 2.8, 4 5.6, 8, 11 etc.

For example, if the aperture is 2.8 then the lens opening is greater than if the aperture is 4.

The aperture has a role to play in the depth of field. If you want to increase the depth of field then you have to decrease the aperture. So an aperture set at 8 will give you a greater depth of field than aperture setting of 5.6. That means more portions will be in focus when the aperture is 8 as compared to 5.6

The light passes through the lens and is focussed on the film or sensor (in case of digital) where the image forms. The film or sensor is light sensitive. The shutter stops the light front falling on it. When you click your camera, the shutter is released i.e. it opens and then closes. During this opening and closing of the shutter, light passes and falls on the film or sensor. One can chose the time for which the shutter remains open. It is known as shutter speed. It is denoted in terms of fraction of seconds. For eg. 1/250, 1/125, 1/60 etc. So 1/250 means the shutter was open for 1/250th of a second.

If an object, person, animal is moving then we chose a higher shutter speed. For example, if a horse is racing past you, then you choose 1/500. For still objects, the shutter speed can be less.

Answer 2

Aperture and shutter speed control how much light gets through the lens to your camera, they work the same whether you're using film or a digital camera, which has a sensor (CCD) inside.

Normally the film or sensor is covered, so no light gets through. The shutter speed determines how long you "remove the cover" so to speak, and let light in. The longer the shutter is open, the more light falls onto the film or sensor. You normally use short shutter speed like 1/500 of a second to stop action- if the shutter is open for a long time (for example, 5 seconds) then anything which moves during that time period will register as a blur.

Aperture determines how wide the opening of the lens is- the wider it is, the more light gets through. The narrower, the less light. Aperture also affects focusing, but those are the basics.

Answer 3

The aperture is how much light your camera lets in, and the shutter speed is how long it lets the light in for. A good analogy would be pouring a glass of water. You want to fill the glass, so you turn on the tap. If you turn it on wide (wide aperture), then you don't need to have it on for long to fill it (fast shutter speed). On the other hand, if you have it coming out at a thin drizzle (smaller aperture), it will take longer (slower shutter speed).

For practical purposes, the aperture will decide how much of your picture is in focus. The smallest aperture (highest number) will make your focus point from near you all the way to infinity. A wider aperture (smaller number) will isolate what you're focusing on, and throw the rest of the picture out of focus.

Shutter speed also creates blur or sharpness, but in a different way. If you want to stop motion, use a fast shutter speed (higher number--it's in fractions of a second). If you want some motion blur, use a slower shutter speed. A good place to use that would be fireworks, where you want to have the streaks of light coming out.

Answer 4

Aperture refers to the size of the actual opening in the lens that allows light in. The camera can be set for a larger or smaller opening.

Shutter speed refers to the amount of time the shutter stays open when you click to take a photo, before closing again.

So what does all this mean?

Well, the larger the aperture, the more light allowed in - but also, it means that the "depth of field" is shorter. "Depth of field" refers to how far from front to back in the photo is still in focus. You ever see those close up photos of flowers where everything in the background is fuzzy, but the flower is perfectly in focus? That's a short (or shallow) depth of field. Ever see pictures of, like, the grand canyon, where everything for hundreds of feet from front to back is still in focus? That's long depth of field. All this is adjusted with the aperture.

But that's not all. Remember, the larger the aperture, the more light comes in. If you use the same shutter speed with a small aperture (and the picture is great) and then another with same shutter speed but a larger aperture, the second will have too much light.

then you have to adjust the shutter speed shorter so that it's open for a shorter amount of time.

Now consider shutter speed...the longer the shutter is open, the more blurry moving objects will be. Sports action? Short shutter speed. Panorama landscape? Can be longer shutter speed.

So shutter speed and aperture work in opposite ways...if you increase one, you decrease the other.

I know this can be confusing, I'm not a photographer but my wife is. hope this helps a little.

Answer 5

They are used together to control how much light hits the film. Aperture is the amount of light coming through the lens, controlled by the diaphragm. Shutter speed is the duration of time that you're allowing the light into your camera.

Answer 6

aperture: depth of the picture higher the number f2.8 will give less burr in the background, f11 lower number will give blur background. so taking portrait, you want to use lower number to create clear object but blur the background. landscape will be the other way around

shutter: speed of shutter open and shut. faster 1/100 sec or even faster 1/500 sec is good for bright light. so at night, shutter speed will be slow to allow more light to capture the image. you will see 1/10 sec. fireworks can be 1/2 sec , 1 sec or even slower.

most of the point and shot will not have the the control of these. but newer model may give you shutter option. to get aournd it, use the program mode. good luck.