Shutter speeds i am confussed

N

NatJev

New member
Hello

I am totally new with cameras and have decided its time to learn a bit more about my camera so i can go off the automatic mode.
I have been reading about shutter speed (most of the photos i would like to take are horse racing and things moving fast)
they refer to speeds of 1/1000 1/500 1/250 ... 1/60 1/30 etc

when i look at my camera shutter speed i dont have these as options (Nikon D300s) i only have
5 3 2.5 lo 13 15 80 100 125 160 200 250 1000 1250 ... 5000 etc

can someone please explain what the difference here is

thank you for your time

Nat
 
S

SteveL54

Senior Member
This will help to understand, along with ISO and aperture.
You need to understand all three


triangle.jpg
 
N

NatJev

New member
Hi Steve
That is an awesome diagram! i was actually looking at that exact one when trying to change my shutter speed.
I am in shutter priority mode and i turn the dial at the back of the camera but i cannot seem to get the shutter speeds of (1/1000 1/500 ..... 1/2) i only have full numbers. Someone suggested possibly this is the ISO i am changing? Id like to know what i am doing wrong here and why cant i see the fractions?
 
Fred Kingston

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
they refer to speeds of 1/1000 1/500 1/250 ... 1/60 1/30 etc

when i look at my camera shutter speed i dont have these as options (Nikon D300s) i only have
5 3 2.5 lo 13 15 80 100 125 160 200 250 1000 1250 ... 5000 etc

Read more: http://nikonites.com/d300-d300s/31082-shutter-speeds-i-am-confussed.html#ixzz3co8wSpov
Click to expand...

The dial is marked in whole numbers... they're actually fractions... they've simply left off the 1/... the 5000 on your dial is actually 1/5,000 of a second... etc.
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
Specifically, if the speed is show as 8", 4", 2", (with the " seconds mark), then those speeds are whole seconds 8 seconds, 4 seconds, 2 seconds.

If shown WITHOUT the " seconds mark (just the plain number), then those speeds are the fractional seconds, or 1/number. 250 is 1/250.

Example:

4", 2", 1" 2 4 is the (whole stop) range of
4 sec, 2 sec, 1 sec, 1/2 sec, 1/4 second.

Except the camera also shows the 1/3 stop values too, two more between each full stop.

This quickly becomes second nature to us. :)
 
J

jay_dean

Senior Member
Its great to get your moving horse subject in focus, however at 1/1000th, you'll freeze the whole image, meaning the horse and the background will be frozen. To create a 'motion' image, it'd probably be better to use slower speeds, and work on your panning technique
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
Hi there, NatJev. Welcome to Nikonites. Welcome to the forum

If you fill out your profile we can better answer any questions that you might have...such as where you live. :)
You can do that at http://nikonites.com/profile.php?do=editprofile

If you PM me your email address, I will send you the Setup Guide for your D300s. It's in PDF format.

FAQ

Some useful links
Nikon Product Manuals available for download | Nikon Knowledgebase
Nikon | Imaging Products | Digitutor


Thanks

Become a Contributing Member
 
Top