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Photography vocabulary · Exposure

Shutter speed

Meaning in photography, with examples

/ˈʃʌtər spiːd/nounCore term

In photography, shutter speed means: The length of time the shutter stays open to let light reach the sensor, such as 1/1000 of a second or two seconds.

In Turkish: enstantane, deklanşör hızı, örtücü hızı

How it is used

Fast shutter speeds freeze movement; slow ones blur it or need a tripod. Photographers say “one two-fifty” for 1/250 s. You set, raise or drop the shutter speed. A common handheld rule is to use at least 1 divided by the focal length, e.g. 1/50 s with a 50 mm lens.

Example sentences

  1. Use a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 to freeze the players.

  2. I slowed the shutter speed to half a second to blur the waterfall.

Common collocations

  • fast shutter speed
  • slow shutter speed
  • set the shutter speed
  • minimum shutter speed
  • shutterThe part of the camera that opens and closes to control how long light reaches the sensor. It can be mechanical or electronic.
  • motion blurThe streaky, blurred look of something that moves while the shutter is open, or of the whole image when the camera moves.
  • shutter priorityA semi-automatic mode, marked S or Tv, in which you choose the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture.
  • exposure triangleA simple model showing how aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together to control exposure; changing one usually means adjusting another.
  • long exposureA photo taken with a slow shutter speed, from about a second to several minutes, so that moving things blur while still things stay sharp.

More terms: Exposure

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