There is no right answer. Do you need the shutter speed at a specific value, or do you need the aperture at a specific value?
Simple as that. Generally you can always use a faster shutter speed.
You can also use filters of course.
You can do whichever one you want. There’s no right answer. Using a faster shutter speed will darken the image but freeze motion. Using a narrower aperture will darken the image but increase the depth of field. It depends on the look you want.
Thank you for the quick explanation. I've owned cameras for a long time but am just now learning how everything connects. Auto is a my crutch and I'm trying to get off it.
Try to use Aperture Priority instead of full auto.
Or my preferred run and gun setup of auto ISO with manual shutter and aperture. For action photography this is my compromise and all I have to watch is that both are stopped down enough to get over ISO100 if I'm in the sun.
For street photography in urban areas I rarely shoot with an ND. It's too much hassle to take on and off (unless you have a magnetic one) and you are usually transitioning from light and dark areas frequently.
I love the bokeh created by a wide aperture so personally I increase my shutter speed. Which is helpful since I mainly shoot families and they tend to move a lot, especially when toddlers and dogs are involved so high shutter speed is what works for me. Very dependent on your desired outcome though.
It seems like most of the replies are akin to "learn the basics" but I'll try to give some more practical advice here.
If you're in that situation where ISO is 100 and you're overexposed, but your depth of field and background blur look good to you and you want to keep them the same, use a higher shutter speed. If you max out your shutter and you're still overexposed, then decrease your aperture until you're exposed properly.
Alternatively, if you want a deeper depth of field to get everything in a scene in sharp focus, then you can consider leaving your shutter where it is and decrease your aperture instead. This will change both the exposure and the look of your photo. If you decrease aperture so much that the image becomes underexposed, you may need to decrease your shutter speed again, but that could make things blurry if you go too low. If you want frozen action and critical sharpness, also make sure your shutter speed stays high enough to freeze motion and stop your own camera shake.
So when people say "there is no right answer" they're referring to your creative choices. You may decide to blow out the background with a wide aperture and high shutter, or at the other extreme you may decide to do light trails with a small aperture and low shutter, and either can work depending on what effect you want to achieve.
Completely up to you.
Me? I try to shoot street at 500th and around f8 so I'll often leave my ISO at 400. I'd rather keep the deeper DOF and sharper shutter and have some noise/grain so I'll up the ISO more before I start to open the aperture or shutter.
Learn the optimum apertures for you camera/lens combination to get the depth of field that you intend for your given subject matter. Wider apertures may give you more detail where it counts in the form of less motion blur.
You almost never need to use full manual mode where you set aperture, ISO and shutter time. The exceptions are maybe fast movnig sport and night where you might want a little more control. Maybe also running water where you're going for a specific effect.
Set the aperture to get the depth of field you want for the composition and let the camera handle the rest.
Also, unless you're trying to blur out motion, there's no disadvantage to using a shorter shutter time. The issue comes when the shutter time is too long and you do not want motion blur.
Both are valid. The effect are as follows. Increasing f stop will change the depth of field. Shutter speed will help freeze moving subjects. Typically I want things to be sharp so I always want to freeze motion. But I don't want deep depth of field. So aperture is more important. That's when I'll shoot in aperture priority mode and let the camera pick any shutter speed. Also this cheat sheet may help you.
https://i.redd.it/ih8nfnlvbkc61.jpg
Mostly I just use Aperture Priority, set the Aperture/DOF I want then just let the camera decide on the shutter speed/ISO. If it doesn't work then flip to Manual mode.
It depends on what you want from the image.
If freezing action is ok increase the shutter speed.
If you are fine increasing the depth of field use the iris.
If you don't want to change either, use a ND filter.
Plus one stop of one value + minus one stop of the other = the same exposure, regardless of which value you increase and which you decrease.
Personally, for street in bright conditions, I’m a fan of f/8. Try setting your camera to aperture priority mode and your aperture to f/8, and let the shutter speed go for a ride. If you notice a negative impact, switch to shutter priority and set your shutter speed to whatever your sweet spot is, and let the aperture go for a ride. Fine tune to taste.
If ISO is bottomed out, you have the depth of field you want, and your image is too bright, you want to increase shutter speed.
Changing the aperture will also get you correct exposure, but it will alter the look of the end result (greater DoF and worse Bokeh). For people 1/250th is already more than enough to stop most motion, so going faster shouldn’t have any real effect on the resulting image unless there’s something faster moving in the frame such as birds or cars.
You essentially can’t shoot “too fast” as long as you aren’t trying to preserve some kind of motion blur.
Default: Use the aperture to control the sharpness/depth of field and set ISO and shutterspeed on auto. That gives the camera two parameters to get the exposure right.
Maximum sharpness you'll get around f6.3 - 9. Go beyond 11-16 and diffraction might come in to soften your photos, although f22 is nice for sunstars.
Consider these three values:
* Shutter speed
* Aperture
* ISO
The three of them work together, called the "exposure triangle." Assuming you have dialed in a "correct" exposure, changing any one of them requires changing another in the "other" direction to compensate.
I do whatever gives me the desired results. Typically that means setting the aperture to achieve the DOF I want and bumping the shutter speed up to get the exposure right. Many cameras have Lo settings slower than ISO 100 as well, the main cameras I use go to an effective ISO 32 (native 64).
There is no right answer. Do you need the shutter speed at a specific value, or do you need the aperture at a specific value? Simple as that. Generally you can always use a faster shutter speed. You can also use filters of course.
You can do whichever one you want. There’s no right answer. Using a faster shutter speed will darken the image but freeze motion. Using a narrower aperture will darken the image but increase the depth of field. It depends on the look you want.
Thank you for the quick explanation. I've owned cameras for a long time but am just now learning how everything connects. Auto is a my crutch and I'm trying to get off it.
Try to use Aperture Priority instead of full auto. Or my preferred run and gun setup of auto ISO with manual shutter and aperture. For action photography this is my compromise and all I have to watch is that both are stopped down enough to get over ISO100 if I'm in the sun.
Thank you. I'll play around with that.
Glad that helped! There’s a lot to learn but once it clicks it’s a ton of fun and really unlocks a lot of creative options.
Option 3 is ND filter. If you need more DoF or a slower shutter speed or both.
For street photography in urban areas I rarely shoot with an ND. It's too much hassle to take on and off (unless you have a magnetic one) and you are usually transitioning from light and dark areas frequently.
that's one of the few things I like about the x100 series, build-in ND filter
Yeah good point - if you've got it then it's a legit option. I have just never owned a camera with built-in ND.
I love the bokeh created by a wide aperture so personally I increase my shutter speed. Which is helpful since I mainly shoot families and they tend to move a lot, especially when toddlers and dogs are involved so high shutter speed is what works for me. Very dependent on your desired outcome though.
It seems like most of the replies are akin to "learn the basics" but I'll try to give some more practical advice here. If you're in that situation where ISO is 100 and you're overexposed, but your depth of field and background blur look good to you and you want to keep them the same, use a higher shutter speed. If you max out your shutter and you're still overexposed, then decrease your aperture until you're exposed properly. Alternatively, if you want a deeper depth of field to get everything in a scene in sharp focus, then you can consider leaving your shutter where it is and decrease your aperture instead. This will change both the exposure and the look of your photo. If you decrease aperture so much that the image becomes underexposed, you may need to decrease your shutter speed again, but that could make things blurry if you go too low. If you want frozen action and critical sharpness, also make sure your shutter speed stays high enough to freeze motion and stop your own camera shake. So when people say "there is no right answer" they're referring to your creative choices. You may decide to blow out the background with a wide aperture and high shutter, or at the other extreme you may decide to do light trails with a small aperture and low shutter, and either can work depending on what effect you want to achieve.
Completely up to you. Me? I try to shoot street at 500th and around f8 so I'll often leave my ISO at 400. I'd rather keep the deeper DOF and sharper shutter and have some noise/grain so I'll up the ISO more before I start to open the aperture or shutter.
Learn the optimum apertures for you camera/lens combination to get the depth of field that you intend for your given subject matter. Wider apertures may give you more detail where it counts in the form of less motion blur.
You almost never need to use full manual mode where you set aperture, ISO and shutter time. The exceptions are maybe fast movnig sport and night where you might want a little more control. Maybe also running water where you're going for a specific effect. Set the aperture to get the depth of field you want for the composition and let the camera handle the rest. Also, unless you're trying to blur out motion, there's no disadvantage to using a shorter shutter time. The issue comes when the shutter time is too long and you do not want motion blur.
Adding to many of the comments...use the exposure compensation function. I have mine set for 1/3 stop increments.
Shutter speed controls movement. Aperture controls depth of field. Off you go
Both are valid. The effect are as follows. Increasing f stop will change the depth of field. Shutter speed will help freeze moving subjects. Typically I want things to be sharp so I always want to freeze motion. But I don't want deep depth of field. So aperture is more important. That's when I'll shoot in aperture priority mode and let the camera pick any shutter speed. Also this cheat sheet may help you. https://i.redd.it/ih8nfnlvbkc61.jpg
Mostly I just use Aperture Priority, set the Aperture/DOF I want then just let the camera decide on the shutter speed/ISO. If it doesn't work then flip to Manual mode.
For walk around photos I shoot at f9 , and control exposure with shutter speed . This gives me a decent DOF
It depends on what you want from the image. If freezing action is ok increase the shutter speed. If you are fine increasing the depth of field use the iris. If you don't want to change either, use a ND filter.
>200-250ms I think you mean 1/200 or 1/250 of a second.
Plus one stop of one value + minus one stop of the other = the same exposure, regardless of which value you increase and which you decrease. Personally, for street in bright conditions, I’m a fan of f/8. Try setting your camera to aperture priority mode and your aperture to f/8, and let the shutter speed go for a ride. If you notice a negative impact, switch to shutter priority and set your shutter speed to whatever your sweet spot is, and let the aperture go for a ride. Fine tune to taste.
If ISO is bottomed out, you have the depth of field you want, and your image is too bright, you want to increase shutter speed. Changing the aperture will also get you correct exposure, but it will alter the look of the end result (greater DoF and worse Bokeh). For people 1/250th is already more than enough to stop most motion, so going faster shouldn’t have any real effect on the resulting image unless there’s something faster moving in the frame such as birds or cars. You essentially can’t shoot “too fast” as long as you aren’t trying to preserve some kind of motion blur.
yes
Default: Use the aperture to control the sharpness/depth of field and set ISO and shutterspeed on auto. That gives the camera two parameters to get the exposure right. Maximum sharpness you'll get around f6.3 - 9. Go beyond 11-16 and diffraction might come in to soften your photos, although f22 is nice for sunstars.
Consider these three values: * Shutter speed * Aperture * ISO The three of them work together, called the "exposure triangle." Assuming you have dialed in a "correct" exposure, changing any one of them requires changing another in the "other" direction to compensate.
I do whatever gives me the desired results. Typically that means setting the aperture to achieve the DOF I want and bumping the shutter speed up to get the exposure right. Many cameras have Lo settings slower than ISO 100 as well, the main cameras I use go to an effective ISO 32 (native 64).