Shutter Speed preference

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martink007

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Martin
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What shutter speed do you prefer to shoot with for weddings? I've read that some togs like to limit the camera to minimum 1/250 with auto ISO
 
surely that depends upon the focal length you're using, available light and the specifics of the subject matter.
also if you're using any flash (OCF for example).

although, I'm no expert, so......I'm sure someone with more experience will pop along shortly...
in the meantime, how about some musak whilst we wait...

doo bidoo bidoooo, etc.
 
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my speed range from seconds to 8000th of a second. can imagine why I would want to restrict that
 
Maybe I should rephrase my question.
Do you prefers to limit your shutter speed to 1/250 as freezes the majority of subjects throughout the day. And just live with the fact that you have high iso. This is of course for natural light photography.
 
I guess allot depends on what your own standards are, what type of photography you are undertaking and what the limits of your equipment are.

I have recently bought a a D750 and whilst viewing Ross Harvey excellent review noted his lowest shutter speed to be 1/250. I'm certainly Not going to argue against Ross and presumably for his work that speed will help freeze the slightest of movement but unless you have the performance of a 750 to 12800 ISO that's useable, that would limit most people.

For stationary stuff I have machine gunned as low as 1/4 in the past to maximise on either a lower ISO or deeper DOF so it's all relative. I think this May be what you are referring to?
 
Once again why restrict yourself , I've shots taken at 1/4 second to capture movement etc
 
Thanks Livin the dream. Your answer helps a lot.
A d750 and 1/250 it is for me then :)
 
martink007 said:
Thanks Livin the dream. Your answer helps a lot.
A d750 and 1/250 it is for me then :)
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It's an expensive game isn't it? The 750 is proving to be so good compared to my old 5D2 in terms of high ISO and DR. I rarely exceeded 3200 ISO with my 5D2 but this camera provides an additional 2 stops that are useable IMHO.
 
martink007 said:
Maybe I should rephrase my question.
Do you prefers to limit your shutter speed to 1/250 as freezes the majority of subjects throughout the day. And just live with the fact that you have high iso. This is of course for natural light photography.
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fair enough. well for myself, 1/120th will freeze more subjects. if you have some bounce flash then perhaps even 1/60th
If you're snapping some candids with a 70-200mm though, I would think 1/250s is sensible, depending upon if you have IS/OS/VC/VR/etc

for natural light photography, indoors, you're more restricted, but I've seen some fantastic natural light shots which use a lower shutter than this on a 30mm prime or similar which really soak up the ambient or incident light.

The subject is so broad that it's pretty damn tricky to come up with a definitive answer.

So, what brings up the question? any particular experience or trigger?
 
I just read that a few weddings togs (Ross Harvey included) have their settings limit at 1/250 and don't care about high Iso. Just wondering if this is the norm for natural hand held photography. I usually get a few blurred people when I'm shooting below this but of course my iso isn't sacrificed.
 
I'm getting sick of writing this:
What customers are complaining about noisy images :rage: (Answer - none ever)

Why do photographers think a bit of noise is important? FFS if you're shooting blurry images with a 750d, to 'keep noise down' you need your bumps feeling.

You don't need Ross Harvey to tell you it's OK, if you don't know what an acceptable image looks like, you shouldn't have put a price tag on your work.

</rant>
 
Having read the thread twice.. I have a vision of the OP in the gardens in bright summer sunlight using a 25O shutter because thats what the experts do....

You have NOT said indoors or outdoors.. you said naturail light... sun?

Live wiht high ISO?.. well on my camera I can live wiht it.. on other peoples cameras they can't... theres too many variables as already pointed out.... but to stick your camera on a 250 shutter all day for every shot.. sorry but you would ahve to be a bit dumb..
 
martink007 said:
Isnt the idea of a forum to ask questions? And who said I shoot weddings?
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Well you didn't say you did, but you did ask...

martink007 said:
What shutter speed do you prefer to shoot with for weddings? I've read that some togs like to limit the camera to minimum 1/250 with auto ISO
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And then inferred that your plan was to get...
martink007 said:
Thanks Livin the dream. Your answer helps a lot.
A d750 and 1/250 it is for me then :)
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And you also said...
martink007 said:
I just read that a few weddings togs (Ross Harvey included) have their settings limit at 1/250 and don't care about high Iso. Just wondering if this is the norm for natural hand held photography. I usually get a few blurred people when I'm shooting below this but of course my iso isn't sacrificed.
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So, you never actually said 'I shoot weddings', but it appears that the sole purpose of your question was to inform shooting of weddings.

If you want to pretend that's not the case, one of us will look like an idiot. And I'm fairly certain it's not going to be me :)
 
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Yes for a friends wedding next year. I thought this was the place get answers to simple questions . I'm sorry I've upset the old boys club.

If you treat everyone here with the same distain then this forum won't last long.
 
martink007 said:
Yes for a friends wedding next year. I thought this was the place get answers to simple questions . I'm sorry I've upset the old boys club.

If you treat everyone here with the same distain then this forum won't last long.
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That's one of the best jokes that I've seen in ages!

It's not disdain by the way, it's contempt. Contempt for the people that think they can just start shooting weddings ('coz there's loads of money in it innit?) when they
don't know how to use their camera properly. And pity for the poor mugs that end up being their 'clients'.

It's called experience and it has bugger all to do with an 'old boys club'.

If you hadn't mentioned weddings then.....
 
martink007 said:
Yes for a friends wedding next year. I thought this was the place get answers to simple questions . I'm sorry I've upset the old boys club.

If you treat everyone here with the same distain then this forum won't last long.
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It's not about disdain, it's about information, the more you give in the question, the better response you'll get. A sure fire way of getting treated with suspicion is keeping your cards close to your chest (on a forum, just the same as in life).:)

A question such as 'I'm shooting a mates wedding next year, I've been doing loads of reading and it seems some professionals (such as Ross Harvey) suggest a minimum shutter speed of 1/250, and never mind the ISO. Is there any merit in this approach? Is it common?

That would have got you 2 pages of quality responses. Mark and I both gave you answers, how many wedding photographers do you think ignored the thread completely, because you weren't upfront? (My guess is at least half a dozen, but could be as many as 20)
 
I think the OP has been given a hard time here. I think the way he has asked his question has led some folk to misinterpret what he means. We should be able to read between the lines and help him out

For the record OP yes I realise what you mean. What a lot of us do - me included. Is for the majority of the day set the camera to not go below 1/250 then we use Av mode with auto ISO.

What this means is that we don't take anything lower than 1/250 for the majority of the day whilst controlling the depth of field.

What we then do is assess a situation where we pop it into manual for some parts of the day if 1/250 isn't giving us what we need. For example a really dark ceremony shot that you want more DOF than wide open is giving you but you are shooting with a 35mm lens and so can drop your shutter much lower to get the shot without having to shoot at your highest ISO.

But yes, simply put for the majority of a wedding I don't go below 1/250 and have that set as my minimum shutter - thats pretty much the question you were asking
 
CanonDjango said:
I think the OP has been given a hard time here. I think the way he has asked his question has led some folk to misinterpret what he means. We should be able to read between the lines and help him out

For the record OP yes I realise what you mean. What a lot of us do - me included. Is for the majority of the day set the camera to not go below 1/250 then we use Av mode with auto ISO.

What this means is that we don't take anything lower than 1/250 for the majority of the day whilst controlling the depth of field.

What we then do is assess a situation where we pop it into manual for some parts of the day if 1/250 isn't giving us what we need. For example a really dark ceremony shot that you want more DOF than wide open is giving you but you are shooting with a 35mm lens and so can drop your shutter much lower to get the shot without having to shoot at your highest ISO.

But yes, simply put for the majority of a wedding I don't go below 1/250 and have that set as my minimum shutter - thats pretty much the question you were asking
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You're not the only one....
 
It's common sense when asking a question on any Forum to supply as much information as possible to get the best possible answer.

If i had answered the OP's initial post it would have been frightingly close to Phils post #3 if they can't be asked why should i o_O

It's easy to give a more informed answer once some relevant info has been gleamed as in post #21

We assume nowdays that a Forum member is well versed in how a Forum works which is probably why they get treated in a manner fitting the effort applied to their opening post.
 
NikonKev said:
It's common sense when asking a question on any Forum to supply as much information as possible to get the best possible answer.

If i had answered the OP's initial post it would have been frightingly close to Phils post #3 if they can't be asked why should i o_O

It's easy to give a more informed answer once some relevant info has been gleamed as in post #21

We assume nowdays that a Forum member is well versed in how a Forum works which is probably why they get treated in a manner fitting the effort applied to their opening post.
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This is a message board Kev. Someone posts, people reply and a conversation starts. I don't see the issue with asking a relatively simple question and letting the conversation flow from there.

If every opening post was as detailed as you're suggesting then most threads would be done and dusted within a couple of replies.
 
Adam i've got no issue with the simplicity of the question it's more the fact they are asked simply.

It's like a customer walking into my shop and saying "My bike's broke" and waiting for my response hoping my crystal ball is back from the polishers and ready to assist.

Anyway different strokes and all that :)
 
NikonKev said:
Adam i've got no issue with the simplicity of the question it's more the fact they are asked simply.

It's like a customer walking into my shop and saying "My bike's broke" and waiting for my response hoping my crystal ball is back from the polishers and ready to assist.

Anyway different strokes and all that :)
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This.

I also (until Tuesday) work in IT support, and my life is full of people who have no idea how to get help, in fact sometimes it feels like they exist just to wind us up.

'I can't access my computer' can mean anything from there's no electricity in the building, to 'I can access my desktop OK, I have opened several applications which all work fine, but the application I want to use next is unavailable, the error message says it'll be unavailable for the rest of the day!'.

Some people might think it's fun for me to ask 20 supplementary questions to get to the problem, and sometimes that's not a painful experience. But sometimes, people like to hold back the important stuff just for their own amusement, or because they're stupid. That's no fun at all when you're trying to help.

It seems the OP fits into the latter category, he might be a nice guy, but so far, I remain unconvinced. And the lack of help he's had from other people backs up my reaction.
 
If you want sharp images the reliable answer for SS is *faster.* Faster than the ROT and faster than you would think. I try to stay at/above 1/FLx2 if I can get it (particularly w/ higher MP cameras).
 
Phil V said:
This.

I also (until Tuesday) work in IT support, and my life is full of people who have no idea how to get help, in fact sometimes it feels like they exist just to wind us up.

'I can't access my computer' can mean anything from there's no electricity in the building, to 'I can access my desktop OK, I have opened several applications which all work fine, but the application I want to use next is unavailable, the error message says it'll be unavailable for the rest of the day!'.

Some people might think it's fun for me to ask 20 supplementary questions to get to the problem, and sometimes that's not a painful experience. But sometimes, people like to hold back the important stuff just for their own amusement, or because they're stupid. That's no fun at all when you're trying to help.

It seems the OP fits into the latter category, he might be a nice guy, but so far, I remain unconvinced. And the lack of help he's had from other people backs up my reaction.
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Jesus christ Phil. He's made six posts and your saying your unconvinced that he's a nice guy? :rolleyes:
 
UaeExile said:
Jesus christ Phil. He's made six posts :rolleyes:
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He could have put all the words into one post, started with Hi, and then ended with Thanks, and we'd all be having a jolly time and he wouldn't have taken his ball home. :D

I'm the target for having tried to be helpful and explaining myself :confused:

There's loads of photographers who contribute regularly who could have helped and have simply ignored the question. If you're not happy with my explanation of that, try and think of a different one. :)
 
UaeExile said:
Jesus christ Phil. He's made six posts and your saying your unconvinced that he's a nice guy? :rolleyes:
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I think that Phil was actually suggesting that he was thicker than a whale omelette, rather than being actively unpleasant!
 
Phil V said:
He could have put all the words into one post, started with Hi, and then ended with Thanks, and we'd all be having a jolly time and he wouldn't have taken his ball home. :D

I'm the target for having tried to be helpful and explaining myself :confused:

There's loads of photographers who contribute regularly who could have helped and have simply ignored the question. If you're not happy with my explanation of that, try and think of a different one. :)
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The no 1 rule of IT Support is assume they are stupid until proven otherwise.....
 
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