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when i take snaps of objects that are moving they come out very blurred.
i cannot fathom out the relationship between shutter speed/aperture values nor do i know how to alter them.
i am a newby and would appreciate any help

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Ok i will explain it as best as i can.
First shuter speeds come in fractions of seconds - eg 1/1000 1/500 1/250 1/125 untill u hit 1second 2s 3s

Apetures come in F stops which is the size of the hole in the lens. A large apeture has a small number, a small apeture has a large number
F22 - small apeture
F4.5 - large apeture
(stupid i know but it has it importance when you get into the manjor techincal parts)

The effects of the different F numbers are great, for example
High numbers give greater depth of field.
Everything in the shot will be in focus. Where as f4.5 only a small distance around the object (lets say person) will be in focus.
The higher the number the more light is required to correctly expose the shot.

Heres a working example.....

In manual settings the shutter speed can be set to the following
1/1000 (1 one thousands of a second) very short, only captures a small amount of light, anything object capture will look frozen, used for sport, animals, children, cars, ect ect anything that moves fast
If you were to take a photo for 1/1000 of a second at F4.5 of a duck, only the duck would be in focus, most of the pond wouldnt, this is called depth of field.
If you took the same shot in F22, the whole scene around the duck would be in focus, BUT it requires more light for it to be exposed the same.
If there wasnt suffucient amounts then a longer shutter speed would be required, eg 1/500 or 1/250 (in doing so the camera has chance to absorb more light, correctly exposing the image)

The general rule is if you halve 1 you double the other.
If you went from f4.5 to f5.6 you would go from 1/1000 to 1/500to the extreme if you went from f4.5 to f22 you'd be looking at 1/1000 to 1/30
This may not be the case in broad daylight.

Your problems are these,
Motion blur - caused by either the shutter speed being to long, because either too high an Fstop eg f22, or lack of light, causing the shutter to be open to long, and it captures a range of movement.
You do have auto settings for certain types of light

If you learn to use the manual settings, you must learn to use the Fstop to allow for artistic depth of field, and then calculate the required length of exposure (shutter speed)
Any photo taken with a speed under 1/250 will require a tripod, or you will experience blur.

I hope this makes senses, as i have waffled a bit. consult the manual on setting the apeture and shutter.

Last edited by chronic on Jan 16th, 2006 at 07:10 PM

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excellent response, i now fully understand what is required to reproduce the type of shot i am looking for.
Thank you very much

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