Where does the term SHUTTER SPEED come from?

[snowbear]

Pound key

£

 

[Derrel]

Hey everyone!
SNIP>...where does the rather misleading "shutter speed" come from?

There is nothing misleading....cameras have long had a shutter speed dial. Or a shutter speed ring ( Hasselblad, Olympus OM,Nikkormat, just to name a few).

That there is a control called the shutter speed dial or ring or display is proof that there is absolutely nothing misleading or mysterious about the word shutter speed

 

[Derrel]

 

[Derrel]

Time, at a given setting, the setting being made on the camera; one might split hairs and say that exposure time is related to the actual film itself and how long the exposure was, whereas the shutter speed was the setting on the camera. Perhaps if one views it this way, the term shutter speed might make more sense.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Once again Darrel has pretty much defined the issue. Whether as suggested, it might refer to Shutter duration; Shutter speed has been the common expression long enough to acquire its own accepted definition.

After all we are looking at and adjusting the speed at which the shutter crosses the aperture. Hence the duration of the exposure is a function of the aperture, the larger f1.4 aperture hole will take longer to cross than the f32 aperture hole. But the speed at which the shutter travels remains the same.

Interesting mind games for a retired engineer.

 

[Designer]

After all we are looking at and adjusting the speed at which the shutter crosses the aperture. Hence the duration of the exposure is a function of the aperture, the larger f1.4 aperture hole will take longer to cross than the f32 aperture hole. But the speed at which the shutter travels remains the same.

No, not at all. The shutter isn't that close to the aperture. The image circle is nearly the same size as it is when it hits the sensor or film.

The shutter leafs (leaves?) move (open and close) at the same rate of travel. What changes is the duration of the time in which both leaves are open. You can set the shutter to "B" bulb, and both leaves stay open for the time you want. A shorter time of exposure means that the second shutter blade begins to close very soon after the first blade opens. At very short exposure times the little part that is letting the light in is very small, and moves very quickly.

I can't believe we are beating this topic to death, when the main question is one of common English usage, and not even about how fast the shutter blades actually move.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Oh, seems like I missed quite a discussion. Happens when you miss one single email .
Interesting thoughts. I only see beginners often having issues with shutter speed while exposure time seems quite logical to them.
Also, it seems that exposure time is much more often used in EXIF. So I wondered where the term shutter speed actually comes from and why it is way more often used that what seemed "official language" to me.
Thanks to everyone who tried to ad his thoughts.

 

[Designer]

So I wondered where the term shutter speed actually comes from and why it is way more often used that what seemed "official language" to me.

English (and other languages) have developed some quirks in everyday usage that we just accept and deal with as they come up. Your analysis is correct, but the term will not be changed any time soon.

 

[Derrel]

The shutter's speed setting is its own "thing"... if the shutter speed is set to 1/60 second, then that is what the speed is or was. The time that the film or sensor was exposed for would also be 1/60 second...but if we used a 2 -stop Neutral Density filter, it would be equivalent to have having used 1/250 second... how does this play into things?

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Designer, you are correct. That is how a focal plane curtain would works.

However, to answer the OPs question, it is called shutter speed by accepted photographic convention, or as my mother would say, "Because we have always called it shutter speed".

Returning to my previous post. Looking at both my 1910 view camera lens and my 1970's Twin Lens Reflex, the leaf shutter is directly in front of the aperture iris.

So when I press the button the shutter leafs start to open and allow light to strike the film, once the shutter leafs have opened to the size of the aperture iris, the film receives full illumination until the shutter leaves close.

Therefore an f32 aperture will reach full illumination ever so slightly ahead of an f1.8 aperture, as the shutter leafs open to the larger aperture. So to the smaller aperture will remain fully illuminated just slightly longer as the shutter leafs moves from f1.8 to f32 before closing. Hence the ever so small change in shutter duration.

Indeed while restoring my mom's 1940's vintage Agfa-Ansco Sure-Shot. Even it has two aperture choices behind a shutter plate, with a hole passing over them at a fix speed.

Of course all of this is simply an academic exercise, because once you change aperture size, you also change the shutter speed, so any minute shutter travel time delay is a moot point. It is a great way to spin your wheels, to use anther idiom.

Perhaps the finite shutter speed might explain why my 1910 view camera lens goes to f45 but only 1/100 sec. while my TWL leaf shutter goes to 1/500 sec and my similar vintage focal plane shutter can do 1/1000.

 

[Derrel]

Shutter speed dial. Slow speed dial. Shutter speed indicator. Shutter priority automatic.

 

[dennyr]

Shutter speed dial. Slow speed dial. Shutter speed indicator. Shutter priority automatic.

I understand there is (or can be) a lot of give and take when you Compare/Translate languages........ but i start to get the feeling this thread is making a huge mountain out of the proverbial mole hill.
It's not like we call it the Shutter Petrochemical dial.
Is "Shutter Speed" really that far fetched of a concept.?

 

[limr]

Is "Shutter Speed" really that far fetched of a concept.?

No. No, it's not.

And yet, here we are on page 5.

There is a lot of overthinking going on here.

 

[Original katomi]

Is this where someone says
Just press the button and take the photo.....

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Even as one of those who pontificated about this subject. I must agree, it was much ado about nothing.

The OP's question was answered in the first page.

I guess sometime it is temping to amble on about a subject.