You can get some great shots with film cameras, but digital models are a lot easier to work with for many different reasons. One of the most important aspects of taking good photos is  the shutter speed, and while adjusting this technical detail on film cameras used to be a bit tricky,  digital model cameras have made this task a lot simpler.

To get good photos you need to make sure there is enough light getting into the camera while shooting. This means you need to balance the shutter speed to the aperture. (Confused already? Don't worry, most digital cameras will work all of this technical stuff out for you automatically.) The aperture settings are called F-stops and are usually noted as f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4, f/8 etc. The lower the f-stop setting means more light is allowed into the camera, in other words a smaller F stop number means a larger opening for light.

The faster your shutter speed is, means the more light you need to expose the photo because the shutter is only open for a split second.  Therefore the higher your shutter speed, the lower your F-stop will need to be. If your shutter speed is slower, it means it is open longer and more light is let in.  This makes it easier for a camera to capture an image in low light conditions,  but it also makes your images more likely to blur.  In an extreme example, imagine your shutter was open and recording a busy ant hill for two seconds.  If you have ever watched ants you will know that those little scuttling bugs will be in a totally different position at the start of the shot compared to when the image is finished recording.  The result:  a lot of black blurry lines across the image.  This effect is often seen in images of busy night streets, with moving traffic appearing as blur lines of light on an image.

The technical implications of shutter speed get even more complicated when you consider the type of lens you are using.  With most lenses, the closer you zoom in, the less light is getting in. You may find your camera won’t be able to take crisp, clear shots in low light conditions and no matter what settings you use, you just won’t be able to get a good photo. This is because your lens aperture doesn’t go low enough and you will need to buy a lens that has a lower aperture setting. Each lens will have different limitations and you should seek out a lens which will be right for the type of photograph you intend to do.

The best way to experiment is by setting your shutter speed as high as you can and take a photo. If the photo is too dark, it means there’s not enough light getting into the camera for exposure. You will have to keep moving the shutter speed down a notch until the photo is light enough for exposure, or move the aperture down to a lower F-stop. The easiest way to do this is to set the F-stop as low as possible and leave it there and then keep taking shots at various shutter speeds until you find the right match.   Luckily,  a digital camera lets you view images on the fly,  saving you hours of waiting in a dark room to see the results of your experiments.   Aren't you glad we live in a digital age?