I have an Olympus e600 and doing nature as part of my photography project at college. I want to be able to use a slow shutter speed during the day without exposing too much light. Help? x
First the camera settings, which you probably already realize :
-- Smaller physical apertures (higher numbers) will give you longer shutter speeds. f/22 is likely the smallest aperture on any lens for that camera, and will cause some softening of the image (due to diffraction, which is a whole other topic). You might want to take some pics at a medium aperture, like f/8, and f/22 and compare to see if it matters to you - it might not.
-- Lower ISOs will give you longer shutter speeds. 100 is the lowest on that camera I believe.
Even at f/22 and ISO 100, in bright sun you'll still get a pretty fast shutter speed. So depending on what you mean by "slow", the other option is to use filters. ND filters cut the amount of light coming into the camera, by a certain number of stops (usually 1, 2, or 4, but there are other varieties out there). That would enable you to double, quadruple, or more your shutter speed. If you're using a polarizing filter, it also cuts the light, usually by about 1.5 stops.
The drawback to the filters is that they may degrade your image quality, particularly if shooting toward bright lights, or the sun. (And they also may vignette on very wide angle lenses, but with that camera I don't know if that will be an issue.)
If you describe the situation you want to be able to shoot, and what shutter speeds you're looking for, we could get a lot more specific.
David's answer is pretty thorough, but I'd add one more way to reduce shutter speed: crank down the Exposure Compensation (eV) by a bunch (I don't have an e-600, but I think it gives you -6.0, which is a bunch).
Posted by Alan Olander on July 3, 2010 at 12:44 PM
-6 EV would result in a faster shutter speed and a very underexposed image; not a substitute for a ND filter.
To increase exposure time, reduce ISO, make aperture smaller, use neutral density filter(s) and/or polarizer, any combination of these. ND filters are available in degrees up to ten stops, effective for turning water to satin in bright sunlight.
David's answer is pretty thorough, but I'd add one more way to reduce shutter speed: crank down the Exposure Compensation (eV) by a bunch (I don't have an e-600, but I think it gives you -6.0, which is a bunch).
Jim - Alan pretty much already answered this, but I'll add to it. Exposure compensation simply tells the camera to adjust what it thinks is the proper exposure, and therefore simply adjusts shutter speed, or aperture, or ISO depending on what mode it's in, and with minus compensation will underexpose the image. You can get the same exact thing by simply going to manual and altering those parameters yourself - there's nothing special about the compensation settings. It's really more of a metering thing.
I believe you meant, though, that you should do a +6 exposure comp, which would possibly result in a longer shutter speed depending on the mode you're in. In that case, though, the exposure will likely yield a completely white image, since it will all be so overexposed.
What you want is a proper exposure, but with a long shutter speed. In order to do that, you have to either cut down the amount of light entering the camera, or make the sensor less sensitive to that light, or a combination. Putting the ISO on it's lowest setting will make the sensor as low as it will go, sensitivity-wise. Using a small aperture, ND filters, and polarizers will cut the amount of light actually reaching the sensor. The combo will allow a longer shutter speed and proper exposure.
Discussion
6 replies-- Smaller physical apertures (higher numbers) will give you longer shutter speeds. f/22 is likely the smallest aperture on any lens for that camera, and will cause some softening of the image (due to diffraction, which is a whole other topic). You might want to take some pics at a medium aperture, like f/8, and f/22 and compare to see if it matters to you - it might not.
-- Lower ISOs will give you longer shutter speeds. 100 is the lowest on that camera I believe.
Even at f/22 and ISO 100, in bright sun you'll still get a pretty fast shutter speed. So depending on what you mean by "slow", the other option is to use filters. ND filters cut the amount of light coming into the camera, by a certain number of stops (usually 1, 2, or 4, but there are other varieties out there). That would enable you to double, quadruple, or more your shutter speed. If you're using a polarizing filter, it also cuts the light, usually by about 1.5 stops.
The drawback to the filters is that they may degrade your image quality, particularly if shooting toward bright lights, or the sun. (And they also may vignette on very wide angle lenses, but with that camera I don't know if that will be an issue.)
If you describe the situation you want to be able to shoot, and what shutter speeds you're looking for, we could get a lot more specific.
Jim - Alan pretty much already answered this, but I'll add to it. Exposure compensation simply tells the camera to adjust what it thinks is the proper exposure, and therefore simply adjusts shutter speed, or aperture, or ISO depending on what mode it's in, and with minus compensation will underexpose the image. You can get the same exact thing by simply going to manual and altering those parameters yourself - there's nothing special about the compensation settings. It's really more of a metering thing.
I believe you meant, though, that you should do a +6 exposure comp, which would possibly result in a longer shutter speed depending on the mode you're in. In that case, though, the exposure will likely yield a completely white image, since it will all be so overexposed.
What you want is a proper exposure, but with a long shutter speed. In order to do that, you have to either cut down the amount of light entering the camera, or make the sensor less sensitive to that light, or a combination. Putting the ISO on it's lowest setting will make the sensor as low as it will go, sensitivity-wise. Using a small aperture, ND filters, and polarizers will cut the amount of light actually reaching the sensor. The combo will allow a longer shutter speed and proper exposure.