Ever wonder what the shutter does in your DSLR? The SloMoo guys show you.

[alfredo]

Good video showing the rolling shutter. It also shows the short comings when shooting video.

[Major Nikon]

1. Here's another thing about mechanical shutters and flash

The reason why most cameras have a shutter flash sync speed that slower than the fastest shutter speed is because the flash is relatively instantaneous and needs the shutter to be completely open for it to work properly.

[alfredo]

4. Then there is the first and second curtain. I know that sooner or later I will have

to spend time learning about flash, but my first love is available light.

[Major Nikon]

7. There's certainly nothing wrong with natural light photography

Lot's of incredible photographers based their whole career on nothing but natural light. The other side of that coin is there's also a lot of incredible photographers that rely heavily on artificial light and do so with incredible effect.

Depending on what camera you have, flash photography need not be expensive either. If your camera is able to work with a basic manual flash, there are some you can buy for $50-75 that work incredibly well. You'd be amazed at what you can do with a cheap flash, a decent reflector, and natural light. With one artificial light you get the equivalent of 3 light sources. Very handy.

There's a ton of stuff on this website including how to get started and all sorts of projects you can try. Although you can certainly get very elaborate, the site is geared towards lighting on the cheap with all sorts of DIY solutions.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

[alfredo]

8. I'm thinking about a remote flash for my setup.

[Major Nikon]

9. There's a few options available

The cheapest option if your camera has a PC jack or can be adapted to one is a PC cable. PC cords are cheap and flashes that have PC capability are cheap. This pretty much limits you manual mode. This isn't a bad thing. I still use manual mode on my late model Nikon strobes.

Many camera manufacturers make cables that extend the hot shoe, but you are usually limited to a few feet with those.

Optical and RF triggering is also an option that's either inherent to some camera and flash combinations, or can be added to both with aftermarket devices. Optical can be as simple as a slave flash that triggers when your on-board camera flash fires, or more elaborate systems that use pre-flashes to communicate. RF systems have gotten cheaper and more elaborate the last few years.

[alfredo]

10. The cable might be good for fill flash while shooting street.

[Major Nikon]

11. I have a couple of the Nikon version of those

The ones I have can be ganged together for more reach. They work well with flash brackets or just handholding your strobe off to one side. The strong point is you retain all the hotshoe functionality. The weak point is their limited distance.

[alfredo]

12. The weak point is mitigated by arm length.

[Major Nikon]

13. That works well for fill flash

But if you are using the strobe as your primary light source you often have it very near your subject with perhaps a modifier like an umbrella or softbox. For that type of application you often need more length than a cable like that will provide.

[alfredo]

14. Using it for fill flash on those brilliant sun days would be

great for street portraits. I wouldn't want it for candid street.
It would be usefull for macro.

[Major Nikon]

15. A flash on a bracket works great for handheld macro

Basically what you do is set up your lens in manual focus and leave the focus set for the reproduction ratio you want. Then you aim your bracket mounted flash at that focus point. Since the flash to subject distance never changes, you can set the flash to manual mode at the correct power setting and forget about it. Then you simply move the whole rig back and forth until your subject is in focus and fire away. Works great for moving targets like insects and other small critters.

[alfredo]

16. I'll check to see what is available for my camera.

[liberal N proud]

2. Fascinating

[alfredo]

5. If you explore more, you get into the wonderful world of CMOS and CCD, and

global shutter vs rolling shutter. Then one should consider the focal-plane shutter you find on the Leica, or the leaf shutter used on the Fuji X100 series.

[NV Whino]

3. Fascinating

Thanks for posting.

[alfredo]

6. Welcomed.

My next camera will either be the Fuji X100s or the Ricoh GR. Both have the very quiet leaf shutter.

[JDDavis]

17. Thanks so much for this video

I learned something today.

Please feel free to post more of these kinds of videos if you come across some.

[alfredo]

18. Will do.

[jmowreader]

19. Why does a DSLR need a shutter at all?

When you push the "expose" button two things happen: the sensor starts recording, and the mechanical shutter starts moving. Couldn't the sensor just record for whatever length of time the camera tells it to without a shutter mechanism?

[alfredo]

20. Electronic shutters for CMOS Sensors don't need mechanical shutters.