Monday, 14 November 2016

exposure - Why are only certain shutter speeds or apertures available?


For the exposure control function DSLRs there are specific shutter speeds available. For example there are 1/4, 1/100, 1/500. Why, even in high end DSLRs, is there no option to use a custom shutter speed (such as 1/19)?


If the camera can do 1/4000, why can't it do 1/33?


Similarly, why are the aperture choices limited?


Why is it a technical challenge to add extra shutter speeds or aperture settings?




Answer



Most DSLRs let you choose shutter speed and aperture at 1/3 of a stop difference (3 clicks of the dial to double or halve the amount of light), I'm not a camera designer but I would guess that since 1/3 of a stop is a small difference being able to set exact shutter speed isn't worth the extra electronics and software to support it.


For aperture also add to that the limitations of the camera-lens connection.


So, in other words:




  • 1/19 and 1/33 are nearly identical to 1/20 and 1/30 that are supported.




  • This feature will be slower to operate than just turning the wheel so pro won't use it





  • This feature will be complicated so amateurs won't use it




  • You can use the time it would take to develop this feature to work on features people are actually willing to pay for.




If you were a camera designer what would you have done?


No comments:

Post a Comment

Why is the front element of a telephoto lens larger than a wide angle lens?

A wide angle lens has a wide angle of view, therefore it would make sense that the front of the lens would also be wide. A telephoto lens ha...