Why on earth do I need 1/8000 shutter speed?

I rarely shoot 1/1000 sec. because the required larger apertures give

too shallow a depth of field. I shoot mostly nature shots, and unless

it is windy I manage lower speeds. I cannot concieve what combinations

of ISO, aperture and light levels that allow/require a 1/8000 sec.

shutter speed and for what activity this would be necessary.

Yet,camera designers provided this speed for some reason. Was it just

because they could? I am trying to think outside of my box,here. I am

failing.

It allows you to use wide apertures in bright lighting to get shallow DOF (some people like shallow DOF). In sunlight, using 100-speed film, you need a shutter speed of about 1/8000 at f2. Faster shutter speeds can also be used to capture sharper images of very-quickly moving subjects.

It is better to "have & not need, than to need & not have".

I have used and owned motor driven 35mm cameras since the 1970's, and I've can't recall ever shooting anything on "C" (continuous), or at a faster shutter speed than 1/1000th.

 

But when you think about it what percent of any machinery's features do you use all the time? For example my car has never been out of "D" (drive), but there are 3 other forwards gears.

What everybody said. I have shot in Tv and set the shutter speed @ 1/8000th sec. for scenes shot over snowfields under a clear sky and when shooting aerials. <bR>And 1/800th sec. is more like the 130mph indicator mark on my speedometer: not likely to be used, but handy to know you have it in reserve. <p>While I was still a working PJ, I shot (in "P" mode) between 1/4000th sec. and 1/8000th sec. so often I never gave it a thought.<br><i>It's also for those times when you run out of f/stops <b>and</b> shutter speed that make you wish for the <b>1/12,000th</b> sec. shutter speed of the Minoltas.

I can't imagine having something and not trying it out. Isn't that just part of exploring the

boundaries of your camera? I admit I can't afford to snort through too many rolls of film on

'continuous' but I have tried it on passing motorcycles to see what happens. I learned several

things about the capabilities of my camera and panning technique. Here's to exploration!

I regularly use cameras that max out at 1/250 and 1/500 so I think I understand where you are coming from, but the other day I was out in the bright sun with my DSLR set on ISO 100 @ f/2, and 1/8000th wasn't fast enough. I used a polarizer as a neutral density filter to lower the exposure.

i must say that using an old hasselblad as I do now, and not always remembering my cable

release, I occasionally long for the 30 second speed from my old Canon A1.

</i>italic fix

I have shot wide-open with a prime on the beach once or twice to blur out ugly backgrounds and 1/8000 was not fast enough; I had to stop down to 2.8.

I've often been uable to shoot wide open with the 1/4000 max of my DRebel. For the most part though, I was simply trying to test a new lens and not going for an artistic effect.

To take pictures of men who aren't any good at sex.

If you are shooting in bright sunlight - EV 15 @ iso 100 - and you want to use f2 for DOF you will need 1/8000.

With a f/1.2 lens it is very useful sometimes.

A high speed shutter also carries the advantage of higher X-sync speeds. Most 1/8000 second shutters have x-sync speeds from 1/200 to 1/250 whereas the slower shutters may have a maximum x-sync of 1/125 second or less. The late Maxxum 9 (and also 9xi) shutters with their maximum 1/12,000 speed shutters have a 1/300 x-sync. This is useful for fill flash unless you have high-speed sync capability and a compatible flash. I've done some good outdoor portraits at 1/200 with fill flash on my Maxxum 8000i,

I think Mike Gammill nailed this one on the head. Few people ever need 1/8000s or faster, but a flash sync speed of 1/250s or 1/300s is VERY useful for fill flash in bright lighting conditions, and creating a shutter with a fast flash sync speed creates a fast top shutter speed as a by-product. Ironically, for marketing purposes the fast top shutter speed is more useful than the fast flash sync speed, since many new camera buyers appear ignorant about the true value of these features.

It's not like the shutter moves faster there- just a narrower gap when it fires is all. Probably didn't cost them any extra to put it in, so why not?

Just a note to Steve L., above ... when you put your car's automatic transmission in D and accelerate to a speed requiring 3rd or 4th gear, you are in fact, using the other forwards gears on the way to the higher gear. Conversely, shooting at 1/1000 does not result in the 1/8000 shutter speed firing 8 times.

"I have used and owned motor driven 35mm cameras since the 1970's, and I've can't recall

ever shooting anything on "C" (continuous), or at a faster shutter speed than 1/1000th."

 

Two days ago I was shooting at f/13 and 1/4000th. I didn't want to stop down any more,

because I didn't want diffraction to become too visible. 1/4000th was the top speed of my

camera. I could have used 1/8000th or even faster!

Are neutral grey filters useful when there is to much light?

Yeah, but I don't like to carry all that crap all the time.

8000th? I guess it is to catch a flying carp on a sunny day while shooting with ASA 8000 film at f-16 so you get the face of the person being hit by it and the barge 3 miles behind them.

 

Larry

You Don't, it's the worlds most complicated Hi-tech N/D filter, a ploy to make some of the public who are novices dissatisfied with their existing camera that only has a shutter speed of1/1000 to entice to replace their perfectly good existing equipment. The industry has to re- invent itself every so often to retain their market share, their share price and keep people in jobs,a lot of todays consumer products are designed by advertising agencys, in that they decide what features will sell the product and that's what the manufacturers make

If you were shooting a hummingbird and wanted to freeze its wings. Super-fast shutter speeds were mainly a marketing gimmick rather than a feature meant for common use.

1/8000s is not so terribly useful to stop motion, because the shutter still operates at e.g. 1/250s. That may result in distortion because the subject may move while the shutter window advances from top to bottom. There is a famous picture by Jacques-Henri Lartigues that makes use of this effect (though the shutter he used was certainly slower than anything we use today.)

 

I can count on one hand though the pictures that I have taken in my life at 1/1000th and I have certainly never used anything faster. But I'm sure it can be useful depending on what you shoot and under what conditions. Maybe in the bright sun with ASA 400+ film.

"Most 1/8000 second shutters have x-sync speeds from 1/200 to 1/250 whereas the slower shutters may have a maximum x-sync of 1/125 second or less."

 

D70 electronic shutter synchronizes non-Nikon flash down to the 1/8000 sec. I use D70 with Sunpak 555 flash at shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 1/8000 sec for special effects. There are quite a few applications of that...flash fires single blast at full on near full power, depending on the unit used. ( do not cofuse it with FP - Fast Pulse - Focal Plane mode.)

 

 

"It's not like the shutter moves faster there- just a narrower gap when it fires is all" - that is only true for mechanical shutters, or mechanical part of shutter. The electronic shutter in D70 acts differently.

 

"1/8000s is not so terribly useful to stop motion, because the shutter still operates at e.g. 1/250s." - not true for electronic shutter built in D70. All shutter speeds down to 1/8000 sec are usable with a fast flash for a single blast full frame synchronization.

 

Tons of discussions were conducted on this subject in the past 1 year or so...