What is the camera shutter, and are shutter speeds important?

Canon shutter speed
(Image credit: Future)

A camera’s shutter – whether you have a DSLR or a mirrorless model – is designed to let light through to a sensor for a specific period of time. This is how the scene you are shooting is captured on the light sensitive sensor at the heart of the camera body. 

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Jon Adams

Jon started out as a film-maker, working as a cameraman and video editor before becoming a writer/director. He made corporate & broadcast programmes in the UK and Middle East, and also composed music, writing for TV, radio and cinema. Jon worked as a photographer and journalist alongside this, and took his video skills into magazine publishing, where he edited the Digital Photo magazine for over 15 years. He is an expert in photo editing, video making and camera techniques.