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gdanmitchell wrote:
Unfortunately, there is no specific answer to your question. How far away is the subject?
Dan
While there are many factors that come into play when determining the shutter speed needed to freeze action, one of the major factors is the distance between the camera and the subject.
It is not just the actual speed at which the subject is moving that is important. What is actually more important is the speed at which the subject is moving through the frame, and, when the subject is closer to the camera, it is moving through the frame much faster than would the same subject traveling at the same actual speed but at a distance further from the camera.
If you try taking pictures of a car moving at, say, 50 mph and, if you do so while you are standing right at the side of the road, you will find that you need a much faster shutter speed (and better panning technique) than if you took a picture of the same car traveling at the same speed but if you took the picture from, say, 100 feet back from the side of the road.
The reason why birds like swallows are more difficult to photograph than larger birds, like eagles, is not necessarily the absolute speed at which the two birds are flying, but it is more related to the fact that the eagle is likely to be further from the camera than the small swallow, and that, in turn, makes the swallow move through the frame much faster than the eagle does. Thus, to freeze the action of the swallow, you need both faster shutter speeds and better panning (and tracking) technique.
Thus, while a shutter speed of 1/500 might be sufficient to freeze the action of subject that is 60 feet away, a shutter speed of 1/2000 might not be sufficient to freeze the action of the same subject if it is 15 feet away.
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