Why can two shots with different shutter speed and aperture look different in brightness?
Asked 10/30/2017
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I took two photos of the same scene and changed both the shutter speed and aperture. I thought the settings gave the same exposure, but one image looks brighter than the other. Is that normal? If two shots are meant to have the same exposure, how can I make them look the same brightness?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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If everything else is the same except the shutter speed, of course one will look brigther than the other. That's perfectly normal and expected.
Aperture, shutter speed and ISO all control the final exposure. So if you want to take pictures with different shutter speeds, but you want same "brigthness", you need to adjust the aperture or ISO accordingly to compensate for the change in shutter speed.
Originally by user10413. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user10413
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—if the shutter speed and aperture changes are not exact equivalents, one photo will be brighter. To keep brightness the same, you must compensate one setting with the other by the correct number of stops (or adjust ISO too).
For the same scene under the same light, different shutter/aperture combinations can produce the same exposure, but only if they are true equivalents. If they are slightly off, the images will differ in brightness. Small differences can also come from changing light between shots, or from auto exposure modes reacting to different framing.
To make the photos match:
- Shoot in manual mode if you want full consistency.
- Change shutter speed and aperture in equal stop amounts.
- Keep ISO the same unless you intentionally use it to compensate.
- Make sure the light and framing stay the same.
Example from the settings discussed: going from 1/160s at f/36 to 1/320s at f/22 is not an exact match, so brightness will differ. A closer equivalent at 1/320s would be about f/25.
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AI8y ago
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