In this article, Michael discusses the Shutter Speed Priority mode on the Sony DSC-HX100V.
Regardless of what camera model you own, if you’ve been looking at all those letters on the dial, scratching your head without a clue what they mean, read on. The ‘S’ mode allows you to modify the shutter speed of the camera. This is useful if you want to allow more light in to saturate the camera’s sensor over a period of time that you specify. Basically, you can program the shutter to open/close very quickly–or you can tell it to open up and “hang out for a while” (up to 30 seconds on the HX100V) before it closes. The steps below are geared for the HX100V super zoom camera, but with a little exploring you should be able to figure out how to modify values on your camera without too much effort.
The movement of a camera while the shutter is open usually introduces a jittery effect and blurry images, especially when the shutter is allowed to remain open for several seconds. If you are trying to capture lights and make them appear as if they’re trailing (e.g., a car’s tail lights in nighttime city traffic), or you want to increase the overall intensity or saturation of images (with creative effects) it can be fun and rewarding to play around in this mode.
If you prefer to capture detail without blur or motion, you’ll want to set your camera up on a stable surface. This is the perfect time to pull out your tripod.
The first thing you need to do is put the camera into ‘Shutter Speed Priority’ mode. In other words, spin that dial to “S”. You should see a row of numbers at the bottom of the screen. If you don’t see the numbers, you’ve probably altered the display mode on the camera. In that case, just press the button next to the arrow that points up. Each time you press that button, it toggles the amount and type of data that appears on the screen. Make sure that the display setting is set to “On” and wait a second or two. You’ll see the numbers at the bottom of the screen.
HX100V Shutter Mode
Here’s a trick that you may or may not know about on the HX100V and the HX200V. The jog dial on the back of the camera (towards the upper right) can be used like a wheel. You can spin it left or right. If you do this, nothing happens…at first. The most important thing about the jog dial is that it can be used as a button. Press it with your thumb and watch what happens. When you click it, the current value [selected in yellow] grows bigger. This means you can change the value. After a second or so, the camera thinks you’re done making changes to the value and the number will grow small. If this happens, just click the jog dial like a button again and you can alter the value. When you’re done modifying the currently selected value, try clicking the jog dial a couple times in a row. Each time you click it, the camera will highlight the next value that can be modified.
HX100V Jog Dial
So–here’s what you need to know about the jog dial. Click it once to activate the currently selected/highlighted value and modify its value. Click it multiple times to force the camera to highlight the next selectable value. Play around with it for a minute or two and it’ll be second nature. After you have this mastered, your HX100V/HX200V becomes a powerful tool. Without knowing how to use the jog dial, all those PSAM letters really don’t mean much at all and the manual control of your camera will remain a hidden gem.
Got it? I hope so. So, what are those numbers at the bottom of the screen?
The first value is ISO. We’re not going to focus too much on that right now, but what you need to remember is that a low ISO value (e.g., 100) means the camera is expecting a tremendous amount of light to saturate the sensor. Low values (e.g., a value of ISO100 or ISO200) correspond to bright environments. Higher ISO values (e.g., a value of ISO1000 or ISO1250) means more light will saturate the sensor. The darker the environment, the higher the ISO value required. Higher ISO values also come at a price because they introduce noise into the picture. If you’re not sure what to do, crank the ISO value to AUTO ISO and the camera will pick a value.
The 2nd number across the bottom is the one we care about. It tells the camera how long the shutter should remain open. If you select the value and crank the wheel all the way to the left, you’ll see a number of 30″. That means 30 seconds. That means the camera is going to hang out for a full 30 seconds with the shutter open, after you click the shutter button. That may not sound like much, but it’s an eternity if the camera is in your hands. Even if you think you’re holding the camera perfectly still, you’ll be amazed at how much you actually move around. You’ll see it in the image. If you don’t, you might be a surgeon with very steady heads–or aren’t drinking enough coffee. Anyway, keep the shutter open for 30 seconds while holding it in your hands and the resulting image is going to be so blurry and distorted you probably won’t recognize anything. Unless you use a tripod. Put the camera on the tripod and point it into a dark scene and you might be surprised what you’ll pick up. It’s fun and the results can be very cool.
If you select the shutter value and crank the jog dial all the way to the right (just keep spinning it), you’ll see lots of values along the way–but you should end up on 4000. That does not mean 4000 seconds. The double tick mark indicates seconds. If you don’t see them, that means the value is a fraction of a second. 4000 actually means 1/4000 of a second–that’s a very small amount of time. A value of 25 means 1/25 of a second. Is there a perfect number for every shot? Nope. That’s up to you to figure out. Remember, you can also change the ISO value. Don’t freak out, though. The more you play around with the values and experiment, the more fun it becomes.
There are a couple more values across the bottom of the screen. One of them is the F value. This is the aperture. You don’t get to change this value in Shutter priority mode, because the camera automatically adjusts the aperture opening to a value that it picks.
The last value is the EV value. I’m not going to dive into the deep end of the pool here. Let’s keep this high level. This EV value can be increased to make things a bit brighter…or it can be decreased to make things a bit darker.
I was thinking about wrapping up this article here, because I am craving a cold beverage. Before I indulge, here’s one more tip: if you’re using a tripod…congrats–you were paying attention, earlier and will most likely achieve better (less blurry) shots. Since you care about such things, consider that the mere act of pressing the shutter button forces the camera to shake. That little bit of vibration can totally screw up your shot and ruin all the hard work you’ve put into setting up that really cool nighttime shot. Maybe. If you want to reduce the chance that this will happen, use the camera’s timer. All you have to do is set up your shot then press the directional button with the down arrow (on the HX100V. On the HX200V, you have to press left because they moved the timer function and buried it with the bracketing function). Scroll to the icon that has the timer and the number 10, or the number 2. You can choose either one, depending on your preference. The 10 and 2 correspond to the number of seconds that the camera will wait to actually take the shot after you press the shutter button on the camera. If you use that mode, the camera won’t be shaking from the button press and you’ll get a clearer shot.
OK. If you read all that, maybe you’ll appreciate this summary. Let’s break it down:
- Turn that dial to “S”
- Modify the shutter value by clicking the jog dial like a button, until its selected. Scroll left or right. Scrolling to the left increases the time the shutter is open (up to 30″ seconds) down to 1/4000 of a second. Remember, the double tick marks stand for seconds.
- Modify the ISO and/or EV values to suit your preference.
- Have fun and experiment!
BTW, thanks to Jose on the BinaryCafe Facebook page for asking a question that made me decide to write this article. Since the BinaryCafe tips and tricks video demonstrating this feature was squashed under the horrendous weight of YouTube’s decision to kill all of my videos (they must have needed more room for cat videos, I suppose), it was quicker to let my fingers do their thing. Anybody who knows me knows that I type almost as fast as I talk and I love writing and teaching.
If you like this article format, please take a moment to provide a super-congratulatory and praise-doting comment and this could become a regular thing. Plus, we’ve still got the P, A and M modes. That’s enough for at least three more articles. 
Now, go take a picture of something! – Michael
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