Highway Blur

The Silent Observer's Digital Photography Pages

Highway Blur

I took this shot out my car window on the freeway, trying to get some idea of the effective shutter speed of the camera. Based on the very small amount of blur in the wheel and pavement despite my own car and the Ranger in the image both traveling at approximately 60 mph, I'd estimate the effective shutter speed to be about 1/150 second in this shot, though it's likely to vary some depending on the lighting. Based on other images, however, there appears to be a very definite bottom to top scan in capturing the image, as vertical objects moving across the field during a capture are distinctly slanted. Still, that effect isn't new; the focal plane shutter has introduced similar distortions, especially at high shutter speeds, for well over seventy years.