Why shouldn’t I take a portrait at 1/4000 of a sec

Can someone please explain to me why you shouldn’t take portraits at super fast shutter speeds? Is there a benefit to keeping the shutter speed around the same as the focal length? Im thinking faster shutter to freeze EVERYTHING? (Sharper pictures). Camera shake and movement from the subject? Am i wrong? Thanks in advance!

I don't think it is a problem to use a higher shutter speed unless it makes you shoot at a lower aperture than you want for your desired depth of field. Or, it makes you raise the ISO much. Normally you would want to use a low ISO to get less noise.

Unless your hands shake significantly, 1/1000 or so should eliminate any shake.

The one over the focal length "rule" is the lowest shutter speed you should use to get sharp pictures. Modern image stabilization kind of made that rule obsolete.

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Terranceperryman wrote in post #19184525
Can someone please explain to me why you shouldn’t take portraits at super fast shutter speeds?

I have never seen anyone say that you shouldn't take portraits at very fast shutter speeds. Is there really somewhere where people have recommended against it?
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Terranceperryman wrote in post #19184525
Is there a benefit to keeping the shutter speed around the same as the focal length?

I have never seen anyone say that you should keep the shutter speed around the same as the focal length. . Where have you seen this recommended?

People say that you should keep the shutter speed at least as fast as the focal length, when handholding, to minimize blurriness due to camera shake .... but that is completely different than people saying to keep shutter speed and focal length the same.


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Terranceperryman wrote in post #19184525
Why shouldn't I take a portrait at 1/4000 of a sec? Im thinking faster shutter to freeze EVERYTHING? (Sharper pictures). Camera shake and movement from the subject? Am i wrong? Thanks in advance!

There is no reason why you shouldn't take a portrait at 1/4000th of a second, provided that there is enough light to do so at the aperture and ISO that you want to use. . But it doesn't take anywhere near 1/4000 to freeze everything.

In 99% of all portrait situations, you should be able to completely freeze everything with any shutter speed faster than 1/320th of a second. . If you need a faster shutter speed than that to freeze something in the frame, then you are working in some kind of very extreme conditions that are not at all normal for portrait photography. . I mean, professional rodeo photographers use 1/250th of a second as a rule of thumb for freezing bucking broncos and running horses, so .....

What kind of movement do you have in your portrait shoots that you think you need 1/4000 to freeze?


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Ok. That’s what i was thinking but i see so many pics at the lower shutter speeds had me wondering if i was wrong. Thanks you very much for the reply!!

I wasn’t sure. I have great equipment but i am a beginner that’s trying to get the sharpest image possible. 5d mk IV. I didn’t like the way alot of my images turned out the last time i shot. Trying to use live view more. May have just been the settings along with the fact that I missed where i meant to touch too

Terranceperryman wrote in post #19184700
I wasn’t sure. I have great equipment but i am a beginner that’s trying to get the sharpest image possible. 5d mk IV. I didn’t like the way alot of my images turned out the last time i shot. Trying to use live view more. May have just been the settings along with the fact that I missed where i meant to touch too

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If you could post a couple of shots that you are unhappy with, along with the settings used, we could give you suggestions to help you improve your results. . But I'll tell you right up front that shutter speed has nothing to do with why your portraits aren't sharp, if you're shooting at 1/320th or faster.

This deer is pretty sharp, at 1/320th of a second. . Perhaps not absolutely perfectly razor sharp, but we're talking about a leaping deer in very low light conditions right before nightfall. . I'm posting this to show you that if you aren't getting sharp portraits of people at similar shutter speeds, then it is not the shutter speed that is at fault.

There is often a lot of bad advice given out on forums about shutter speed. . Many hobby photographers seem to think that they need much faster shutter speeds than they actually need. . I don't know where or when these errant thoughts about shutter speed started, but they mislead a lot of people and send beginners off in very wrong directions when it comes to improving their photographs.

You can take portraits with a high shutter speed, no problem.
But depending on the light it would mean a higher ISO which even with today's camera's will degrade image quality so if you do not need a higher ss why use it?
Also if you use flash(and lots of portraits are taken with flash) you are limited to 1/200 (with your 5DIV).(except when using hss)