Great exposure can get you… Great exposure!

Exposure is a key concept to understanding what brings your image to life and how a camera and lens work together. Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the camera’s sensor. It determines how bright or dark an image appears and is achieved through the basic concepts of a camera and lens. Aperture, ISO, gain and shutter speed, frame rates. In videography, the sweet spot differs from that in photography and I will explain why motion introduces new concepts needed to manage the camera and will share as well practical methods to monitor and achieve your exposure aims. As emphasised throughout my writing, modern digital tools help you to master technical prowess quickly and through having a checklist in place, following a process, you can hack videography and dedicate more time on the important creative elements.

Aperture

The lens’s diaphragm that allows light to be magnified through the layers of glass.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is how long the camera sensor is exposed to light, which determines how much light enters the camera. It is essential for manual exposure and motion control, so understanding this pillar of exposure relates to the For videography there are mechanical and electronic shutters, most consumer cameras including DSLRs and mirrorless models use a mechanical shutter system that you can actually see when you remove the lens.

When you take a photo, this mechanical shutter operates like a pair of curtains. The front curtain opens first, followed by the rear curtain, creating a window of time (the shutter speed) during which light reaches the sensor. Some cameras also offer an electronic shutter option, which uses the sensor itself to control exposure timing without any moving parts.

The above image shows how the disc controls the incoming light and exposing the film frame. When working with cinema cameras or higher-end cameras (not ENG or broadcast equipment), you’ll encounter references to shutter angle. This terminology comes from the rotary disc shutters used in film cameras, where the angle refers to the size of the opening in the spinning disc measured in degrees. While 180° remains the standard for natural motion blur, 270° shutter angle has become popular for creating increased motion blur, particularly in projects involving artistic experimentation with light and movement.

180° is what some believe captures motion and produces it as natural for the human eye. Transitioning away from the mechanical camera age this 180° still remains the standard and fundamental for shooting any video production.

Just remember, shutter speed = 1/(2 × frame rate)

Electronic Shutter

Electronic shutter works differently to mechanical and all digital cameras shooting video will have one. The shutter controls how much time the electronic sensor collects light in order to generate each successive image. A rolling e-shutter scans the image top to bottom and reads each row of pixels, collecting the image data. Most cameras use a rolling shutter mechanism, where the sensor reads image data sequentially row by row. Camera manufacturers indicate the readout speed which is the time it takes the sensor to read all image data. It indicates how quickly the sensor can deliver a frame and when shooting high speed motion such as sports, a slow readout speed can lead to distortion.

In a global shutter sensor, all photosites are read simultaneously after exposure ends. It’s called ‘global’ because the entire sensor is read as one unit, rather than row by row. Some ARRI cameras and other high-end cinema cameras use global shutters to prevent motion artefacts, though rolling shutter sensors remain common due to cost and other technical considerations.

Most standard videography situations require 180 degree shutter angle: One over twice the frames.

Frame rates

Another temporal concern is frame rate. The standard frame rate in cinema is 24 frames per second. It is well-known that this frame rate was a consequence of synchronisation of sound when introduced and remains the earmark for the cinematic look. If you dig into the history of cinema, you realise there wasn’t a scientific reason rather it was majority of the production houses were doing and you could sync sound at 21 fps back then.

Standard frame rates aren’t because the eye can’t handle the succession of different images, we are in an era where people are watching entire films with a VR headset strapped to their heads. I think that might cause more eyestrain. Thomas Edison claimed 46 FPS wouldn’t cause strain to the eye back in cinema’s youth, we are still to see what are our physiological limits!

When video entered the scene it required 30 FPS and 25 FPS to align the video signal with the electrical current 60 Hz in the USA and 50 hertz in Europe. These standard video frame rates are compatible with television monitors and would lead to a stable display without screen tearing. 29.97 FPS is found in video cameras and this reflects the technical problem engineers encountered when colour was interfering with the transmission signal.

As you can see frame rate is more than exposure.

NTSC and PAL are regional broadcast television standards that dictate video signal outputs and impact the viewing quality and motion. It isn’s a major concern for web media as there’s no analog signal conversion happening and modern displays can handle different frame rates. NTSC and PAL were used for different electrical grid frequencies (60Hz vs 50Hz) and colour encoding methods. In the digital world, these physical constraints no longer apply, and content can be encoded and displayed at optimal settings regardless of geographic region. I tend to use PAL because of my location, nevertheless I’ve switched plenty of times to access higher frame rates (that were only possible in NTSC settings on the camera).

Camera flicker

There are still lighting situations where there is flickering and you need to adjust your shutter speed and frame rate. The frame rate needs to match the frequency of the lights of your region and should be divisible by the number of light pulses:

PAL- 50Hz – 25fps, 50 fps, 100fps etc
NTSC – 60Hz – 30fps, 60fps, 120fps etc

The camera flicker happens when the frequency between the camera and the light source is out of sync. This is tied to the electrical current and power system, similar to the how the NTSC, PAL and other broadcast standards were used to standardise video signal for televisions. Television displays refresh rate matched the electrical mains frequency, for North and South America, it is 60 Hz and in Europe, Africa, and Asia it is 50 Hz.
In my experience it has happened in hospitals and big office buildings and depending on the flicker, I use post-production software to remove it (if minimal).

Field order

When you are selecting the frame rate you see options of ‘i’ or ‘p’. These are ‘interlaced’ and ‘progressive’, they refer to different scanning methods in video. Interlaced scanning displays alternating fields of odd and even lines, while progressive scanning displays all lines of a frame in sequence. Nearly all video is progressive and this technical condition usually won’t influence creative decisions.

Fps and shutter speeds

In photography f so much as it captures motion. Hence my decision to include shutter speed and frame rate as an extension of the exposure triangle.

For corporate and commercial video production, 50 FPS is the standard and In digital filmmaking it seems 1/48 FPS is the standard but it will depend on the creative direction. Below is a table to show the most available common frame rates and the corresponding shutter speeds.

Frame Rate (fps)	Standard Shutter Speed	Notes
23.976	1/48s	Cinema standard
24	1/48s	True 24fps cinema
25	1/50s	PAL video standard
29.97	1/60s	NTSC video standard
30	1/60s	True 30fps
48	1/96s	High frame rate cinema
50	1/100s	PAL high frame rate
59.94	1/120s	NTSC high frame rate
60	1/120s	True 60fps
100	1/200s	Smooth slow motion
120	1/240s	Slow motion capture
240	1/480s	High-speed slow motion

Attention! Almost all video production will use slow motion to emphasize a moment. This is manipulation of frame rates in production and post production. If shooting at 100 FPS requires a 1/200 shutter speed, be prepared to make the shot brighter with such a fast shutter speed.
The post-production processes requires, Identify the video in the media section, interpret the video to match the timeline’s frame rate and the entire video clip will playback at the timeline’s frame rate. Treat this as similar to other footage and export the same way.

ISO sensitivity

ISO sensitivity is a standardized measurement that indicates how responsive a camera sensor is to light. Higher ISO values allow the camera to capture usable images in darker conditions, while lower ISO values are used in brighter environments.

Modern cameras often feature native ISO or dual native ISO configurations. The native ISO represents the sensor’s optimal sensitivity setting at which it operates most efficiently without requiring additional electronic amplification. At native ISO, the sensor delivers its best signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range. Dual native ISO sensors have two such optimal points, allowing for better performance across a wider range of lighting conditions. Signal to noise ratio has been argued as a better term than ISO since it represents the concerns for camera operators, that being, to avoid image noise. Current technical developments expand camera technologies to provide optimal sensor performance with minimal noise at their respective sensitivity levels, preserving maximum dynamic range.
Modern camera sensors have improved low-light performance across all manufacturers (Canon, Sony, Blackmagic, Panasonic). Reducing the reliance on heavy lighting setups.

Gain

The term “gain” refers to the electronic amplification applied to the electrical signals generated by the sensor’s photosites (individual light-sensing elements). Gain is typically measured in decibels (dB) and serves the same fundamental purpose as ISO adjustment, making the image brighter through amplification of the electronic signal. While ISO and gain achieve similar results, they represent different approaches to the same underlying process. When you adjust ISO settings, you’re essentially controlling the sensor’s signal amplification, which affects how the captured light information is processed and interpreted.

MONITORING EXPOSURE

Now we understand the basic concepts of how different camera parts work together to capture light and expose an image. When setting up the camera, these concepts are three parts you check and change within the shoot. To achieve great exposure without worry, use tools to monitor the image quality. Camera sensors compute light differently to our eyes and one day your eyes or the camera display will fail and these graphs might save you! The aim of the game is not to have footage under or over exposed, as goldilocks would say, just right. Ideally you run test shots before the actual shoot, taking the visual material through post production. This allows you to see the lighting in the final look with all colour correction and grading.

Histogram

Zebras

False colour

False colour won’t be found on all cameras but in most professional editing software, they will be available and exposure checks in all video production stages maximises your control over the image. Replaces your normal image with a color-coded map where different brightness values are represented by specific colors, typically following a standardized scale.

Exposure in practice

There are more possibilities when dealing with exposure manually and generally through checking the histogram and zebras, you can avoid an irretrievable image in post production. There isn’t a correct way to achieve exposure, ultimately it depends on the final outcome and the precise method will be determined by the situation. A lot of this is decided when shooting and best to understand what the tools do and experiment, never be afraid to pause and check settings, it is invaluable to take a moment and check exposure.

If you’re not shooting professionally or regularly, don’t stress about memorizing technical charts and calculations. An experienced photographer once told me something that stuck: “One day, you’ll just instinctively know which aperture works for each situation.” He was right.

Through experience, I’ve learned that F11 is typically my go-to aperture for street videography for stills when I don’t have neutral density filters available. It provides sharp focus throughout the scene while managing the bright outdoor light effectively. Every shooting scenario requires balancing three key camera settings based on your lighting conditions: aperture (how wide your lens opens), ISO (your camera’s sensitivity to light), and shutter speed (how long the sensor captures light).

The key is understanding that these three settings work together like a triangle – adjust one, and you’ll need to compensate with the others. Start with one setting that’s most important for your shot (maybe you need a specific aperture for depth of field, or a certain shutter speed to avoid motion blur), then adjust the remaining two to get proper exposure.

With practice, these decisions become second nature. Focus on getting out there and shooting rather than getting paralyzed by technical perfectionism.