What is the shutter button

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Written by Adam Engst Monday, 02 December 2019 09:07 - (560)

With the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple changed the way the Camera app’s shutter button works in ways that could cause confusion. Tapping it once still takes a single still photo, but if you press and hold on the shutter button, it now captures a quick video. (Previously, pressing and holding on the button took photos in burst mode; to do that on the iPhone 11 models, slide the shutter button to the left.) Once you’ve started taking a quick video, slide your finger to the right to lock recording, so you don’t have to keep holding the button down. Tap the white shutter button to take a still image while recording; tap the red record button to stop recording. For even easier quick video recording, press and hold either of the volume buttons; a single press still takes a photo. Note that quick videos always record with mono sound and at a resolution of 1920-by-1440; for stereo sound and the resolution set in Settings > Camera, use the Camera app’s Video mode.

(Featured image by Agê Barros on Unsplash)

Located on the right of the viewfinder, is the virtual counterpart of the shutter button on traditional cameras. It can replicate all the functionality of a physical shutter button. However, if your device has a physical shutter button, you can also use it to take photos.

The virtual shutter button emulates a physical shutter button. Since the screen the virtual shutter button is placed on cannot react to half-presses like physical two-stage shutters, the two depths of traditional shutters are mapped differently:

Tap and hold to focus and lock focus position.
Release to capture a photograph.
Drag the finger away from the button to cancel.

In detail, the behaviour of the virtual shutter button is the following:

Tap and hold: focuses and locks the focus position (corresponds to pressing a traditional shutter button halfway). While you hold the virtual shutter you can reframe while keeping the same focus position.
Release (after holding): takes the photograph if the focus was properly acquired (corresponds to pressing a traditional shutter button fully).
Single tap: focuses and when done focusing takes immediately a photograph if the focus was properly acquired.
Tap and hold, then drag the finger away from the virtual shutter button: focuses, locks the focus position, but does not take any photograph (corresponds to pressing a traditional shutter button halfway, then lifting the finger).

By default the app attempts to focus when you press the shutter button (if the currently selected focus mode is automatic, macro or touch), and does not take photographs if the focus routine thinks the focus was not achieved. There are however two settings to override this behaviour:

The normal behaviour is to cancel the action of taking a picture if the autofocus result was unsuccessful (that is, the autofocus routine didn’t achieve a sharp subject or couldn’t locate the focus position, both situations lead to a red focus rectangle). If you want Camera FV-5 to take a picture in any case (whether the focus succeeded or not), activate the option Settings > Tab "Camera" > Allow taking a photo without focus.
If you simply don’t want to trigger autofocus before taking a picture (that is, you want to take a picture without changing the focus position), activate the option Settings > Tab "Camera" > Focus before capturing.

This does not apply using the focus modes manual, continuous or infinity, where pictures are taking regardless of the focus status.

Note

If the focusing routine fails, the default behaviour is not to take the photo. The focus rectangle turns into red in this case. You can change this behaviour in Settings > Tab "Camera" > Allow taking a photo without focus although it is discouraged, as the resulting photo could be incorrectly focused.

# Physical shutter button

If your phone has a physical shutter key, you can use it to take photos with Camera FV-5.

There are two types of shutter keys:

With two steps. Those shutter keys have two depths: you can press it slightly until the middle (half-press) and then continue until the end (full-press). When you half-press the shutter key, Camera FV-5 focuses the picture and then locks the focus, meaning that you can reframe your shot and the focus distance will remain. When you finally fully-press the shutter key, the picture is taken.
With one step. On that case, the physical shutter key will behave the same way as the virtual shutter button.

# Using the volume keys

By default, you can use both volume keys to take photos as well. You can however change this in the settings to map any other function to the volume keys, or make them control the volume as they were designed to.

The shutter button is the button that is pushed to take a photograph. It is variously also known as the ‘release’ or release button, the shutter release and some other terms.

It is found on the exterior of the camera, normally on the right-hand-side-top. In the modern DSLR the shutter button has an important range of functions. On a digital SLR camera there is normally a two stage push. The first type of button push is often referred to as the half-push. The button is pressed until a little resistance is felt and pushed no further. At this point a number of possible things can happen according to the context. If the camera is in… – sleep mode it will return to operational mode. – operational mode – auto-focus on, the camera will normally focus. – menu mode the camera may return to operational mode (dependent on model). – displaying information on screen it’ll return to operational mode (model dependent). – displaying a picture, the camera will return to operational mode.

Some cameras may provide other functions.

Some cameras allow the half push to fix the current exposure settings. This is useful for difficult lighting conditions. If the photographer sets the camera to expose for, say, a bright sky then holds the button at half push the current focus and exposure settings will be held. Then the camera can be re-pointed, holding the current settings, at something else for the shot.

So for example an overly bright sky would normally blow out when taking a shot of a person face-on. However, if the bright sky settings are held the sky will expose correctly. The person in the shot will be under-exposed as a consequence of the bright settings for the sky. However, it is possible retrieve the darker foreground exposure of the person later in post-processing if the picture is taken in RAW mode. Alternatively, fill-in flash could lift the foreground light without causing sky to be lost with over brightness.

The full push normally causes the camera to take a photograph. However, this may be modified or ignored according to context. A full press from non-operational modes like picture display or menu display may simply return the camera to operational mode ready to focus (model dependent).

Shutter control can be taken over by a variety of alternative methods. These may be mechanical, electrical or remote.
Mechanical shutter buttons use a mechanical plunger to activate the shutter from a “remote release” button on the end of a flexible tube. The flexible tube allowed less physical contact with the camera reducing movement in the camera during the shot. When pushed the remote button activated a mechanical plunger which released the shutter. In modern digital cameras the shutter is normally released by electrical methods. Mechanical release methods are now rare.

Modern DSLRs and some other cameras allow the shutter to be activated by a plug-in remote button on a wire. The hand-held button on the end of a wire reduces the physical contact the photographer has with the camera (normally tripod mounted). This reduces camera movement when the shot is taken.

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In photography, the shutter-release button (sometimes just shutter release or shutter button) is a push-button found on many cameras, used to record photographs.[1] When pressed, the shutter of the camera is "released", so that it opens to capture a picture, and then closes, allowing an exposure time as determined by the shutter speed setting (which may be automatic). Some cameras also utilize an electronic shutter, as opposed to a mechanical shutter.

The shutter-release button is one of the most basic features of a dedicated handheld camera. Mobile devices such as modern smartphones have a touchscreen button for capturing photos, but also have a physical shutter button as well, as the sound volume buttons are used as such.

The term "release" comes from old mechanical shutters that were "cocked" or "tensioned" by one lever, and then "released" by another.[2] In modern or digital photography, this notion is less meaningful, so the term "shutter button" or simply "capture button" is more used.

Remote shutter
Selfie stick
Bulb (photography)

^ David D. Busch (2006). Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies. For Dummies. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-470-03743-0.
^ Peter G. Dorrell (1994). Photography in Archaeology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-521-45554-1.

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