ExposureTime: What This Metadata Tag Means
ExposureTime is the shutter speed of a photo, such as 1/120 or 2 seconds: how long the sensor gathered light for that shot.
Last updated: November 13, 2026
What it means
Short times like 1/1000 freeze motion; long times like 1 second blur it and need a steady camera. ExifTool also shows the value as the Composite tag ShutterSpeed.
Example
- Tag
- ExposureTime
- Group in ExifMeta
- EXIF
- Example value
- 1/120
This is how the tag appears in ExifMeta’s results. The value in your file will differ.
Typical values
Short exposures are shown as fractions, such as 1/4000 or 1/60, and long ones as seconds, such as 0.5 or 30. Handheld shots are usually 1/60 or faster.
Where it comes from
The camera writes the exposure time it used, whether you set it or the camera chose it.
What it is useful for
It explains motion blur or frozen action in a photo, and a long exposure points to a tripod or a night mode. With FNumber and ISO it completes the exposure settings.
Watch out for
Phone night modes combine many frames, so the recorded ExposureTime may not match the total time the phone spent capturing.
Find it in your file
Upload a file to ExifMeta, then type ExposureTime into the “Search tags and values” box under All metadata. If nothing matches, the file does not contain this tag.
Learn more in the guide: How to See What Camera Settings a Photo Used
See the tags in your own file
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