Handheld shutter speeds? Whats safe?

Scam · 6 Oct 2006 at 06:13

Hey all. Can anyone advise on the maximum shutter speeds that are safe to use without a tripod (handheld)? I've been playing it safe so far (1/80 max or roundabouts) but i'm sure you can go lower safely -- without getting shake. I'm at the end of my stay in NZ so probably should have asked this a while ago.. but meh .. bring on Sydney and Thailand

Ta.

nolimit · 6 Oct 2006 at 07:43

Good rule to follow, keep the shutter speed same as the focal length of your lens when shooting handheld. Ofcourse you can go much lower but this is good practise.

15mm = 1/15
50mm = 1/50
100mm = 1/100
400mm = 1/400

Tomsk · 6 Oct 2006 at 07:54

Technique can reduce shutter shake as well.

- bring your elbows in, if possible against your body
- support your body by leaning against a wall, lampost etc
- squeeze the shutter button carefully rather than a short sharp press
- hold your breath when squeezing the shutter button

King_Boru · 6 Oct 2006 at 07:54

You can shoot 300mm @ 1/100th. Its just practice.

Scam · 6 Oct 2006 at 08:05

Thanks guys. The inverse of focal length thing was something i could vaguely remember, but i thought it was to do with something else (god knows what). That should give me a bit more freedom, knowing that for sure now.

Alex53 · 6 Oct 2006 at 08:41

The inverse focal length rule is a good rule of thumb to follow when you have enough light, but for gods sake don't shoot at ISO 1600 or 3200 when you could be shooting at 400 or 800 just to keep to that rule, because as mentioned above, you can get away with slower speeds by using good technique.

SDK^ · 6 Oct 2006 at 09:16

The best way to find out how slow you can go is to take some test shots and look at the sharpness.

Colin_da_Killer · 6 Oct 2006 at 10:07

Anything under 1/60th is considered to be a slow shutter speed.

morgan · 6 Oct 2006 at 10:37

King_Boru said:
You can shoot 300mm @ 1/100th. Its just practice.

no its IS

cyKey · 6 Oct 2006 at 10:55

Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 10D
Image Date: 2006:05:30 02:37:35
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 10.0mm
CCD Width: 5.16mm
Exposure Time: 1.000 s
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO equiv: 100
White Balance: Auto

Thats a 1 second hand held exposure. I left my tripod in Toronto that day as it was 34c and I couldn't be bothered carrying more stuff

MajorPart · 6 Oct 2006 at 12:03

morgan said:
no its IS

PMSL.

King_Boru · 6 Oct 2006 at 12:31

morgan said:
no its IS

The lazy mans solution

. But seriously, you can shoot slow shutter speeds at long focal lenghts. It is practice.

james.miller · 6 Oct 2006 at 13:38

practice...and luck lol.

12mm, 1/10th.....almost complete darkness. on a boat.. total fluke.

shame its an awful picture but it is somewhat sharp lol

nolimit · 6 Oct 2006 at 19:09

I wouldnt say fluke as your focal length is only 12mm and 1/10 is perfect.
I don't think it is awful.

cyKey · 6 Oct 2006 at 19:44

nolimit said:
I wouldnt say fluke as your focal length is only 12mm and 1/10 is perfect.
I don't think it is awful.

Agreed. 1/10th at 12mm isn't really hard

It could do with the levels boosting to bring it out.

mrgubby · 6 Oct 2006 at 22:08

Remember if it's a D-SLR take into account the crop factor for the camera. 200mm x 1.6 may mean a faster shutter speed is required.

DRZ · 6 Oct 2006 at 23:25

mrgubby said:
Remember if it's a D-SLR take into account the crop factor for the camera. 200mm x 1.6 may mean a faster shutter speed is required.

So if I put some film in my 35mm film camera which was so terribly made that the photosensitive chemicals only covered an APS-C size area, I would have to knock up my shutter speeds to compensate?

Think about it...

mrgubby · 7 Oct 2006 at 09:07

DRZ said:
So if I put some film in my 35mm film camera which was so terribly made that the photosensitive chemicals only covered an APS-C size area, I would have to knock up my shutter speeds to compensate?

Think about it...

If you cropped the print down to the active area then blew it up to original size ?.
I always understood the focal length / shutter speed guide was due to the amount of percieved movement due to zoom , ie small movement of camera becomes more apparent the further away you are 'looking'

hoodmeister · 7 Oct 2006 at 12:04

DRZ said:
So if I put some film in my 35mm film camera which was so terribly made that the photosensitive chemicals only covered an APS-C size area, I would have to knock up my shutter speeds to compensate?

Yes, you do. Admittedly most people are OK with the inverse of the focal length on a crop body, though.
The best example of this is comacts - due to teeny sensor sizes they have v. short focal lengths - but there's no way you could handhold a compact at 10mm for 1/10th of a second.

james.miller · 7 Oct 2006 at 15:48

nolimit said:
I wouldnt say fluke as your focal length is only 12mm and 1/10 is perfect.
I don't think it is awful.

i was on a boat! lol. i was impressed with it anyway, it was hard to get any shot in focus in the dark on that boat lol.

Agreed. 1/10th at 12mm isn't really hard It could do with the levels boosting to bring it out.

I agree with that. They've been boasted already in that picture. originally i tried upping them more, but there was too much noise. i can give it another go though