Another FX/DX question

PJM

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I think I've convinced myself of the answer to this but I'll ask anyway. I know there is a rule-of-thumb to set your shutter speed to one over the lens' focal length or faster. So when I shoot with my 300 mm on my DX camera I set the shutter speed to 1/300 or faster. Does it make a difference if you are using that lens on an FX or DX camera? They say a 300 on a DX is equivalent to 450 on a FX. So should I be shooting 1/450 instead. I think the answer is no, 1/300 is correct, because 450 relates to FOV not true magnification. Yes/no?
 
No.

BTW: this rule of thumb is for the average hand-holder, and some people can hand-hold even slower with proper technique and practice.
 
I think I've convinced myself of the answer to this but I'll ask anyway. I know there is a rule-of-thumb to set your shutter speed to one over the lens' focal length or faster. So when I shoot with my 300 mm on my DX camera I set the shutter speed to 1/300 or faster. Does it make a difference if you are using that lens on an FX or DX camera? They say a 300 on a DX is equivalent to 450 on a FX. So should I be shooting 1/450 instead. I think the answer is no, 1/300 is correct, because 450 relates to FOV not true magnification. Yes/no?
100% true, yes! Focal length is focal length is focal length. Having said that however, you can make a case for increasing the shutter speed above the 1/FL "rule" since you're looking at a smaller FOV and therefore the same amount of movement in a smaller space may be more pronounced. The best thing you can do is find out what your own requirements are. Mount the lens in question, rack it out to maximum FL (assuming it's a zoom), and using a fairly large aperture, start at a fairly high shutter speed and work your way down until you start to see movement. As @Designer notes, with proper technique and practice hand-holding at much slower shutter speeds is possible.
 
I think that the 1/over focal length guideline should be increased a bit (50 percent) to give some "cushion" when using an APS-C sized sensor, due to the need for more diameters of enlargement to make a given final output size.
 
Thanks everyone for responding back to me. I appreciate your help.
 
I think I've convinced myself of the answer to this but I'll ask anyway. I know there is a rule-of-thumb to set your shutter speed to one over the lens' focal length or faster. So when I shoot with my 300 mm on my DX camera I set the shutter speed to 1/300 or faster. Does it make a difference if you are using that lens on an FX or DX camera? They say a 300 on a DX is equivalent to 450 on a FX. So should I be shooting 1/450 instead. I think the answer is no, 1/300 is correct, because 450 relates to FOV not true magnification. Yes/no?
100% true, yes! Focal length is focal length is focal length. Having said that however, you can make a case for increasing the shutter speed above the 1/FL "rule" since you're looking at a smaller FOV and therefore the same amount of movement in a smaller space may be more pronounced. The best thing you can do is find out what your own requirements are. Mount the lens in question, rack it out to maximum FL (assuming it's a zoom), and using a fairly large aperture, start at a fairly high shutter speed and work your way down until you start to see movement. As @Designer notes, with proper technique and practice hand-holding at much slower shutter speeds is possible.

I have not tried that experiment yet. I usually just go 1/focal length. But I will try that now and see just where I land.

Thanks.
 
I think that the 1/over focal length guideline should be increased a bit (50 percent) to give some "cushion" when using an APS-C sized sensor, due to the need for more diameters of enlargement to make a given final output size.

On a DX camera, I do 1/FL + 1 stop. One stop is easier for me to figure out fast in my head, than 1/2 stop.
So 200mm lens = 1/250 + 1 stop = 1/500 sec.

Even guideline may not be easy.
  • Shoot outdoors in the wind, and throw the guideline out the window. Instead I am shooting at a HIGH shutter speed to compensate for the wind blowing ME around. Instead of shooting at 1/500, I might be shooting at 1/2000.
  • If you had a cup of coffee before the shoot, that caffeine is not helping you hold steady. For some, sugar can have a similar effect.
  • Do a six hour shoot and as the hours pass, you get less steady, as you get tired and sore.
As was mentioned, with proper technique and optimal conditions, you can go below the standard guideline.
BUT, that isn't easy. And how often do you have optimal conditions.
 
In my experience the 1/focal length shutter speed went away when high pixel pitch cameras started showing up like with the D800. That old standard was usable in most cases with the D3 at 12 MP but not at 36 MP, Nikon even published a document on the topic when the D800 was launched.

If one thinks about it from a technical aspect, it makes sense. Any micro movements of the camera during exposure of a high pixel pitch sensor results in a focused photon hitting more than one photosite on the sensor. The result is a blurred image due to camera movement. A stable platform is ever more critical with high MP bodies and my rule of thumb is now 1.5-2/focal length.
 
Thanks for the advice and educational tips. I never considered how pixel pitch changes things. And, I'll hold the coffee 'till I get back from my morning photo walk.
 
I rarely shoot below 1/500 when I’m hand holding. It makes things super simple and the ISO is easily handled on most newer cameras, IMO. Better a bit of noise than camera shake or motion blur. Nothing worse than a blurry photo.
 
About 30 years ago or more I spent a week shooting all of my photos at 1/500 second or faster... I had previously used speeds like 1/60 and 1/125... I was really surprised at how much sharper my pictures looked. I think it is not so much camera Shake as it is subject movement. the world is in motion. Fast shutter speeds freeze even the slightest movement.
 
About 30 years ago or more I spent a week shooting all of my photos at 1/500 second or faster... I had previously used speeds like 1/60 and 1/125... I was really surprised at how much sharper my pictures looked. I think it is not so much camera Shake as it is subject movement. the world is in motion. Fast shutter speeds freeze even the slightest movement.

That’s a great learning exercise. I started doing it because my balance isn’t great and I have a few manual focus adapted lenses without any image stabilization.
 
About 30 years ago or more I spent a week shooting all of my photos at 1/500 second or faster... I had previously used speeds like 1/60 and 1/125... I was really surprised at how much sharper my pictures looked. I think it is not so much camera Shake as it is subject movement. the world is in motion. Fast shutter speeds freeze even the slightest movement.

THIS
VR/IS only stabilizes the camera, NOT the subject.
So you can shoot at 1/30 sec, but only stationary subjects, like a building, NOT a small kid running around.
 
For me, it depends. Most of the time I'm at faster speeds anyway as something in the shot is moving. Saying that I'm more comfortable using 1/FL*1.5 but I will push it to 1/FL if the light's not great. Occasionally I'll push it further and if I do that I either duplicate the shots or when that isn't possible I'll split my time shooting, getting some in the bank before pushing my luck.
 
Dealing with subject motion can take precedence over the minimum shutter speed guideline.
Raise the ISO level as high as you need, to shoot at a shutter speed fast enough to prevent motion blur.
  • When shooting indoor volleyball, I will shoot at ISO 3200, just so that I can keep the shutter speed up at 1/800 sec (at f/2, 35mm lens on a DX/APS-C camera). Even so, sometimes 1/800 sec is still not fast enough to prevent blur on a spike.
  • When shooting night football, I have shot at ISO 12800, to shoot at 1/500 sec.
The only time I deal with the guideline is when I am pushing the limits of the gear.
Example, when I am at MAX ISO and the lens is wide open, the only thing left is a SLOW shutter speed.
 
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