Camera Recommendations for Shake Reduction?

[DanBones]

I am looking to get into photography as a hobby. I also have pretty shaky hands and was curious if anyone has experience or recommendations for this situation. I'm hoping to get something that will be good all around, outdoor, indoor night etc. Any input is appreciated!

 

[Alex_B]

hmmm, if it is really bad. maybe a tripod!

 

[cgipson1]

Some bodies have Vibration Reduction built in.. some Lenses have VR built in. Fast shutter speeds will help.. which will require a body with a good High ISO Signal to Noise ratio... and probably fast (large aperture lenses) which can get expensive. As Alex_B mentioned... as tripod is always an option also.

We need a budget! How much do you want to spend?

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

As mentioned, there are various ways to get 'stabilization' in a camera system. If we are talking about SLR type digital cameras, then there are two main types; in-camera and in-lens. Canon & Nikon have put the stabilization (IS and VR respectably) into (some) of their lenses. They say that this works better, but it also means that you have to buy it with each lens that you buy. Other companies like Pentax, Sony, Olympus etc, put the stabilization into the body and thus it will work with any lens attached.

Now, lets look at what this stabilization does. It helps to steady the camera/lens against the small movements that happen when we hold the camera while shooting. This helps to get somewhat sharper photos of things that aren't moving. How much does it help...well, they usually say that it's between 2-4 'stops'. So for example, if you could normally get a sharp shot with a shutter speed of 1/200, you might be able to get a similarly sharp shot with a shutter speed of 1/50 to 1/12.
So it does help, but it's not going to be a cure for low light shooting, where your shutter speeds may need to get even longer.

Also (this is the big one)....none of these systems will help if your subjects are moving. They only prevent blur from camera movement, not subject movement. For that, you need a faster shutter speed...which is the same cure for preventing camera shake blur. So rather than looking for a good stabilization system, you might be better off looking for a set up that will allow you to shoot with the fastest shutter speeds that you can get away with.
Shutter speed is one of the three elements of exposure, so you would need to look at maximizing the other two...ISO and aperture. So rather than getting a camera with a typical 'kit' lens, which doesn't have a very large aperture, you might look at getting a lens with a large maximum aperture (50mm F1.8 is an inexpensive (thus popular) choice in both the Canon & Nikon systems). Next you could look at ISO....newer, more expensive and 'full frame' DSLR cameras can go to higher ISO settings with less penalty (digital noise) that older, cheaper camera...especially point & shoot type cameras.
So by using a higher ISO and a lens with a larger aperture, you could shoot with faster shutter speeds, which would mean sharper photos.

Of course, if you are going to be shooting things that don't move, you could always put the camera on a tripod or other support, then you can shoot at just about any shutter speed and get a pretty sharp shot.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

My quick vote - increase ISO a wee bit to afford an increase in shutter speed

 

[sovietdoc]

To reduce vibration, use the camera strap. A lot of people shoot while using the strap only as a means of trasporting the camera around, but it can actually help in holding your camera steady.

 

[SCraig]

hmmm, if it is really bad. maybe a tripod!

Or a monopod.

 

[Garbz]

All Olympus DSLRs feature sensor based image stabilisation. This feature works regardless of the type of lens used. Having used the feature on both an E-3 and the cheaper E-620 I can say it is quite fantastic.

I suppose I should mention some Sony cameras feature this as well but Sony is hardly a camera manufacturer as much as a militant control freak of a company at war with their customers. Interestingly enough their profit statement a few weeks ago is starting to reflect their bull****.

 

[cgipson1]

All Olympus DSLRs feature sensor based image stabilisation. This feature works regardless of the type of lens used. Having used the feature on both an E-3 and the cheaper E-620 I can say it is quite fantastic.

I suppose I should mention some Sony cameras feature this as well but Sony is hardly a camera manufacturer as much as a militant control freak of a company at war with their customers. Interestingly enough their profit statement a few weeks ago is starting to reflect their bull****.

Sony's lack the High ISO / Low Noise needed for using high ISO to allow for fast shutter speeds... which is another part of the "shaky hand" control! So you don't really need to mention Sony's!

 

[StandingBear1983]

if you have a real physical problem with shake in your hands or body, go for a tripod, if your healthy its in the method that you shoot and a bit technic to know how to handle the camera, hold it close to your body, stick your arms in and use your body as a tripod, also shoot minimum at 1/125 of a second, that would do the trick i think.

 

[Nikon_Josh]

All Olympus DSLRs feature sensor based image stabilisation. This feature works regardless of the type of lens used. Having used the feature on both an E-3 and the cheaper E-620 I can say it is quite fantastic.

I suppose I should mention some Sony cameras feature this as well but Sony is hardly a camera manufacturer as much as a militant control freak of a company at war with their customers. Interestingly enough their profit statement a few weeks ago is starting to reflect their bull****.

Here, here!

And don't forget Pentax have built in stabilisation, the K5 is a wicked camera! But obviously if you went Nikon, you could soley use VR lenses. VR is simply incredible, my slow aperture 70-300 VR without VR would be hopeless to me. The VR allows me to get sharp shots when it would not be possible to do so!

 

[DanBones]

hmmm, if it is really bad. maybe a tripod!

Or a monopod.

YOU SIR, are the man. Thanks, had no idea there was such a thing but this might be my best bet overall.

Thank you all for the input. Budget wise I'd like to stay at or under $500. I have no idea if this is realistic or not. I am young and healthy, but I have hereditary tremors that make my hands shake, so aside from the monopod a little back up technology would be awesome for times when I don't have the time/ability to set up a contraption to hold the camera.

 

[zamanakhan]

I too have incredibly shaky hands, just keep the shutter speed up using iso and when in doubt use a tripod. Vr is great but nothing beats having your camera in a steady platform to begin with. Don't let shaky hands get in the way of taking photos, we have come a long way for that to be a big problem now.