Camera Shake ~ Shutter Speed = Focal Length?

prodigy2k7

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Ive heard that to counter camera shake without a tripod using shutter speed, you must have the same or faster speed than the focal length of the lens.
Example: 75-300mm lens, zoomed to 300mm, you should use atleast 1/300 right?

I heard that only works sometimes, so, how do you know the minimum speed you should use?
 
That's a great rule of thumb. However, that's given in 35mm lengths, so with a crop sensor, multiply by 1.6. So, at 300mm on a crop camera, try for something near 1/480 second.

IMO that's usually pretty conservative and you can get by with slower.
 
so with a crop sensor, multiply by 1.6. So, at 300mm on a crop camera, try for something near 1/480 second.

Care to show me a reputable source that says that crop factor has to do with camera shake?

Crop factor only has to do with field of view(and since crop factor is due to a less than x sized sensor, often 35mm, there are also issues with DOF and noise). I wish it wasn't perpetrated as being some kind of universal rule-changer.

But even the "rule of thumb" is invalid if you have surgeon's hands or are in the middle of a seizure.
 
Care to show me a reputable source that says that crop factor has to do with camera shake?

Crop factor only has to do with field of view(and since crop factor is due to a less than x sized sensor, often 35mm, there are also issues with DOF and noise). I wish it wasn't perpetrated as being some kind of universal rule-changer.

But even the "rule of thumb" is invalid if you have surgeon's hands or are in the middle of a seizure.

Are you wanting to start up another pointless fight? :D Google it, almost anywhere that camera shake rule of thumb comes up, it mentions crop factor. If I mentioned sources, we'd debate which sources were "reputable".

But even the "rule of thumb" is invalid if you have surgeon's hands or are in the middle of a seizure.

Right, that's why it's a rule of thumb...
 
Yes it a good rule of thumb to follow =- the other half is to perfect shooting stance.
There are many ways to do this, here are a few:
1) crouch down into the prone position (keep on foot on the ground and bend the knee- with the other leg place the knee on the ground - like shooting a gun.)

2) breathing - a host of tips - though apparently you should press the shutter button at the very end of exhaling - there is a natural pause there.

3) look about for a wall, post, fence, etc to either lean yourself on or to lean the camera on
 
As already mentioned, it is a good rule of thumb (that does depend on format), but there are times when you can use a slower shutter speed and times when you should use a faster shutter speed.

If you want ultimate sharpness it may not be fast enough - the effects of shake are not always obvious unless you put two images made with a high quality lens side by side at high magnification.

Best,
Helen
 
Thats the rule of thumb. It's a bit conservative and doesn't take IS into account. I say that you can ignore the crop factor because of it's conservatism. With, IS, you can go to half the speed (2x the time) easily and still be perfectly sharp.
 
I usually find that I can shoot at much slow shutter at short focal lengths and my shutter speed requirement goes closer to the rule of thumb as focal length increases.
 

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