shutter speed for handheld

I always aim for 1/(Focal Length x Crop Factor)

e.g. So for a 50mm on Nikon, 1/80 s.

(Assuming no VR/IS/OS/VC/etc).

Sometimes slower shutter speeds come out fine, depends how good your handholding is.
 
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Depends on how steady your hand is. Do you have I.S. how long is the exposure time etc.
 
so many variables to this one, is it a static or moving target and at what distance and lighting conditions. If it has to be handheld you can you within reason up the iso instead to get the speeds up.
 
cw318is said:
so many variables to this one, is it a static or moving target and at what distance and lighting conditions. If it has to be handheld you can you within reason up the iso instead to get the speeds up.
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Great answer thank you, but also good question must say;)
 
A rough guide for this is 100mm lens = 100th second 300mm lens = 300th second etc. If you have IS, a crop body, or steady hands this could change things but as stated it's a rough guide.
 
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Big Andy said:
A rough guide for this is 100mm lens = 100th second 300mm lens = 300th second etc. Ff you have IS, a crop body, or steady hands this could change things but as stated it's a rough guide.
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Thank you
 
Then there's the difference between IS/Vr etc lens stabilization ala Canon/Nikon and IBIS in body stabilization ala Sony/Pentax etc. IS/VR does better with long primes/tele's wihile IBIS does well with tele's it also does better with short zooms and short primes.
 
It also depends on how big you are intending to display the image.

An image shot at 1/30s handheld might likely show motion blur when viewed at 100%, but reduce that image to 800p for web display and the chances are the blur might not be visible.
 
It's also dependant on what sort of subject you are looking to take. All the IS in the world won't help you to freeze a fast moving subject.
 
redddraggon said:
I always aim for 1/(Focal Length x Crop Factor)

e.g. So for a 50mm on Nikon, 1/80 s.

(Assuming no VR/IS/OS/VC/etc).

Sometimes slower shutter speeds come out fine, depends how good your handholding is.
Click to expand...

That's the standard guideline (and it is only a guideline) for printing/displaying an image at about 10"x8". If you want to crop your shot tighter, or display at sizes larger than that, then you may find you need a faster shutter speed too. For viewing 100% crops that will almost certainly be true. To view a 100% crop from a hand held shot taken with a 7D (very high pixel density) you may need a shutter speed roughly 4X faster than the formula suggests.

Conversely, if all you want to do is to make a little 800x533 web image from your uncropped photograph then you could probably manage with roughly half the guideline speed.

Some people will do a good job at slower speeds than suggested. Others may need even higher speeds.
 
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