focal lengths/shutter speed.

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pullylad50

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Chris
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Just a quick question about shutter speeds,I have read to avoid blurred shots keep your shutter speed higher than the focal lengh of your lens.
So how would that work on a lens such as the 18-55mm kit lens or similar.
Hope this ain't to much of a daft question.
Thanks.
 
Very basically, the common rule is to keep the shutter speed equal to, or greater than, your focal length. Some will also say to take the crop factor into account so Nikon multiply by 1.5 and Canon by 1.6. Ideally if you're shooting at 55mm then shutter speeds of 1/60 - 1/100 should be fine. Also if you have the VR lens (Nikon) then you "might" be able to shoot a slower speeds but this depends on the user and how steady you can hold the camera.
Hope this helps :)
 
No probs - with a 'full frame' camera (Like the 5D Mark II) 1/18 second would be the minimum at 18mm and 1/55 second at 55mm.

In practice, you'd be using an 18-55mm on a crop sensor so the a greater amount of camera shake might be visible.

I aim for 1/30 second at least at 18mm to about 1/90 second @ 55mm
 
pullylad50 said:
Just a quick question about shutter speeds,I have read to avoid blurred shots keep your shutter speed higher than the focal lengh of your lens.
So how would that work on a lens such as the 18-55mm kit lens or similar.
Hope this ain't to much of a daft question.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's not of the focal length of the lens as a whole, its the actual focal length you are using, so it will change throughout the zoom of the lens. At 18mm you can probably handhold for a much longer shutter speed than the "rule" would allow.

Everyone is different, and some people are rock steady, others like me are tremblers. Just experiment and see what works for you.

The focal length=1x1.6 rule is a good starting point though
 
It is probably also worth working on your steadiness, breathing etc,. to allow lower shutter speeds for when they are required so you can bend the 'rules'
 
At shutter speeds much under 1/30th s, you may find that gross movements involve larger movements than even the best OS/VR/IS/VC/SSS system can deal with.

As Tom (TCR4x4) has said, experiment and see what you can handhold with your kit.
 
It's alway a hard one,some people can hand hold better than others,myself not so good,I alway try and push the shutter speed a bit higher.

Also say with my Nikon D700 with the 24-70mm on I can hand hold at a lower shutter speed,than I can with a lot lighter camera and lens.

:)
 
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