Steady hand?

gazedd

gazedd

Ding Dong
Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,068
Name
Gary Eddleston
Edit My Images
Yes
Me again with another newbie question

This is the basic of photography but i'm really struggling trying to keep the lens steady when zoom'd. I like free photography (meaning with out a tripod) but i'm getting really soft/shaken shots.

Is there any tips i can try?
breathe out on a shot?
Stay warm (i noticed i was freezing the other day and all shots were bad)
I know this sounds like common sense but i'm lost with this one...

gazedd (embarresed member...)
 
not sure if i speak for alot of people when i say this but my hand was alittle "shakey" when i first started taking pics but with the more practice i got and the more i took the better it became, i thought i would struggle carrying around a (at the time) D40x with 100-300mm lens) and suffer with an unsteady hand but given practice and a few crap shots it soon got better and i got the hang of it
 
whitey said:
not sure if i speak for alot of people when i say this but my hand was alittle "shakey" when i first started taking pics but with the more practice i got and the more i took the better it became, i thought i would struggle carrying around a (at the time) D40x with 100-300mm lens) and suffer with an unsteady hand but given practice and a few crap shots it soon got better and i got the hang of it
Click to expand...

Yep

I think how you learn to put the camera will work for you :thumbs:
 
Well i think i know what i'm not doing correctly - "Tightening my arms"
I am very loose with my arms and i will definately try this meathod - even if you do look a litte funny :) hehe
Its only become a problem with the 55-250mm lens which i knew would be an issue but the IS on the lens isn't doing the job i thought it would, maybe after a few new attempts - i may get better results.

Any further advice is still greatly appreciated!
 
Fasters shutter speeds i will try also, Does ISO affect anything like this? I generally shoot in ISO100
 
If you increase your ISO you'll be able to have faster shutter speeds, but the image will be more noisy, so you'll be able to see the pixels easier. But if it's at 200/400 you could still print OK and have fast speeds.
 
Well i guess i can try 400 or even 200 if its a nicer day but not scorching!
 
cableliquid said:
just general things like support your arms into your body - lean on something if needs be. and if your not using a tripod ALWAYS keep the shutter speed above the focal length of the lens ie a 200mm lens will need 250th sec minimul
Click to expand...

learn something new everyday

i just been thinking about some of the pics i was taking of the formula renaults at croft at 300mm with shutter speed of less than 1/300th and they were crap and i did wonder why but this has cleared that up

thanks for the tip, i will bear that in mind
 
I have the worlds cheapest tri-pod "STAR-24" from ASDA, and yes its W***!
Monopod is an idea, but would like to use one before i buy...
 
gazedd said:
I have the worlds cheapest tri-pod "STAR-24" from ASDA, and yes its W***!
Monopod is an idea, but would like to use one before i buy...
Click to expand...

Did you actually watch the video I linked to? The "tripod" is a piece of string.

I would never suggest buying a cheap and cheerful tripod. I have one from about 35 years ago. It is carp. It serves well enough to hold an off camera flash gun or, at a pinch, my point and shoot when I want to photograph my proper rig, for whatever reason. My proper tripod is a whole new ballgame.

But if you are struggling with camera shake you may find the piece of string solution to be very effective, when the chips are down. It will not cost much to experiment. If you haven't got a suitable 1/4" bolt handy, to screw into the tripod mounting hole, then just tie a loop of string around the base of the lens - where it attaches to the camera body. I don't suggest you then go around yanking hard but you should at least be able to get an idea of whether the solution works for you.

By the way, the (1/focal length) guideline for shutter speed to avoid camera shake was developed for the 35mm format. As you have a 400D, with a 1.6X crop body, the rule needs amending to (1/(focal length x crop factor)). So for your lens at 250mm you would need a shutter speed of 1/(250 x 1.6) = 1/400. At smaller focal lengths you can get away with correspondingly slower shutter speeds. BUT, your lens has IS, which should buy you 2-3 stops of comfort zone, assuming your technique is OK. So even at 250mm, with IS enabled you should be able to hand hold at 1/100 with no real problem, maybe even slower. Now, if you are panning, to follow motorsport or something, things change a bit, because unless you have an IS system with a panning mode then the movement of a pan will confuse the hell out of the IS and it is probably better turned off for panning shots.
 
string in technical terms isnot a tripod as there is not 3 strings, but i guess we could have a laugh and try it...

awaits Youtube video...
 
I did put "tripod" in quotes :)

I suppose if you had three feet, you could have three pieces of string, and step on each one :D
 
I just ran off a quick test shot, to demonstrate the benefits IS can bring. This was shot handheld with a 40D and 100-400 lens at 250mm, f/8, 1/40, 100 ISO. I shot raw and sharpened and converted to jpeg in DPP with sharpening set to 3 (out of 10), so not a lot of sharpening. I was standing in the middle of the garden, with no support to lean on, but just kept my elbows tucked in and did pay attention to being steady and controlled.

Now in the real world I would not have used these settings, because 1/40 is kind of risky for a focal length that *needs* 1/400 without the IS, but it illustrates (I hope) that you can get adequately sharp photos at quite low shutter speeds. 1/40 also increases the risk of subject movement causing blur, even if you are able to steady the camera well enough, so that's another reason to keep speeds up a bit.

Full frame, resized to 20%....

20080618_180522_5808_DPP_full.JPG


100% crop....

20080618_180522_5808_DPP_crop.JPG
 
yes, that does help indeed, maybe my shots are to slow,

I know something isnt right!
 
You don't want to hear this, but learn to love using a tripod. :)
 
I don't breathe out when shooting, in fact I hold my breath just before shutter release.
 
There are so many little things you can do to improve the steadiness of your shots:
  • Make sure camera is properly supported with left hand cradling lens.
  • Tuck elbows in.
  • Squeeze shutter button slowly, don't stab at it.
  • Breathe out before shooting.
  • If standing, adopt a boxer's stance (feet the same distance apart as your shoulders, with left foot forward).
  • Find something to lean one shoulder - preferably the left one - on.
  • Find something to rest your elbows on.
  • Go down on one knee and rest left elbow on knee.
  • If you've been exercising (eg hill-walking), wait for your body to calm down before shooting.
  • Go easy on the coffee, alcohol and other stimulants.
  • Develop a resting pulse of 46.
Obviously you can't do all of these all the time, and you might not be able to do the last one at all. (My resting pulse is 46, but I have no idea why as I am a bit over-weight and not at all fit!!) But you can always think about what would be possible in any given situation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top