At 11:01 AM -0500 8/22/07, Steve Parrott wrote:
Well... now I am back where I started... with two opposing replies!
I think the best thing to do is as another poster stated, and just
do some tests to see for SURE!
Thanks all,
Steve Parrott
There is no absolute answer. On an average day when I was in my 30's
I could handhold a not too heavy 400mm lens on a film camera at a
1/125 and get shots that I considered completely sharp 95% of the
time. This was equivalently sharp to putting the lens on a Gitzo 509
with a Sinar head and a second Gitzo 320 tripod under the camera body
and using mirror lock up. Height off the ground was about 5'6". Any
shutter speed could be used. If I didn't use the second tripod my
shots were not as sharp when I shot in the region of 1/30sec to 1/4".
If I didn't use mirror lockup nor second tripod I couldn't get as
sharp shots on the tripod at 1/125 as I could handheld. My body
damped vibrations better.
If I had just hiked 500ft. vertically quickly, was on a bit of loose
footing and there was wind, 1/1000s sec was problematic.
You have to remember that under any given circumstances, you will
shake a certain amount. Your images will smear a certain distance at
any given shutter speed. At the next higher (shorter) shutter speed,
the smear will be exactly half as long, but it's still there.
So, if a shot at 1/250sec looks definitely unsharp due to shake, the
same shot at 1/400sec will be sharper by a factor of 1.6, and the
image smear will only be 0.6 as long, but there is a good chance that
it will still look unsharp. You just have to find your own comfort
level regarding sharpness, and for some shutter speed, say 'that's
good enough'. On average.
There is absolutely no substitute for testing this yourself. I know
what I can and could do with a 400mm lens, and which 400mm lens, and
which 560mm lens.
You have to try this before and after coffee, during a walk, when
you're relaxed, when you've been exercising, in the morning, in the
evening etc.
--
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com
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