Posted by Alan LaFaver on March 12, 2014 at 11:37 AM
Nate brought this situation up in a post I had on gear forum, so I'm curious.....specifically for birds, sitting, perched, etc....
I'm going to buy the Nikon AF-S 300mm f/4 lens soon. Will use it for in flight as well as perched shots. Will be handheld often, when not on my Manfrotto tripod w/ball head. Camera is D7000.
I know the old advice is 'not less than 1/focal length for min. shutter speed, handheld'.
For all you experienced folk, is 1/focal length generally good enough (non-VR lens) for handheld shots of birds on perch/sitting? Is this your 'general' rule? If not, what is your experience? Also, how slow can you normally go with VR, say on a 70-200mm or similar?
I have very limited birding experience, but I would think one couldn't get a good shot under 1/200s most times anyway, given the jerky, fast movements of birds, especially small ones.
Of course, I'd be at 1/300s with the 300mm prime, if following the 'rule'.
I've searched the net and find all kinds of answers. Some of 'em pretty ridiculous.
I want to know what all you in this forum think. I trust you more.
I guess you folks with the 300 f/4 would be my best source. Wish Ronnie G. was still with us! I know he used that lens for years and would have good advice.
Almost nothing will improve the sharpness of your photographs better than a good tripod. For a 300 f4, you don't need a gimbal mount. I am habituated to my tripod and only hand hold for birds in flight.
Having said that, the reciprocal of the focal length rule of thumb is a pretty good one. shoot faster if you can. In good light, shooting faster than 1/300 should not be a problem. Today's cameras will allow you to use a higher ISO to get the shutter speed you need. Good hand-holding technique can let you shoot a little slower. Some people are just better at hand-holding than others. Practice. Fasten a laser pointer to your lens and see how still you can hold the dot still at the distance you'll be shooting.
Buck's suggestion to see how steady you can keep a laser pointer is s good one. When I was younger, I could hand hold a 300 down to 1/100 and be sharp most of the time. Those years are long gone. I need 1/500 now. The D7000 should have a native iso of 200, but will likely be clean at 400 and 800. Don't be afraid to push the iso to get more speed than you think you might need. You can always deal with some noise, but you can't sharpen an out of focus shot.
Posted by Richard Ditch on April 2, 2014 at 10:36 PM
Buck gives excellent advice. As much of a pain a tripod can be I use it 100% of the time for anything over 300mm. I only have VR on one lens (the 70-300) and don't find it of much value - I even feel that it delays me as it operates when I really want the shutter to fire when I press the release.
Every person is different in how steady they can be, and practice can help a lot. Some people here at NPN hand hold 500mm and 600mm even with 1.4x converters and get good results.
I agree with Rick as well: a bit more noise from a higher ISO is much better than a low noise image that isn't sharp from camera or subject motion.
Discussion
5 repliesI'm going to buy the Nikon AF-S 300mm f/4 lens soon. Will use it for in flight as well as perched shots. Will be handheld often, when not on my Manfrotto tripod w/ball head. Camera is D7000.
I know the old advice is 'not less than 1/focal length for min. shutter speed, handheld'.
For all you experienced folk, is 1/focal length generally good enough (non-VR lens) for handheld shots of birds on perch/sitting? Is this your 'general' rule? If not, what is your experience? Also, how slow can you normally go with VR, say on a 70-200mm or similar?
I have very limited birding experience, but I would think one couldn't get a good shot under 1/200s most times anyway, given the jerky, fast movements of birds, especially small ones.
Of course, I'd be at 1/300s with the 300mm prime, if following the 'rule'.
I've searched the net and find all kinds of answers. Some of 'em pretty ridiculous.
I want to know what all you in this forum think. I trust you more.
I guess you folks with the 300 f/4 would be my best source. Wish Ronnie G. was still with us! I know he used that lens for years and would have good advice.
Thanks,
Al
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=up&pi=RONNIEGAUBERT&ns=1&CGISESSID=767171abc44d760b73636586ce66d598&u=6003
Having said that, the reciprocal of the focal length rule of thumb is a pretty good one. shoot faster if you can. In good light, shooting faster than 1/300 should not be a problem. Today's cameras will allow you to use a higher ISO to get the shutter speed you need. Good hand-holding technique can let you shoot a little slower. Some people are just better at hand-holding than others. Practice. Fasten a laser pointer to your lens and see how still you can hold the dot still at the distance you'll be shooting.
Every person is different in how steady they can be, and practice can help a lot. Some people here at NPN hand hold 500mm and 600mm even with 1.4x converters and get good results.
I agree with Rick as well: a bit more noise from a higher ISO is much better than a low noise image that isn't sharp from camera or subject motion.