Chronic Handshake

[ardnirun]

Hi All,
Got this dilemma, very affected by handshake especially when taking pictures of people in the streets...generally using the A200 with kit lens

Went to the Sony Style shop at wisma yesterday to try on some lenses
1. CZ24-70
2. Sony 18-250
3. CZ16-80

Does weight and centre of gravity helps?

on the CZ24-70...pics taken were crisp...could the 800 odd grams have assisted?

on the 18-250..i took a pic at 210mm...and it was sharp..with no evidence of camera shake..could the long length have helped in creating a stabler platform

on the 16-80...i brought shame to such a good lens...2nd time trying it in 2 days...keep getting blur images..evidence of camera shake..


i was surprised that at 210mm...there was no shake at all..

could it be me...i cant blame the lens...so it must have been me..does the extra weight or length of the lens help fight camera shake?the a200 can be considered very light

 

[simranjits]

Do you have example pics from these lenses? how bad can your handshake be?

 

[shuhry81]

Hi All,
Got this dilemma, very affected by handshake especially when taking pictures of people in the streets...generally using the A200 with kit lens

Went to the Sony Style shop at wisma yesterday to try on some lenses
1. CZ24-70
2. Sony 18-250
3. CZ16-80

Does weight and centre of gravity helps?

on the CZ24-70...pics taken were crisp...could the 800 odd grams have assisted?

on the 18-250..i took a pic at 210mm...and it was sharp..with no evidence of camera shake..could the long length have helped in creating a stabler platform

on the 16-80...i brought shame to such a good lens...2nd time trying it in 2 days...keep getting blur images..evidence of camera shake..


i was surprised that at 210mm...there was no shake at all..

could it be me...i cant blame the lens...so it must have been me..does the extra weight or length of the lens help fight camera shake?the a200 can be considered very light

dude, i really think that the camera shake thingy is just you, cameras don't "shake" anyway, what will help is reading on how to hold your camera the correct way even if centre of gravity is the issue here. indirectly, yes, a weightier lens some how does help in the balancing, but really, it's all about how you hold the camera regardless of the weight unless you're using a 400mm or some heavier lens . :sweat: Cheers! My 2 cents worth.

 

[shuhry81]

Do you have example pics from these lenses? how bad can your handshake be?

parkinson-like shakes? spasms? hehe! Kidding man! Cheers!

 

[ardnirun]

Correction...its handshake..heh..

generally my pictures tend to be soft...even at small apertures...

i know my technique is wrong somewhere..

 

[ssping83]

try a faster shutter speed? higher ISO?

it could well be justa technique problem also.. just google on related topics i'm sure there're tons of resources on breathing techniques and shoulder positions when taking photos..

p.s. what do you mean by smaller aperture? to gain shutter speed you should compensate by using a larger aperture.. unless you mean the aperture number..

 

[shuhry81]

dude, post your EXIF here and we'll tell you what happened to you okay!? i mean it, post your EXIf here. We'll help, we always do.

 

[luntut]

i will recommend you to shoot at higher shutter speeds. Exif from you pictures shows you at 1/50 sec, at f/5.6 for the last image. and the Exposure bias is set at -1EV. no reason to go into the negative right, since everything looks underexposed..

Street subjects are moving too fast, to have you shoot them sideways and still "freeze" motion. i wil recommend you to try 1/125 or more, den compensate with a bigger aperture if possible, else increase ISO or boost EV. i wun shoot at shutter priority, but at manual mode, so i get more control over my cam. but thats just me...

otherwise, try getting a bigger aperture lens, like anything with a fixed f/2.8 lens. you will be able to get faster shutter speeds.

Go out, play with settings more! then you will understand your controls more.

HTH.

 

[ardnirun]

i will recommend you to shoot at higher shutter speeds. Exif from you pictures shows you at 1/50 sec, at f/5.6 for the last image. and the Exposure bias is set at -1EV. no reason to go into the negative right, since everything looks underexposed..

Street subjects are moving too fast, to have you shoot them sideways and still "freeze" motion. i wil recommend you to try 1/125 or more, den compensate with a bigger aperture if possible, else increase ISO or boost EV. i wun shoot at shutter priority, but at manual mode, so i get more control over my cam. but thats just me...

otherwise, try getting a bigger aperture lens, like anything with a fixed f/2.8 lens. you will be able to get faster shutter speeds.

Go out, play with settings more! then you will understand your controls more.

HTH.

1st pic was taken at 1/13

i usually shoot at Aperture Priority mode..I was tracking a car when it was in shutter priority..forgot to change it back to Aperture Priority..
ahh..points to ponder about..Whats your take on ISO set to Auto?

 

[shuhry81]

i will recommend you to shoot at higher shutter speeds. Exif from you pictures shows you at 1/50 sec, at f/5.6 for the last image. and the Exposure bias is set at -1EV. no reason to go into the negative right, since everything looks underexposed..

Street subjects are moving too fast, to have you shoot them sideways and still "freeze" motion. i wil recommend you to try 1/125 or more, den compensate with a bigger aperture if possible, else increase ISO or boost EV. i wun shoot at shutter priority, but at manual mode, so i get more control over my cam. but thats just me...

otherwise, try getting a bigger aperture lens, like anything with a fixed f/2.8 lens. you will be able to get faster shutter speeds.

Go out, play with settings more! then you will understand your controls more.

HTH.

i second that bro!

 

[shuhry81]

1st pic was taken at 1/13

i usually shoot at Aperture Priority mode..I was tracking a car when it was in shutter priority..forgot to change it back to Aperture Priority..
ahh..points to ponder about..Whats your take on ISO set to Auto?

iso set to auto is fine if you're not picky about how grainy your pics can turn out to be. noise ninja saves the day!

 

[luntut]

1st pic was taken at 1/13

i usually shoot at Aperture Priority mode..I was tracking a car when it was in shutter priority..forgot to change it back to Aperture Priority..
ahh..points to ponder about..Whats your take on ISO set to Auto?

I dun really like ISO auto. there are days when i trashed the entire day's load of pictures, cos it was wayy too noisy for me. and i cant just go processing every single shot for noise when its like over 300 shots. haha.

right now for me, my rough guide for me and my D80 is:

ISO 100 for outdoor shots
ISO 200 for cloudy day shots
ISO 320 - 400 for indoor shots.
ISO 640 and more for desperate needs, and at places that i know i have no choice but to live with the noise...

I try not to go beyond that, cos i cannot stand the amount of noise D80 produces.. haha but i am too poor to upgrade right now....

 

[Rashkae]

You -1EV bias is slowing down your shutter speed. Try setting that to 0 bias. Also, the sony alpha shooters meet up all the time... If you're worried about technique, etc, just meet up and we'll give tips.

 

[ardnirun]

You -1EV bias is slowing down your shutter speed. Try setting that to 0 bias. Also, the sony alpha shooters meet up all the time... If you're worried about technique, etc, just meet up and we'll give tips.

would like to meet more Alpha shooters..abit hard to relate problems with my friends especially when they use Canons and Nikons...

 

[zac08]

Use a rough guage of 1/focal length shutter speed.

I.e. at 100mm, try to shoot at faster than 1/100.

 

[simranjits]

1st pic was taken at 1/13

i usually shoot at Aperture Priority mode..I was tracking a car when it was in shutter priority..forgot to change it back to Aperture Priority..
ahh..points to ponder about..Whats your take on ISO set to Auto?

1/13 is way too slow especially if your shaky ,at least 1/30 if you have good technique and your photographing moving objects , may need to go even faster.

 

[zac08]

When in a moving vehicle, try to use more than 1/125 if possible as you are moving, the vehicle is also shaking.

When totally stationary, you can try lower speeds if you are able to handhold well.

Else, use the old way, find a support.

 

[madmacs]

would like to meet more Alpha shooters..abit hard to relate problems with my friends especially when they use Canons and Nikons...

hehe..handshake has nothing to do with brands ;p

anyway your shutter speed of 1/13 is too slow for you to handhold. not many people have steady enough hands to shoot 1/15 and slower. i suggest you keep your shutter speed at 1/60 or faster for 50mm and wider focal lengths. start with the 1/focal length guideline and adjust from there.

 

[liarliar]

I suggest you go manual. Its as good as 'auto' when you do manual as compared to shutter or aperture priority. Watch your surrounding light or shade. Your subjects are in constant motion so when you start shooting people you can increase ISO to 200 for brigther pictures that should allow you to use higher shutter speed at least enough to freeze motion.

 

[pro_FHM]

i suspect the shot u took at 210mm was with a fast shutter speed or that the object happened to be still when u shot it. u may wanna check it out.

extra weight of a lens kicks in when u holding it for long periods like during a fashion show.
then ur hand feels tired & starts to shake. :bsmilie:

btw, not many pple understand what chronic is. ;p