[Leica] Camera shake

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

Herbert Kanner writes:
"Could it be the increase in the effect of camera shake with the longer 
lens?  I would have thought that the inertia from the extra weight of 
the lens would have compensated. Yesterday, wondering if the lens had 
mysteriously lost its calibration, I did a hand-held test at 12, 50, 
and essentially infinity feet and the pictures were needle sharp. 
However, to be critical, I did the test at f/2, so I got pretty high 
shutter speeds."
 - - - - -
I used to shoot sports with a 135mm lens on a Leica M3 and often 
experienced camera motion blur even though I adhered to the rule of 
thumb of never using a shutter speed below 1/focal length. Finally I 
taped a little laser pointer to the end of the lens and stood in a 
fairly dark room. I aimed at a wall about 20 feet away. Even though I 
tried to keep the camera as steady as I could the dot of light danced 
around as if it was having a spastic fit. I found that it was almost 
impossible for me to keep the laser dot steady.

When I was in the Army during the Korean War one of the non-coms in my 
outfit had been on the Army rifle team. He claimed that shooters did 
drastic things to minimize body shake, including taking drugs or a few 
drinks of booze before a match, holding their breath before pulling the 
trigger, or practicing Zenlike meditation to slow their heart beats. 
Some of the best could actually stop their hearts for a second or two 
before firing the shot.

All of these might apply to taking sharp pictures at slow shutter 
speeds. Don't try to stop your heartbeat but a couple of stiff drinks 
wouldn't hurt.

Larry Z