[Leica] Re: Sharpness and handholding (was leica report 70-180)

[George Huczek <ghuczek@sk.sympatico.ca>]

<excerpt>At 10:14 AM 15/05/99 +0200, you wrote: I think, that using Tom
Abrahamssohn's soft release it is possible to lower the shutter speed
avoiding the camera shake in case of Leica M cameras. I have shot many
pictures with 50 mm lens and shutter speed as low as 1/8 s handheld
without signs of camera shake.

</excerpt><bigger>  

</bigger>This is an issue which has been debated before on the LUG. A
person _may_ be able to handhold a standard lens at 1/8s and have no
evidence of camera shake, unless very careful scrutiny is used.  I know I
can't, unless I am braced against a wall or pillar, and even then my
chances of getting away with it are only marginal.  Perhaps I should
switch to decaf and quit smoking;)  Nevertheless, image quality will most
likely be degraded at such low shutter speeds, compared with using a
tripod or flash.

<bigger>   I use softies too, but I find that 1/8s handheld puts me into
the range where noticeable image degradation is likely to appear.  Some
LUGers suggest that at such shutter speeds one should at least try to
take several pictures, hoping that one or two are acceptably sharper.  I
try to follow this advice if the subject matter is not changing too
rapidly to prevent me from doing so.

   In several of Brian Bower's books, which I would highly recommend, he
contends that the (1 over focal length) rule for minimum handholding
speed is still insufficient for handholding.  He recommends using one or
two shutter speed settings faster to ensure that handheld pictures are
sharp.  So, 1/250s is what he tries to use as his minimum shutter speed
with a standard lens.  Of course, for the subject matter he is interested
in, mainly landscapes, acceptable sharpness is of a higher order than may
be necessary (or even desirable) in handheld existing light street
photography.  He can get away with the limited depth of field he gets
when his main subject is at a distance, and there is no strong competing
foreground matter.  You would have to look at his books and see the kind
of images he takes to recognize why he requires the sharpness he strives
for in his handheld work.

   Not wanting to add more fuel to this debate that has been played out
before, let me suggest that if you have a chance to use a higher shutter
speed than 1/8s, by whatever means necessary, then you are much more
likely to end up with sharper images, if sharp images are what you are
after.  If the slight loss in sharpness is suitable for the image, or if
you have no other choices available, then go with the slow handheld
shutter speed and hope for the best, but don't be too disappointed with
what you get.




</bigger>