[deludel]

In the spirit of still learning , I have this question to ask ..

What are your suggestions for the "min/max" shutter speed that works on the k10/kit lens without needing a tripod? I've been practicing with TV & AV modes (am more comfortable so far in AV) and have noticed that when I am in AV mode, the shutter speed often causes a blurry picture .. from what I know so far, it's due to a low lighting/long shutter speed setting.

Does anyone have any "best practices" for what speeds work best to avoid the blur ... assuming there is no tripod?

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Last edited by deludel; 02-10-2008 at 11:08 AM. Reason: typo

[Canada_Rockies]

Shutter speeds are dependent upon the focal length of the lens you are using, how steady you are and how much external motion there is.

The old rule of thumb is 1/focal length hand held. With the SR on, the k10d should be able to give you two more stops. For example, a 200 mm lens can be hand held by most people at 1/200 second. With SR turned on, most people will be able to hand hold at 1/50 second.

With practice, images can be taken at lower speeds.

[Rusty]

Actually you should apply the formula to the 35mm equivalent focal length. So for a 200mm lens it would be 200 x 1.5 = 300. Without shake reduction you would use 1/300. With shake reduction I use 1/125 to give me a margin of safety. You may be able to go lower depending on how steady your hands are.

Rusty

[Canada_Rockies]

Actually you should apply the formula to the 35mm equivalent focal length. So for a 200mm lens it would be 200 x 1.5 = 300. Without shake reduction you would use 1/300. With shake reduction I use 1/125 to give me a margin of safety. You may be able to go lower depending on how steady your hands are.

Rusty

Thanks, Rusty. I have always been able to hand hold at 1/2 the focal length on 35mm, so I can hand hold quite well at really slow speeds with SR turned on.

[deludel]

The old rule of thumb is 1/focal length hand held. With the SR on, the k10d should be able to give you two more stops. For example, a 200 mm lens can be hand held by most people at 1/200 second. With SR turned on, most people will be able to hand hold at 1/50 second.

Great info, and I'm happy to say I understand!

This brings up a question about Shake Reduction .. one of the selling features of the K10 is the image stabilization. That being said, I see the SR lever on the back of the camera .. is that what you are referring to? When would anyone ever set that to "off"?

[aegisphan]

That would be when you use a tripod. SR would cause the image less sharp you shoot on a tripod.

Great info, and I'm happy to say I understand!

This brings up a question about Shake Reduction .. one of the selling features of the K10 is the image stabilization. That being said, I see the SR lever on the back of the camera .. is that what you are referring to? When would anyone ever set that to "off"?

[Mechan1k]

Also as a feature ... when selecting the timer or remote shutter release feature ... SR is automatically turned off for this reason.

[Gooshin]

Actually you should apply the formula to the 35mm equivalent focal length. So for a 200mm lens it would be 200 x 1.5 = 300. Without shake reduction you would use 1/300. With shake reduction I use 1/125 to give me a margin of safety. You may be able to go lower depending on how steady your hands are.

Rusty

you're not looking any further with a 200mm on a cropped sensor, you just have the field of view of a 300mm at the same distance of a 200mm.....

so i disagree with your Dslr conversion.

shake is a function of viewing distance (or i guess the hyperfocal location), not field of view.

[mattdm]

you're not looking any further with a 200mm on a cropped sensor, you just have the field of view of a 300mm at the same distance of a 200mm.....

so i disagree with your Dslr conversion.

shake is a function of viewing distance (or i guess the hyperfocal location), not field of view.

But blur is a function of view/print size. If you take an image from a 1.5× crop camera and print it at the same size as a 35mm frame image, you'll have scaled it up 1.5× more — which roughly means blur is 1.5× more visible. That's why you have to convert the rule of thumb.

If you're making big prints (or are obsessed with sharpness), you'll find the rule of thumb isn't strict enough anyway. Plus, while the SR can buy you 2 stops, that's more of an average than a fixed improvement: sometimes it seems to do nothing at all and sometimes it gets you amazing results at really long shutter speeds. So, if you factor these things together, one approach is to just count the possible improvement for SR as 1.5 stops and use the old rule of thumb with no conversion.

[Gooshin]

you'll have scaled it up 1.5× more — which roughly means blur is 1.5× more visible

now that makes sense.

[jgredline]

But blur is a function of view/print size. If you take an image from a 1.5× crop camera and print it at the same size as a 35mm frame image, you'll have scaled it up 1.5× more — which roughly means blur is 1.5× more visible. That's why you have to convert the rule of thumb.

If you're making big prints (or are obsessed with sharpness), you'll find the rule of thumb isn't strict enough anyway. Plus, while the SR can buy you 2 stops, that's more of an average than a fixed improvement: sometimes it seems to do nothing at all and sometimes it gets you amazing results at really long shutter speeds. So, if you factor these things together, one approach is to just count the possible improvement for SR as 1.5 stops and use the old rule of thumb with no conversion.

Great post!!!!