Timothy S

Hi, my name is Tim, and this is my first time on here. I have a question about shutter speed. I have read that the common rule of thumb for handheld shutter speed is that a reasonably steady handheld shot should turn out well (if subject is fairly still) using 1/100 second with 100mm, 1/50 with 50mm, 1/200 at 200mm, and so on. Then those numbers could be adjusted as well for image stability equipment. My question is how does a cropped sensor work into that? If I have a 1.6 cropped sensor using 55mm, does that rule apply as 55mm (about 1/60+) or, since the sensor produces effectively 88mm, does the shutter speed need to be about 1/100+?

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

The sensors crop factor does not really have any effect. I can get good images with my Canon 80D and EF 28-300L lens down to 1/15 of a second, depending on subject.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Use the full-frame equivalent for the 1/focal length rule of thumb. That involves the figuring the crop factor if you’re not using a full frame body. Not a big difference between full-frame and APSC, but it’s a bigger deal for smaller formats. This was something we used in pre- VR days. Everyone is different. I have a pro friend who was a sniper in the military. Needless to say, he can hand-hold at extremely low shutter settings.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

This is the perfect situation to do controlled tests and then examine the results in your computer, so that you'll have confidence for when it really matters. Some people (comme moi) are more wobbly than others

Silverrails

If I understand myself, as I too am an "Advanced Beginner" of approximately 2.5 years, I do not believe that the "Crop Factor" has any effect on "Shutter-Speed". The "Crop Factor" has more to do with the F.O.V. of the lens, Not Shutter Speed. May I be corrected in my understanding if it is wrong or I misunderstood the issue at hand.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

For best practices, yes, the crop factor should be accounted for. So, for a Canon 1.6x crop factor, a lens at 300mm would be 300x1.6 for 480mm or the nearest speed of 1/500.

Now that said, the IS / VR enabled lenses throws some of these best practices out the window. Assume the IS provides '1-stop' support, your 1/500 best practice can be dropped down to 1/250. The best lenses from Canon, Nikon, etc, claim up to 4-stops. You have to test your own skills and lenses, but that would mean 300mm on a cropped sensor down to 1/30.

And remember, IS / VR helps for camera shake, not freezing subjects. If you have a moving subject, you might need to be at 1/500 to freeze the subject like a soccer player in action, regardless of whether you can get good results at 1/30 of a static (non moving) subject.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

It has to do with how camera shake affects images. The longer the effective focal length, the more magnification of the image, which magnifies camera movement.

If you use a 200mm lens on a full frame camera, you would use 1/200 as your minimum shutter setting.
You might have a smaller sensored camera that has the same full frame equivalent focal length using a 50 mm lens. There is no way you could hand hold that image at 1/50th sec and expect no camera movement.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Apply the 1/focal length rule to the equivalent 35mm focal length for handheld shots. The rule can be modified for VR. If your VR is good for 2 stops then you can cut the shutter speed by 1/2 (1 stop), then 1/2 again (2 stops) so 1/4 of the 1/focal length rule. THIS IS VERY DEPENDENT ON USING GOOD TECHNIQUE.

My telephotos are rated at 4 and 4.5 stops, so theoretically I could take a 1/focal length rule of 1/1000 seconds to 1/60 (give or take), and yes it does work, but when I start getting down that slow with a 600mm lens (900mm equivalent), I hold down the shutter button to take at least 1/2 dozen shots. I might mash the shutter button on the first shot and jerk a bit letting up on the shutter button, but hopefully, one more of the shots in the middle will be sharp.

What I actually do for birding is set ISO to auto between 100-1600 and take a couple of shots at the 1/focal length rule, then 3 shots at 1 stop down, 4 shots at 2 stops down, 5 shots at 3 stops down, then 6 shots at 4 stops down. With each stop ISO (noise) will go down by a stop. I hope for a sharp low ISO (noise) shot, but know I will get some good usable shots at the higher ISO settings.

srt101fan

Tim, you're a newcomer to UHH and apparently a novice. Get used to getting a mixed bag of comments here. CHG_CANON and Linda have given you direct, on target answers. You can always rely on them for good advice. Well, CHG goes of the rails sometimes but you'll be able to tell when he does....😊

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

It is the Field of View that affects how high a shutter speed is recommended to avoid camera motion. The narrower the FOV the more the camera motion is magnified . So the crop factor does make a difference and it's the equivalent focal length that needs to be considered.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

In my opinion and also from what I have read, pixel density does make a difference, lens shake is a bigger issue with a 50mp sensor than it is a 20mp sensor if both sensors are the same size, his 80D is more like a 5DSR than it is like a 5DIII and he does have to be more careful with shutter speeds.

If he is using lenses with IS then of course he can use slower shutter speeds. It is a good rule of thumb to take the old rule and multiply the crop factor.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The sensor size absolutely makes a difference, and you are correct, as far as rules of thumb go - a 55 mm lens on a crop sensor would require a shorter shutter speed. Also, you will need a shorter speed as you get closer, since magnification plays a factor as well. Optical stabilization has changed a lot of this. The image below is with a 600mm lens at minimum focus distance and a full frame camera. But most shooters will suggest that the reciprocal of double the focal length is safer with the newer high-res cameras.

You can read about how effective focal length and field of view impacts hand holding shutter speeds.

https://photographylife.com/what-is-reciprocal-rule-in-photography

https://www.lensartavenue.com/reciprocal-rule-in-photography/

This is a bit of unnecessary math, but it does take into consideration effective focal length:

https://www.pointsinfocus.com/learning/cameras-lenses/hand-holding-rule-for-digital-cameras/

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Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You can believe what you want, but in practice it does make a difference.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

All the available literature says you are not correct. You are probably using optical stabilization to shoot your 300mm at 1.15 sec. See my post and links above.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

There is way more to it than this formula. How steady are you as a person? Are you calm or stressed? Did you just walk up a hill? Is the wind blowing? When was your last cup of coffee? And on and on. Sometimes with lens X I can do an eighth of a second. Sometimes I’m lucky if I’m steady at 250th. I’ve found a “steady formula” to be pretty worthless.
...Cam