Will flash freeze camera shake

<p>Will flash freeze camera shake when dragging the shutter?</p>

<p>For instance when shooting a 100mm lens, non-stabilized at 1/15 sec.</p>

<p>No. You will get a sharp image of the subject hit by the flash, but any camera shake on objects in the background (the ones that are benefitting from dragging the shutter that would otherwise fade off into blackness) will still be there. You may also a blurry after-image of the main subject as well.</p>

<p>It depends on how much of the light is being provided by the flash (vs. the ambient light), and how long the flash duration is. Some strobes, for example, spend a surprisingly long time dumping out all of their light when you have them at full power - enough to clearly show subject or camera movement under some circumstances. <br /><br />Shorter duration flash bursts can certainly provide crisp captures of subjects when you're dragging the shutter, but someone moving (say, a dancer) with enough ambient light will still show some blur or double-edged ghosting, just like enough ambient can show camera motion.</p>

<p>So dragging the shutter is only viable for wide angle and stabilized lenses. Correct?</p>

<p>No, dragging the shutter is good for all sorts of things - it depends on the sort of variables mentioned above. How much movement are we talking about on the part of the subject? On the part of the camera? How much ambient light is falling on which part of the scene, and at what distances? Meaning, you could have a background that's well lit by ambient light, but which is rather out of focus because of the lens aperture ... and an foregroudn (say, a person) that is mostly lit (and thus frozen) by the flash. That's a completely different situation than a scene that's almost entirely lit by ambient light, and you're just filling some shadows with the flash.<br /><br />Your technique is important, to. I can hold a camera pretty steadily at 1/15th (it's one of the reasons I like larger, heavier camera bodies and lenses - they have inertia). But don't forget that even wide angle lenses are often used to shoot objects that are quite close to the camera, and thus still very subject to camera or subject motion. Are you shooting <em>subjects</em> that might be moving, or are you only worried about camera movement?</p>

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<p>Are you shooting <em>subjects</em> that might be moving, or are you only worried about camera movement?</p>

 

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<p>Both.</p>

<p>I realized the flash will freeze subject movement and wondered if it would also freeze camera shake. Apparently not.</p>

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<p>Harry: It <em>will</em> freeze camera shake if the flash duration is just as short as a shutter speed that you find to suitably reduce camera shake. In other words, you need to find out what shutter speed hides the camera shake you're worried about (say, 1/500th?) and then make sure that your flash's output is just as fast. Which brings us back to power levels, the type of flash you're using, etc. In some situations, your flash output might only last 1/8000th of a second, which is far more freeeze-inducing that your 1/500th shutter speed. But if most of light is ambient, you'll subject AND camera blur, because the flash isn't the only thing lighting the scene.<br /><br />If the ambient light isn't all that strong, and your flash duration is short enough, sure, it will freeze subject <em>and</em> camera movement. You'll have to check the specs on your flash to see just how long the flash duration is when it's used at various power levels. Or, of course, just do some empirical tests so you can check it against your own technique in different lighting conditions. That's always the best way to get to know how it will behave.</p>

<p>I don't carry super teles, so 1/500" is fast enough for me to freeze.<br>

Thank you.</p>

<p>As mentioned by Matt...depends on ambient.<br>

If you take a photo at 1/15 wherever you are and whatever ISO/Fstop you want, and you see a full photo, you'll get blur even w/ the flash.</p>