Shooting stability decreased with handstrap / shoulder brace?

[felix_ing]

Hi,

 

I was just going through all of my pictures and I realized that, it seems to

me that my pictures are less sharp since attaching the handstrap to my 30D.

 

I shoot wide open, so 1.8 with the 50mm and 2.8 with the 24mm.

With the 50mm, handheld w/out handstrap, 1/30, I was able to get great

sharpness.

With the 24mm, handheld w/ handstrap, only under specific circumstances may I

achieve the same sharpness.

 

Now would you say that because I have the handstrap snugly, thus every minute

vibration is thus amplified and transferred when shooting? I've also invested

in a Manfrotto shoulder brace, and doesn't seem to improve much except I feel

like it's more stable, but the results do not show any significant difference.

 

Please advise.

 

Thanks.<div></div>

[alan_myers]

Hi Felix,

 

Hey! More power to you if you can consistently handhold a non-image stabilized 50mm lens on a 1.6X factor camera at 1/30 and get a reasonably sharp image!

 

Following the traditonal "rule" or guideline to use a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the lens' focal length, you should be using "1/80" or faster shutter (1.6X x 50mm = 80mm = 1/80).

 

This isn't a hard and fast rule by any means, some people can hold a camera steady at slower speeds than others. It's simply a guide. Also, practice and good techniques help. And, some cameras are more easily handheld at lower speeds, too.

 

1/4 to 1/30 are also speeds where mirror slap can cause enough vibration in a camera to slightly blur an image. Not much can be done about that, except to work around with a faster shutters speed. (A new mirror foam seal or "bumper" might help a little.)

 

With respect to the 24mm lens, it should be possible to handhold at 1/30 more easily than the 50mm. Approximately twice as easily, in fact. (Since 24mm x 1.6 = 38, "1/40" or faster would be the recommended speed following the above guideline... but 1/30 is pretty close and is probably often doable.)

 

Perhaps you are seeing lens softness instead of motion blur, if the 24mm is not as sharp when used wide open. I'm not familiar with that particular lens, so can't say how it performs at it's largest aperture. Try shooting with the camera on a tripod and the lens wide open, perhaps a newspaper page or some other highly detailed, flat subject. Compare to some shots made stopping down the lens a bit, to see if the lens tends to be soft wide open.

 

I use handstraps on most of my cameras, for varying reasons. I like having another means of gripping the camera. When shooting one-handed, it helps too. Also, on some cameras the strap helps prevent doors on the side of the camera from getting accidentally opened (EOS3s are a good example). I really cannot imagine how a handstrap could possibly have a negative effect on handheld sharpness. Perhaps you just aren't accustomed to using it yet.

 

I also usually use a battery grip (motor drive or winder on some cameras) a lot on my cameras because I feel the extra mass helps make it easier to hold everything steady. In the case of a vertical grip/battery pack (BG-E2 on 30D, if I recall correctly) the extra battery juice is nice to have, although the additional weight makes my arm pretty sore after a long day!

 

A "technique" to improve sharpness is to simply fire off a short series of shots, say 3 to 6, with the camera set on high speed (up to 5 fps with 30D). That way at least one frame is likely to be sharp.

 

Another possibility is autofocus missing the target you had in mind, especially shooting wide open with less depth of field. Here again, it should be more noticible with the 50mm than the 24mm, which inherently has more depth of field just due to focal length, but also because the max aperture is more than a stop smaller than the 50mm's.

 

I'm not familiar with a Manfrotto shoulder brace that's used by itself. I do have one that is an accessory for a Manfrotto monopod, though. I've used it and a monopod with 300mm lenses and longer with reasonable success. (That particular shoulder brace is plastic and a little too flexible for my tastes.)

[phyrpowr]

I'm guessing that you've simply varied your tried-&-true holding technique to one that's less steady, though using the handstrap made you think "well, it must be steadier". Possibly moved your thumb so now you're jerking the trigger..uh, stabbing the shutter..more than pressing

 

As you can perhaps tell, I found my rifle shooting technique worse with thumb over stock rather than alongside, though it "seemed" to lock it in better