handling long tele lenses

[asaroha]

Hi all,

I just received my 180mm f/2.8 this morning and after playing with it a bit (in front of the mirror !!) I realised that I can't seem to hold it steady enough, like when I'm looking through the viewfinder I can see it jerking around. Will have to go out shooting tomorrow to check if I can hold it steady enough for a sharp shot, but it's a bit worrying.

OK, so I know I'm not a really fit guy, but this is supposed to be quite a light lens (700ish g).

Is there supposed to be some special way of handling tele lenses or am I missing something here ?

[moggy]

I also have this lens and I find it helps to keep the elbows tucked in, one foot in front of the other and try to regulate your breathing. If you think this lens is difficult to hold try the 80-200 f2.8!

[BBJ]

Whimps, Cmon on fella's you have not been eating your weeties have you now.LOL I have my D2x and 70-200 around my neck most of the day and all shots hand held and have even used my 300m F2.8 at 2.95 kilo just the lens hand held at times.
Sorry couldn't help myself.
BBJ

[adam]

Whimps, Cmon on fella's you have not been eating your weeties have you now.LOL I have my D2x and 70-200 around my neck most of the day and all shots hand held and have even used my 300m F2.8 at 2.95 kilo just the lens hand held at times.
Sorry couldn't help myself.
BBJ

does your neck hurt? do you have a hunch? hee-hee

[xorl]

moggy's tips are good. See http://www.moosepeterson.com/techtips/shortlens.html for more info. What shutter speed are you using?

[Yi-P]

I've had good results from my 300 f4 lens handheld at 1/125.

The trick is as mentioned above, find a comfortable stand, tuck everything in and may yourself a single support. That is your arms, eye/face is stuck on the camera/lens while your legs should be spread open for greater support, putting your left foot in front and slightly bending your knees will help alot.


On the breathing side, use the military sniper's technique, inhale and exhale deeply before the shots. Then take a deeeeep breath in, exhale slowly and snap the trigger... I mean, the shutter

Practice, practice and practice...
I now have to familiarise myself with a 300 f/4 + 1.4x TC handholding technique, which seems really hard to impossible at bad lights, oh well, me needs practice.

[gstark]

Basic camera holding technique is paramount here.

Right hand, of course, on the grip, mwith your index finger resting on the shutter button.

Left hand is the key, and should ALWAYS be cupped under the lens, holding the zoom ring where available. Your left thumb should be pointing our towards your left, and if your left hand is even touching the camera body, you've got it wrong.

Elbows tucked in for support, feet spread moderately apart and one slightly in front of the other.

If you have something to lean against, great.

Or a support of some sort in front of you, you can always rest your elbows on that.

But they're the basics, and be very observant of how your left hand is being used.

As mentioned above, breathing comes into play as you prepare to shoot, and when you shoot, you squeeze the shutter, you don't press it.

Of course, VR helps too, if you have it.

Or a tripod.

Or a monopod.

[Reschsmooth]

My only suggestion would be check your shutter speed - the rule of thumb, as I understand it, is to use a shutter speed no slower than the reciprocal of the focal length (adjusted for the 1.5x crop), meaning don't hand hold with a shutter speed slower than 1/270th (or thereabouts). You maybe able to get away with a slower shutter speed using the great advice the others have provided.

As always, I am happy to be proven or demonstrated to be wrong

P

[stubbsy]

My hands shake at the best of times. When I have ANY lens in use I see the image wander like you say and like you it's worse with the heavy lenses (eg 70-200VR). That said I use the hand holding techniques tocuhed on here already. While I DO get blurry shots the majority are quite sharp.

Bottom line - don't obsess about movement you see in the viewfinder because generally the shutter speed you would be using makes tiny movement irrelevant provided you use good handling techniques.

[greencardigan]

I read somewhere once of a handholding technique where your left hand holds your right shoulder and your lens rests on your arm near your elbow.

Of course it's hard to zoom/manual focus in this position but I've had some success using this method using long lenses. 70-200 + TC.

[moggy]

I might also add that having recently bought a Lowepro Slingshot 200 I find that when I swivel it round to the front it rests on my big gut and provides quite a stable platform. It rides up high enough that I can rest my elbows on it.

[Glen]

I read somewhere once of a handholding technique where your left hand holds your right shoulder and your lens rests on your arm near your elbow.

Of course it's hard to zoom/manual focus in this position but I've had some success using this method using long lenses. 70-200 + TC.

Brad, that technique is a favourite of Ron Resnick, a sometime visitor to our forum. It is described quite extensively in his books. Here is the link to his site: http://www.digital-images.net/

[sheepie]

Some interesting techniques of members' of this forum can be found in this thread: http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=19694

Compare some of these styles with Gary's description above and you'll see a reasonable match (ok - there's a few that don't, but most follow the general principle fairly well).

Breathing is all important, especially when you are talking low shutter speeds. I also find I sometimes switch to squeezing the shutter with my middle finger (the long one, or the rude one if it's by itself ) - seems to assist at the slower speeds. Elbows in is also important.

As for something to rest on, I generally have my belly

[sirhc55]

Try the zimmer frame method. Attach a counter balanced pulley to the frame and to this the camera and attached 2000mm lens. Remember to tie sand bags to the frame so that it does not run away, especially when on a slope. With this method you are assured of rock steady shots until you reach the age of 25

Other than that, follow Gary’s method

[asaroha]

Wow, thanks for all the great responses, all were very helpful. I'll play around with the lens using some of the techniques described here and see how I go.

[ABG]

You may also like to look at this thread for some alternative techniques.

[whiz]

My only suggestion would be check your shutter speed - the rule of thumb, as I understand it, is to use a shutter speed no slower than the reciprocal of the focal length (adjusted for the 1.5x crop), meaning don't hand hold with a shutter speed slower than 1/270th (or thereabouts).

P

I wouldn't bother adjusting for the 1.5 crop factor. It's only relevant when printing photos. If you think of it as being exactly the same as a 35mm film camera, but only capturing the center of what you see.

For demonstration purposes:
If I put my 50mm lens on my F70 (yeah, don't laugh) and look through it with both eyes open, I can adjust the camera so that everything is lined up perfectly. There is no perceptable size difference.
When I put the same lens on my D200, I can do exactly the same thing.
Being that the angular difference in wobbling lenses is exactly zero, you shouldn't bother putting in a compensation factor.

I find that this "rule of thumb" is so way out of whack for most people that it's not even worth bothering about.
See what you can do with the gear that you've got.

I present for evidence some photos taken on Tuesday while trying out a 500mm reflex on the D200.
Check the exposure times on the Properties link.
http://www.glide.dyndns.org/gallery/vie ... incetheD70