Does the 1/focal length rule apply for hand holding medium format?

I'm just getting a Mamiya C330 TLR and I wondered if this 'rule' or
guide would hold with this camera?

I wait in anticipation for the barraige of replies insisting that
I use a tripod!

Pete

--

http://www.petezilla.co.uk

In article ,
Lourens Smak writes:

Just try it. I think because of the leaf-shutter and no mirror-slap it
may be possible to hand-hold quite long exposures, but it also depends
on other things like how hard the shutter button needs to be pressed,
how comfortable it is to hold, and so on. My guess is 1/30 would be
do-able. (with standard 80mm lens)

My only experience so far is with a Lubitel, I only put one roll
through it, the lens was shot. Some photos were sharp (in the middle)
some not due to camera shake.

Cheers.


I wait in anticipation for the barraige of replies insisting that
I use a tripod!

It's simple: if it HAS to be sharp, use a tripod.

Fair comment.

--

http://www.petezilla.co.uk

simple answer is we don't know how your particular camera holding
technique works. But it is easy for you to find out. Put your camera on a
tripod and take a reference shot. Now do a few handheld shots at 1/f and
one shutter speed on either side (you may want to make multiples of the
slower shutter shots to see variations). This should tell you where you
stand with your technique, which we can't ;-)

that said, I typically find the greater mass of most MF SLR cameras means
I can hold them circa 1 stop slower than I can my lightweight 35mm SLRs
(FE..). see http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/vibration.html for related notes

hth bobm
--
************************************************** *********************
* Robert Monaghan POB 752182 Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas Tx 75275 *
********************Standard Disclaimers Apply*************************

Peter Chant wrote:

I'm just getting a Mamiya C330 TLR and I wondered if this 'rule' or
guide would hold with this camera?

Too many variables. Given that even at high speeds the difference can be
seen on some shots, (One is good, the next isn't) only you can decide. I've
found anything under 1/125 is "risky" as far as being sharp most of the
time. Then again I've gotten some good shots at 1/30, though more likely
not.


I wait in anticipation for the barraige of replies insisting that
I use a tripod!


I shoot handheld quite a bit and just accept I'm not getting the sharpness I
would with a tripod.

--

Stacey

(Peter Chant) wrote in message ...
I'm just getting a Mamiya C330 TLR and I wondered if this 'rule' or
guide would hold with this camera?

I wait in anticipation for the barraige of replies insisting that
I use a tripod!

Pete


You can probably work at double the exposure time because of the
construction of a TLR camera. There is less "nodding" when you take
the shot.

You don't HAVE to use a tripod.
If you brace the camera by using a neck strap, or press the top of the
viewfinder against your forehead while using your magnifier, it helps.
I regularly shoot with quite slow speeds. I'm just back from holidays where
I shot pictures of two people we were talking to in a restaurant, zoom lens
at about 50. Both at 1/8 second. One crystal clear, one slightly fuzzy. I
can always shoot sharp at 1/30 with 50 mm and have had a shot published shot
handheld without bracing at 1/4 second. Only you can say what you can do.

In article ,
RolandRB wrote:
(Peter Chant) wrote in message
...
I'm just getting a Mamiya C330 TLR and I wondered if this 'rule' or
guide would hold with this camera?

I wait in anticipation for the barraige of replies insisting that
I use a tripod!

Pete


You can probably work at double the exposure time because of the
construction of a TLR camera. There is less "nodding" when you take
the shot.

I think this all needs qualifying a lot. For a start, the guideline for 35mm
assumes prints of a certain size. It's resonable to assume that for a given
angle of view, you're probably going to enlarge the medium format by more,
so smaller amounts of angular displacement (camera shake) will be more
obvious. On the other hand, you get a different field of view at a given
focal length with MF. These two factors pull in opposite directions.

Peter Chant wrote:

I'm just getting a Mamiya C330 TLR and I wondered if this 'rule' or
guide would hold with this camera?

As far as rule of thumbs go, yes. It is the FL that drives the
rule. As the FL goes up, then the length of movement on the film
is greater for a small angular change.


I wait in anticipation for the barraige of replies insisting that
I use a tripod!

Yep.

Oddly, two ladies at my photoclub have recently come into the
exact same camera. One hasn't used it at all yet, and the other
has discovered that the vertical paralax is much more than she
thought it would be when doing portraits. There are lifting
devices (put between head and camera) that bring the taking lens
to the same height as the viewing lens after composition to avoid
this error.

Cheers,
Alan





--
--e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

In article ,
Alan Browne writes:

Oddly, two ladies at my photoclub have recently come into the
exact same camera. One hasn't used it at all yet, and the other
has discovered that the vertical paralax is much more than she
thought it would be when doing portraits. There are lifting
devices (put between head and camera) that bring the taking lens
to the same height as the viewing lens after composition to avoid
this error.

I've only taken a couple of frames as a test. If the paralax indicator
is anything to go by you have to be really close for it to be an
issue. The device you refer to is the paramender I beleive.

Lesson no1. Make sure that your finger is not in the way of the
shutter cocking lever when taking a shot. If you don't you wonder why
the shutter did not fire, and then it fires when you change your grip.


--

http://www.petezilla.co.uk

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:25:59 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:



Oddly, two ladies at my photoclub have recently come into the
exact same camera. One hasn't used it at all yet, and the other
has discovered that the vertical paralax is much more than she
thought it would be when doing portraits. There are lifting
devices (put between head and camera) that bring the taking lens
to the same height as the viewing lens after composition to avoid
this error.

Cheers,
Alan

Yes, it's called a paramender. I wish I had never sold my 330S. It
had the sharpest 80mm lenses I have ever used...much better than my MC
Bronica lenses and at least equal to the Hasselblad lenses I have
used.