Quick question about a rule of thumb for shutter speed

[PeterTheBohemian]

I was once told that, the rule of thumb for setting a shutter speed while shooting handheld is to never set the shutter speed lower than the focal length of the lens you're shooting with.

So, for example, if I'm shooting handheld with a 50mm lens, then my shutter speed can't be anything lower than 1/50. However, I shoot on a t2i, which has a crop factor of 1.7 so, for me, a 28mm lens on a t2i is pretty much a 50mm. I'm pretty sure that I can't set my shutter speed to anything lower than 1/50 (since a 28mm on a t2i is pretty much a 50mm) but can I actually go as slow as 1/30 of a second since I'm actually shooting on a 28mm?

A simple question really, but I'd rather ask the experts than just assume

[Sloseph]

as i general rule i find going below 1/60 handheld will lead to a bit of camera shake on any lense i have used

[Henry Wilt]

I think there are 2 schools of thought, one is that you just look at the focal length you are using, the other uses focal length * crop factor (i.e. 50mm * 1.6 (correct crop factor for a Canon T2i) =80 so no slower than 1/80). Of course then you have to factor in whether you have IS or not, if you do then that can reduce your shutter speed again.

It really does depend on you though, if you have a good technique and a steady hand then you may well be able to shoot lower than this. You will see some posters on here that are hand holding at very low shutter speeds but they obviously have very good technique and/or very steady hands.

[gturner]

the shake rule is really for zoom lens where errors caused by shake tends to multiply over longer focal lengths

1/60th is about the limit with all lenses, unless you have a good stabilizer built into the lens (or body for some)

[Elmo]

Rules (in this case a guideline) are made to be broken. The only correct answer is to shoot a lot of images and do a critical analysis of the images to determine what is YOUR minimum usable hand held shutter speed.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Sloseph

as i general rule i find going below 1/60 handheld will lead to a bit of camera shake on any lense i have used

Decaf.

I've shot things on a 50mm lens down to 1/15th. As long as I'm steady and use burst shooting to pick the best. Takes some extra effort, and it really depends on your subject, but it's possible.

[gturner]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Decaf.

I've shot things on a 50mm lens down to 1/15th. As long as I'm steady and use burst shooting to pick the best. Takes some extra effort, and it really depends on your subject, but it's possible.

and the subject is a dead horse

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by gturner

and the subject is a dead horse

nothing nice/productive/etc to say == say nothing.

[sk66]

The "rule of thumb" does not include crop factor (with a crop sensor you just catch *less* of the blurred image). The rule of thumb also pretty well applies to all focal lengths but does not take into consideration Image stabilization features.

How far below the rule of thumb you can go depends on technique primarily and sometimes subject. (i.e. with panning shots I can go well below rule of thumb at long focal lengths because the act of panning adds some dynamic stability)

[gturner]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

nothing nice/productive/etc to say == say nothing.

Thanks Mom, will keep that in mind for next time I feel like making a friendly jibe.