Handheld with IBIS...what is the longest exposure

Curious to what is the longest exposure people here have been able to have a sharp shot handheld with IBIS on.



I was out taking some long exposure, and got caught by the tripod police. I was shooting for exactly 4 minutes and 17 seconds, according to the three shots I was able to take. Unfortunately, I left IBIS on and got blurry shots and want to go back again.



For my intended shot and effect, I was shooting at around 80mm, F8 for 10 seconds of a 50sii. I did a few test shots, and the best I can do is about 1/20 and still be adequately sharp. Trying with a monopod, I can't seem to do much better, IBIS on or IBIS off.



Am I asking too much of the gear, or is this within what can be achieved with shooting technique?

jerseyinHK said:

Curious to what is the longest exposure people here have been able to have a sharp shot handheld with IBIS on.

I was out taking some long exposure, and got caught by the tripod police. I was shooting for exactly 4 minutes and 17 seconds, according to the three shots I was able to take. Unfortunately, I left IBIS on and got blurry shots and want to go back again.

For my intended shot and effect, I was shooting at around 80mm, F8 for 10 seconds of a 50sii. I did a few test shots, and the best I can do is about 1/20 and still be adequately sharp. Trying with a monopod, I can't seem to do much better, IBIS on or IBIS off.

Am I asking too much of the gear, or is this within what can be achieved with shooting technique?

Click to expand...

You probably used zoom lens 45-100mm from the reading that you used around 80mm, or you used 80mm prime and your parameters changed a bit , anyway 1/20 is quite realistic , you could get little lower with newest camera. What helps is to use burst mode, that way you are increasing your luck to get one sharp.

For example the lowest I could get with 100 II camera is around 1/30 but being outside with strong winds.

Kristian



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I have managed a couple of seconds with a wide angle (24mm) lens in very still and calm conditions.

The slowest handholding shutter speed depends on the photographer as well. Also, note that the images do not suddenly go from sharp to blurry, but the chance of getting a sharp image decreases (e.g., one in three is sharp). In that case, you may take several photos, hoping one will turn out sharp.

kristian1 said:

You probably used zoom lens 45-100mm from the reading that you used around 80mm, or you used 80mm prime and your parameters changed a bit , anyway 1/20 is quite realistic , you could get little lower with newest camera. What helps is to use burst mode, that way you are increasing your luck to get one sharp.

Click to expand...

This was with a Pentax 645 80-160 lens. Thanks for the advice. It is hard to do burst mode on a long exposure. For the intended shot, I am trying to get to 5 or 10 seconds open shutter.

I’ve been doing a lot of IBIS handheld night shooting. At 30-45mm, I shoot at 1/10s (although I can sometimes pull off 1/4sec). At 63mm, I shoot at 1/15 sec. As others have said, at these shutter speeds I take a handful of shots, because there will be some blurry ones.

jerseyinHK said:

kristian1 said:

You probably used zoom lens 45-100mm from the reading that you used around 80mm, or you used 80mm prime and your parameters changed a bit , anyway 1/20 is quite realistic , you could get little lower with newest camera. What helps is to use burst mode, that way you are increasing your luck to get one sharp.

Click to expand...

This was with a Pentax 645 80-160 lens. Thanks for the advice. It is hard to do burst mode on a long exposure. For the intended shot, I am trying to get to 5 or 10 seconds open shutter.

Click to expand...

I believe that successful 5 seconds handhel shots are urban legends.

SrMi said:

I believe that successful 5 seconds handhel shots are urban legends.

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I tend to agree.

I would not imagine going above 1 second (with a lot of luck) with asmaller and lighter camera (X100vi to be precise).

And a heavier camera + heavier lens makes things even more difficult

Guy