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Here’s How You Can Prevent The Effects of Camera Shake

Chris Gampat
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06/07/2016
2 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master Lens extra image samples (10 of 11)ISO 4001-160 sec at f - 1.4

Last Updated on 06/07/2016 by Chris Gampat

Ever hear of the reciprocal rule of shutter speeds? It’s a fundamental lesson that I genuinely don’t think enough photographers know but can prevent the effects of that fourth cup of coffee from Starbucks camera shake to an extent.

Sure, image stabilization on a sensor or in a lens can do similar, but all that they’ll end up doing is helping you out a bit. If you follow this rule and combine it with good methods of holding your camera and shooting, then you’ll get better photos with less visual effects from camera shake.

Part of this idea is illustrated in this video below.

Now let’s take this even further and really demonstrate it to you. The reciprocal rule of shutters speeds states that

In order to achieve sharp images devoid of camera shake when shooting handheld, your minimum shutter speed should be the reciprocal of your field of view.

So what does that mean? Well to start off, a reciprocal is your focal length under the number 1. To make this simple we’re going to imagine that a number of cameras with different sensors all have a proper 50mm focal length lens attached. That means:

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony A7s Mk II extra product images (2 of 4)ISO 8001-160 sec at f - 11

35mm full frame: 50mm = 1/50th of a second.

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Fujifilm XE2s product images (9 of 9)ISO 4001-60 sec at f - 2.8

APS-C (Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Fujifilm): 50mm x 1.5 for crop factor = 1/75th of a second. If your camera doesn’t have this, then round up to the highest number.

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Canon 80D product photos (5 of 15)ISO 1001-80 sec

APS-C Canon: 50mm x 1.6 = 1/80th of a second.

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Olympus (3 of 4)ISO 2001-20 sec at f - 2.8

Four Thirds: 50mm x 2 = 1/100th of a second. If your camera doesn’t have this, then round up to the highest number.

So how does image stabilization play into this? It will correct for a number of stops of light, which means you can shoot at a slower shutter speed but it doesn’t always mean that you should. Additionally, it also still means that you need to hold your camera correctly.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

See how Chris tucks his elbows into his body and keeps them tightly in? That’s how you gain stability.

Camera FV-5

In contrast, this isn’t the most stable way because his elbow is out. If you know you’re capable of getting this shot anyway though the way that Kevin totally is, then use what’s best for you in that situation.

camera shake focal length lens prevent Reciprocal Rule of Shutter Speeds
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.