And secondly, not to be underestimated, the psychological and psychoacoustic (very visceral, instinctive behavior) anticipation and exertion of the pushing of the button, that also in its travel initiates the triggering of the mirror.
The little click of only a leaf shutter is a much more relaxed experience.
Sure you can do it. But there is luck involved too.
Depending on whether you release the shutter at just the right moment between heartbeats and breaths.
Tightening up the body or relaxing will not help.
Often it will make things worse.
What I’m talking about is as hard to control consciously as heartbeat and shivers when tickled.
IE you have to be an Indian guru dedicating your life to it.
A camera is in some ways even more critical than a gun, where whether you hit one millimeter to the left or right doesn’t matter.
A millimeter movement over the target with a 250mm Hasselblad lens is quite a lot of blur.
Sure snipers and Indian gurus might have something in common. But on your feet, out and about, unless you’re birdwatching from a hunters nest, it will be hard to reach the right kind of zen, to pull off 1/15th with a 250.Snipers train to do just that: break the trigger, not just at a particular point in the breathing cycle, but literally between heartbeats. And they're aiming at targets far enough away that their accuracy is far more critical than that of a 'Blad with 250mm mounted. For a sniper, half a mile is routine shooting, and they're expected to be able to hit a target the size of a pie plate at that distance, better than 9 shots in 10 ("One shot, one kill" is their motto). While compensating wind, temperature (affects powder reactivity, hence bullet velocity), rifling drift (the spin on the bullet makes it move to one side as it falls due to gravity), and anticipating possible target movement. You may rest assured that sniper-level accuracy completely blows away anything a Hasselblad user is likely to need.
My point, however, was about flinch: train out flinch, and you've removed the biggest factor that would cause you to limit yourself to shutter speed of 2x focal length. There isn't much luck involved when I hold my 35mm SLR or Kiev 4 down to 1/15 or even slower -- it's a matter of technique, knowing my limits, and being willing to shoot a second frame as insurance, knowing it's likely to work only every second or third try when I'm that slow -- but I can do half the focal length with any 35mm, routinely, better than 9 times in 10. It's a little harder with a heavier camera, because there's more tension on the muscles (= more tremor), but if the grip is good and the body position is conducive, the camera weight (= inertia) can actually help, too.
Others have mentioned the Mamiya 7. I've had frequent success hand-holding at 1/15th, and occasionally 1/8th, with the 80mm and shorter lenses. The 150mm is more difficult, and I find 1/15th a real stretch with that lens though 1/30th is OK. I usually expose two or three frames as insurance when the light requires such low speeds.
One thing that helps me a lot is that I've been involved in target shooting for quite a long time. I'm not sniper-trained as Donald discussed, but I know how to still my mind (keeping the mind quiet is very helpful), stabilize my body, and move my shutter finger in isolation. It can be learned, and it's not hard. And I always work to optimize my body position and the way I'm holding the camera to give the least movement.
+1As for holding camera and tripping a shutter. Like using a gun, can’t muscle either one and hit the target. Nor a musical instrument.
I can shoot my Hasselblad 501c handheld at 1/60 and even at 1/30 and get remarkable results. With the 250mm lens I can get away with you handheld.
Well, at least you’re not humblebragging.There is no way for me to handhold the 500mm lens with the Hasselblad so a tripod is necessary for that lens. Even more so for that lens with the 2X extender.
There's one medium format camera I would definitely say is difficult to hand-hold: a Fuji GX680. That thing is a beast- all the burdens of a 4x5 without all the benefits. Yes, it offers a little bit of movement, but only on the front standard. And it's heavier than many 4x5's, without the square inches of film.
I was wondering if anyone was going to bring up that beast.
One advantage of it over 4X5 , for me anyways, is that I can scan the negs on my Cool scan 8000 and I have no flatbed scanner (yet) for LF.
There is no way for me to handhold the 500mm lens with the Hasselblad so a tripod is necessary for that lens. Even more so for that lens with the 2X extender.
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