Your handheld shooting technique for cameras with a WLF to avoid shake blur?

guangong · Feb 13, 2024

Rolleiflexible said:
I agree breath is everything. But I shoot after I exhale.

Yes, exhaling should reduce tension. Holding breath has a tendency to increase tension. Tension adds to camera shake. Some cameras are easier to control with regards to unsteadyness. I have taken very sharp pictures of printed matter with my Rollei 35 using 1/4 sec. Again, a great assist with Rollei 35 is the wrist strap. A Rollei 35 without wrist strap is diffic to control.
Being loose and relaxed without tension must be cultivated 24-7 in daily life, and not simply a gimmick for releasing a shutter.
From my experience, in general the more a camera weighs, the easier to hold steady, flimsy cameras are harder to control.

Laurent · Feb 13, 2024

Rolleiflexible said:
I agree breath is everything. But I shoot after I exhale.

I'm doing the same.Quietly exhale,and trigger at some point. If the trigger is sensitive enough, I'm somewhat surprised when it does its job.

Marco Gilardetti · Feb 13, 2024

As already mentioned by others, the neckstrap is of utmost importance when shooting with a WLF handheld. This entails that the length of the neckstrap shall not be random: it has to be shortened so that with the camera strap slung around the neck and carrying (at least part of) the weight of the camera, the hands would grip the camera in a position low enough for the arms to be relaxed, but at the same time not too low as to make seeing the finder / framing the scene difficult.

The hands should overlap each other below the camera body, and the palms should lightly embrace the sides of the camera. By doing so, the random shaking of the two hands tends to compensate each other; the residual shaking will be dampened by the neck strap.

Rolleiflexible · Feb 13, 2024

FWIW I have tried and passed on most of the techniques here. A tripod is best. Lacking that, bracing against something that does not move — a tree, or a fence. Always, a shutter cable to avoid jarring the camera from pressing the shutter release.

Otherwise, I trust myself to be able to steady myself for a second. It may be my own perversity, but I often find that using a monopod or a neck strap, that might avoid movement on one axis, ends up causing me to fixate on avoiding movement on the others, and it forces me to think, and that leads to trouble. I find it easier to hold the camera, clear my mind, exhale, and take the picture. I know the OP does not believe me, but I am usually able to go down to a one-second exposure with a handheld Rolleiflex. (But I might make two or three exposures to make sure.)

Sirius Glass · Feb 13, 2024

Steven Lee said:
So... I've been practicing today.

One thing nobody mentioned, and apologies if you did and I missed it, is heartbeat. When I am using a prism finder pressed against my eye socket, supported by my hands forming a triangle against my body, it's not a problem. But when a camera is held near the waist/chest area, it easily picks up the heartbeat. I can clearly see it in the viewfinder. Yes I can pay attention to and control my breathing, but my heartbeat easily reaches 100bpm when I'm hiking and I am yet to master the art of stopping my heart for a few seconds. That seems to be the variable I am trying to isolate.

I suspect this wouldn't be a problem when wearing heavy/winter clothes, but I am the year-around t-shirt type.

Easy solution! Either just stop your heart from beating or use a prism. Your choice, obviously.

Steven Lee · Feb 13, 2024

Eugen Mezei said:
One of the reasons I cummulated TLRs is that realising them being unusable other than from a tripod, I found them a domain where they can permanently live on the tripod.

Doesn't a tripod defeat the purpose of a TLR? If I have the luxury of a tripod I will take an SLR every time. You can't even reload a Rolleiflex when it's on a tripod. On the other hand, it offers portability comparable to 35mm cameras, so I wasn't surprised when I learned about Rolleiflex as Vivian Mayer's choice for her street photography.

Sirius Glass said:
Easy solution! Either just stop your heart from beating or use a prism. Your choice, obviously.

Absolutely! The choice is obvious here, so I've enrolled into a free diving training program to lower my heartbeat to 15-20bpm.

DWThomas · Feb 13, 2024

Sirius Glass said:
just stop your heart from beating

Years ago I worked with a guy who claimed to be able to do that; said it was similar to holding your breath. At one point in his history he did field service on medical equipment and claimed to amuse himself by causing flat-line alarms on EKG gear! (I'll pass.)

BrianShaw · Feb 13, 2024

Steven Lee said:
Doesn't a tripod defeat the purpose of a TLR? If I have the luxury of a tripod I will take an SLR every time. You can't even reload a Rolleiflex when it's on a tripod.

A tripod does not defeat the purpose of any camera that is capable of being hand held. It’s an equipment choice based on needs and objectives.

reddesert · Feb 13, 2024

Steven Lee said:
Doesn't a tripod defeat the purpose of a TLR? If I have the luxury of a tripod I will take an SLR every time. You can't even reload a Rolleiflex when it's on a tripod. On the other hand, it offers portability comparable to 35mm cameras, so I wasn't surprised when I learned about Rolleiflex as Vivian Mayer's choice for her street photography.

My feeling (not that I've ever spent a lot of time testing it objectively), is that with a lighter camera with fewer moving parts, such as a TLR or rangefinder, you can get away with using a lighter tripod and head.

Of course, in the heyday of film, many people just had one system; MF SLRs in particular were essentially for professionals. If one has a TLR, and the light is low, one puts the TLR on a tripod. WLF plus tripod is also a comfortable combination if your tripod doesn't reach eye level, which many don't.

Steven Lee · Feb 14, 2024

BrianShaw said:
A tripod does not defeat the purpose of any camera that is capable of being hand held. It’s an equipment choice based on needs and objectives.

Brian, I happen to be familiar with a concept of a tripod. It is a object of poor portability that defeats the purpose of using a portable camera. In this context tripod is not a choice, but a punishment for misaligned objectives and equipment. Similar to wearing a bulletproof vest while playing water polo.

guangong · Feb 14, 2024

reddesert said:
My feeling (not that I've ever spent a lot of time testing it objectively), is that with a lighter camera with fewer moving parts, such as a TLR or rangefinder, you can get away with using a lighter tripod and head.

Of course, in the heyday of film, many people just had one system; MF SLRs in particular were essentially for professionals. If one has a TLR, and the light is low, one puts the TLR on a tripod. WLF plus tripod is also a comfortable combination if your tripod doesn't reach eye level, which many don't.

None of my rangefinder cameras would be considered lightweight. Leicas, Contax, Nikon, even small ones such as Contessa, are dense, weighty cameras. It has been my experience that heavier cameras are much easier to steady than light, flimsy cameras. A Rolleiflex F2.8 is easier to hold steady than a Minoltacord (from personal experience). A strap, as much noted already, is crucial. This is also the case with 35mm. For rf cameras I often use a wrist strap to assist steadiness.
But trying too hard to hold camera steady only produces more shake. The key is to be relaxed.
While I have a bunch of tripods from monster sized to Minox and Leitz tabletop, plus monopods, I rarely use them because of what I usually photograph.

Rolleiflexible · Feb 14, 2024

Steven Lee said:
Doesn't a tripod defeat the purpose of a TLR? If I have the luxury of a tripod I will take an SLR every time. You can't even reload a Rolleiflex when it's on a tripod.

Put the Rolleiflex on a Rolleifix quick-release plate. Problem solved.

FWIW, I shoot Rolleiflexes on and off tripods. They are well-behaved on a support. For long handheld exposures, I find Rolleiflexes easier to steady than Rolleicords -- the added weight seems to make them more steady. A larger moment of inertia?

Re portability: I have the small carbon-fiber Gitzo Mountaineer tripod and a Leofoto mini ball head. The entire rig weighs less than three pounds, but it's plenty strong for a Rolleiflex. If I'm shooting on a hike, I'll bring it along and use it as a walking stick.

BrianShaw · Feb 14, 2024

Steven Lee said:
Brian, I happen to be familiar with a concept of a tripod. It is a object of poor portability that defeats the purpose of using a portable camera. In this context tripod is not a choice, but a punishment for misaligned objectives and equipment. Similar to wearing a bulletproof vest while playing water polo.

Tripod = Punishment? TLR = Misaligned objectives? Perhaps both tripods and TLRs aren’t compatible with your photographic needs and objectives. I’ve used both effectively; together even. As you already know, finding the right tools for individual needs/style can be a challenge and when found… a blessing.

Of the 2 tools I recommended above, using a short cable release helped a lot when using any camera with waist-level finder, including SLR, handheld. But I also found that a monopod was both effective and not much of a nuisance more often than not.

Steven Lee · Feb 14, 2024

@BrianShaw I was joking

@Rolleiflexible I get your points, but I think we both would agree that a Rolleiflex is absolutely spectacular as a handheld camera. Portable, lightweight, a delight to use, equipped with beautiful and sharp optics. I can carry mine in a laptop backpack when commuting, not that different from a Leica, but I get a 6x6 negative . Totally worth investing some time to learn the handling to begin taking advantage of that Xenotar!

A tripod is a completely different way of shooting under different circumstances.

loccdor · Feb 14, 2024

I do try to shoot at the point between two heartbeats. It can be hard to do depending on your trigger.

Rolleiflexible · Feb 14, 2024

Steven Lee said:
@Rolleiflexible I get your points, but I think we both would agree that a Rolleiflex is absolutely spectacular as a handheld camera.

That's a fair assumption. :-D

Your handheld shooting technique for cameras with a WLF to avoid shake blur?

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