Hand holding zoom lenses

[KJ_North]

Well being 64 (Almost) and trying to handhold a zoom lens at 800mm is a challenge to say the least. My mindset (as a amateur photographer) was to follow the general rule (A general rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed that is at least double the focal length of the lens to avoid motion blur due to camera shake) . That's great if your in bright sunshine with a great aperture. The Canon RF200-800 aperture of F6.3-9 is not the best, so when i would follow the rule and use shutter speeds closer to 1/2000 I end up with ISO in the 5000-8000 range when walking around trees to shoot birds etc. Sure I can process the photo and denoise it, but as many know the more noise the more lost detail.

So today I said gambled and trusted the lens. So I started lowing the speed 1/2000 down to 1/1000 eventually I got down to 1/320. ISO finally dropped down to 1250. Sure 100 ISO would be great but that wasn't about to happen. BUT although many photos had some camera shake in them many did not. Finally I think I am starting to slow the process down and think more when shooting. I can see the difference in detail you start to get the more you can lower that ISO down. Again nothing that most on here don't already know but thought I would share.

Here is a sample handheld at 1/320 with 800 zoom and cropped in over 50%. Good enough for me.

 

[Jeff15]

Looks good to me ...

 

[Overread]

Great looking shot, esp at such a slow speed for this type and at a big crop too!

Don't forget your subject moves as well.
1/320sec is risky not just because you have increased chance of handshake at 800mm, but also because it means if your subject moves you've more chance of them blurring from their own motions.

It's always a give and take situation and a balance of all the elements in the moment with photography. You are right there are certainly good ways to slow down and take better photos; and ways to brace yourself to improve your handholding. You general level of fitness; the weight of the system; how you stand; if you lean on anything; crouching down; your action when pressing the shutter; your breathing.

At the same time learning to use noise reduction software can also mean that you can go higher and not fear the higher ISOs too much. Indeed modern cameras are constantly pushing the higher ISO viability (recently went from a 7D to an R6MII and the difference in years of technology is insane!)

 

[KJ_North]

Your absolutely correct about the birds especially moving around. Hence lots of shots had some motion blur as they dart their head around etc. But It was worth the trade off to try and get more detail.

I can absolutely pull noise out from a shot and even at ISO 25,600 it is more than usable, BUT then it also looses considerable detail looking much softer once your finished. Sometimes that look is more than okay other times you are looking for more crispness in the detail.

For me it was a great day where I actually THOUGHT more and tested different speeds while shooting rather than getting home and going geezus why didnt I try something LOL.