kat.hayes said:
I am still new to all of this, and want to shoot handheld with a 5DM3. I have a 24-70mm, 100-400mm, and a 70-200mm.
To shoot without a tripod and without any handheld blur, can I always use the shutter speed rule of 1/70 for the 24-70mm, 1/400 for the 100-400mm, and 1/200 for the 70-200mm? OR is there anything else involved with this?
Thanks.
Yes, you are good with that. It is known to be the handshake rule.
However, I strongly suggest to get away from that rule as soon as you are comfortable in breaking it.
Your lenses are stabilized (I am guessing) and you paid more for that IS. Following that rule and having IS lens you may end up sacrificing the quality of your photos.
My suggestion is to shoot, shoot, shoot until you know the values you are comfortable with.
Examples:
When deciding what shutter speed to use, my approach is below.
1 - is the subject moving? yes - walking human: 1/320th sec, running human: 1/400th sec, hockey player: 1/800th sec, flying volleyball 1/2000th sec. These are examples and approximate but shows you that the most important factor for your shutter speed is the speed of the photographed subject and that has nothing to do with focal length of the lens.
2 - non-moving subject: what is the acceptable highest ISO? at that ISO and requested F-stop what is the maximum shutter speed? That is how I determine my shutter speed.
If that shutter speed is very low, then I choose my lens according to its IS not sharpness. For example, 100mm focal length can be shot on an 85mm 1.2, 24-70mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm, 100mm macro. I would grab the 24-70 (I have the F4 version which is a semi-macro) and then crop in post; or the 100mm macro. I would stay away from the 85 because it doesn't have IS.
What I am saying is that wanting to respect the handshake rule any time may force you to increase your ISO unnecessarily.
After I choose my lens and still not good enough then I apply different techniques to help the IS. Example (as someone stated above); you lean on a tree, shoot multiple times, add flash, etc.
On my 100-400mm II, I can shoot a non moving subject at 1/25th sec handheld, but I have to lean on something hold my breath and shoot multiple times then choose the best one.