What's the steadiest 35mm to hand hold?

[Frank Petronio]

I've always heard that a Leica M could be handheld at a slower speed than an SLR due to the lack of mirror slap -- that's pretty obvious. But in the same vein, shouldn't a cheap little point and shoot, like a $20 Olympus Stylus, with a tiny leaf shutter be even steadier than an M with that big curtain running by? Then again, the Leica has some mass going for it versus a tiny plastic flyweight...

So of all the handheld 35mm cameras, in your practical experience, which ones are going to be the sharpest at slower handheld speeds?

 

[ferider]

Hexar AF 🙂

The Rollei 35 is pretty good too, since hefty in its tiny-ness. But 40mm not 35.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Seems intuitive, although hard to test. If the question is "no support at all" then I am going to go with something like a Konica Hexar AF, which has very little moving mass to account for at the moment of shutter release (just that little 'snik' of the between-the-lens shutter). I see that you've limited the question to 35mm, but if I can cheat a little bit and if "hand held" means "without a tripod" then I am going to go with a TLR like a Rollei with either a nice strong neck strap to pull down against or a string-pod to pull up against.

I've never really been able to get a sharp, enlarged picture from a 35mm camera hand-held with no support running slower than 1/15 sec. I recently took a bunch of pictures I liked very much with an M8 at a campfire -- but the images were not sharp, by any stretch. Fun, yes. Evocative, yes. Even successful for what they were; but not sharp.

Ben Marks

Edit: {too slow -- I guess that's +1 for the Hexar . . . }

 

[btgc]

Problem with tiny shutter P&S most of times is that designers haven't had smooth release as a goal.

I don't have original Stylus though MjuII/Epic has nice release button which now feels too easy, too long after use of vintage cameras. Another issue is motorwind - generally I find manual wind P&S cameras (e.g. Pentax PC35AF) easier to handhold. If camera is too small like XA2 it can work opposite.

Count manual FL RF's here (not that I call them a point and shoot....), Lynx 14 coming to mind as extreme example - heavy as a brick and releasing smoothly - feels like having OIS built in. But then, also Ricoh 519 and Konica III have very similar feel.

 

[micromontenegro]

Strangely enough, the Rollei 35. I sure don't know why, but I can hand hold it for longer exposures than any other camera I have tried.

 

[fbf]

i agree. rollei 35, 35s,35se that i have used are very good with longer exposure. I can handhold longer than my leica ms.

 

[Larry Manuel]

Soon after I bought my M3, I met a photojournalist at a bicycle race, and he recognized it. He had worked at the [long-defunct] Toronto Telegram, and he said he could often make good exposures at 1/5 sec.

I agree with Benjamin about the Rollei TLRs.

I'd put a vote in for Minox 35, too. Whisper-like electrical shutter. Olympus XA also. Most of it is technique; Zen-like concentration/relaxation.

 

[xayraa33]

the Olympus XA is a steady little fellow.

 

[fbf]

i agree. rollei 35, 35s,35se that i have used are very good with longer exposure. I can handhold longer than my leica ms.

 

[sevo]

The entire bunch of all computerized and motorized cameras behaves rather similar there - with microcontrollers replacing geared timing, torque controlled motors rather than triggered springs and bare force relegated to a 1mm soft release pressure, it became easy to eliminate resonant phenomena.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

What's the steadiest 35mm to hand hold?....for WHO?, you?, me?...Santa Claus?..'Shakin Stevens'?, how can it be answered? 🙄

 

[D.O'K.]

Another vote for the Rollei 35.

I've also had good results with a "bomb doors" Voigtlander Vitessa, which has fair heft and mass coupled with a discreet leaf shutter.

Regards,
D.

 

[petronius]

Dave, peace, Frank asked for our practical experiences (post 1).

I´ve been out these days with my Minox 35EL and the Rollei 35 and found no difference between them in holding longer exposures. My personal favourites are the Yashica T5 and the Konica OffRoad.

 

[sevo]

Personally I always manage to shake the Rollei 35 and other similarly tiny cameras (Petri Color, Olympus RC) by pressing the release.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

Personally I always manage to shake the Rollei 35 and other similarly tiny cameras (Petri Color, Olympus RC) by pressing the release.

exactly! - I got a lot of camera shake with an XA!, but have had sharp shots with a Nikkormat - @ 1/15th.!😱.....like I said - how can it be answered?
Dave.

 

[kuzano]

Which is why.....

Which is why.....

Personally I always manage to shake the Rollei 35 and other similarly tiny cameras (Petri Color, Olympus RC) by pressing the release.

Given a static situation, I always use a timer for some very real shutter lag. There is no way the camera moves when pressing the shutter if the shutter goes off 2 or 10 seconds later. In fact, when I use my p&s digital, I almost always set the 2 second timer and then concentrate on holding the camera still. I suspect this is the thinking behind incorporating a 2 second timer into most newer p&s digital cameras.

The mass of the small cameras does not contribute to a steady camera when pushing the shutter.

The very (too) sensitive shutter release on the XA series of Olympus clamshell cameras is actually a plus here also, since it takes no movement or effort to trip the shutter.

 

[coelacanth]

+1 for Rollei 35 (my beautiful german copy is broken right now 🙁). I've never tried, but Rollei 35 and Tom A's Softie could be a killer combo.

 

[f16sunshine]

Konica S1.6 has been my low light film pal for years now. FL leaf sutter cam. Pretty heavy body more weight than my Film M's for sure.

 

[ZeissFan]

My own thoughts:

-- Lightweight cameras are more difficult to hold than heavier cameras, regardless whether it's an SLR, point and shoot or rangefinder.

-- Shutter lag exacerbates camera shake.

-- Design makes a difference. Smooth, plastic cameras aren't easy to hold, and too much effort goes into merely gripping the camera.

-- It's very difficult to hold a digicam steady at arm's distance, even if it has shake reduction (not withstanding that you look like an idiot).

-- Rangefinders can have an advantage because the viewing screen doesn't black out, which can be shown with a simple test.

-- I think the Rollei 35 is easy to handhold, because it has enough weight and a good easy-to-grip surface that can help to counter the natural tendency of your hand to sway.

 

[btgc]

sevo, soft release does wonders to 35RC (having little stiff release button like all RF's with AE mechanism).