TLR, Handheld Speeds Yashica 124G

elmer3.5

elmer3.5

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Hi, just got my first MF camera, and would like to know on your experience which is the slowest speed you achieve with a yashicamat 124 handheld.
I know they saw mustn´t be below 1/100 but as i know nothnig about MF perhaps it might be less than that.
Happy to hear your opinions.

Bye!

PD: hope to post a few shots soon!
 
Plenty get away with surprisingly long exposures on TLRs, because the lenses are usually the equivalent of 40-45mm on 35mm; the pics are enlarged less for a given image size; and the cameras are more massive and arguably easier to hold still. I've never worried about 1/30, unless I'm tired/ hungry/ have been running/ or am otherwise shaky, and will go to 1/15 without too much expectation of camera shake. Plenty swore by 1/10 and even 1/5 in the 50s and earlier.

Cheers,

R.
 
If you search this and other forums you'll find plenty of threads where folks brag, errrr.... discuss, how slow they can hand-hold a camera. Most of these threads have the appearance of a contest to determine who is most macho.

Personally I agree with the previous post that it really depends on a lot of things, and most have to do with the induvidual and the situation. Try handholding a TLR at 1/400 after a couple of double-shots of espresso... it'll be blurry!

One thing that helped me with a TLR (at all speeds, not just the slow ones) was the use of a monopod.
 
Dear Ed,

REAL MEN don't drink espresso...

(Sorry, couldn't resist. It's about as much use as the kind of pissing contest you describe -- which, as you imply, is pretty pointless).

There is however a small amount of research, as far as I recall, which indicates that modest amounts of the Demon Drink steady the hands -- and not just in hopeless alcoholics. But I couldn't quote chapter and verse, and I know from personal experience that large amounts of the Demon Drink have the opposite effect.

Cheers,

R.
 
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Normally handheld i try to shoot at 1/100 or faster. With a TLR in a case and a neckstrap which is held thight or leaning against a solid object you maybe could go a bit slower. When you want pure sharpness however nothing beats a solid tripod and a cable release.
 
I generally find I can shoot my Autocord (so another TLR) down to 1/15th. I don't get the very sharpest picture, but still a very usable one.
 
If I'm shooting really slow, I just let the camera hang from the neck strap, leaning against me, and don't worry about the shutter speed. It's incredibly steady then.
 
Many people find holding the TLR by pulling the neck strap against the neck helps to steady it. I think that may help some. Letting it hang and using a cable release will help as well. Enjoy the Yashica. I used to have on and liked it.
 
Macho handheld

Macho handheld

Hi, thanks!

It´s very surprising to hear it can be held at 1/15!!!!
I have a steady hand so i´ll exercise myself with this one!

Sorry to hear the espresso isn´t a macho thing :D

Guess the yashica isn´t a macho thing either!

Thanks again, very helpfull, i´ll post photos as soon as possible!!!

Bye!
 
oftheherd said:
Many people find holding the TLR by pulling the neck strap against the neck helps to steady it. I think that may help some. Letting it hang and using a cable release will help as well. Enjoy the Yashica. I used to have on and liked it.
Click to expand...

Since one will usually have the camera on a neckstrap, it might be the most convenient way to do, but another way is with a rope fixed at the bottom with a screw where the tripod comes (my english is lacking): put your foot on it on the ground and pull up and you'll be quite steady. Kind of an opposite "monopod".
 
yeah... there's no mirror slap, and the size and weight, and the fact that gravity is on your side as apposed to holding a camera up to your face make it pretty easy to handhold. I'm not sure where the 1/100th rule came from, and I've seen it many places, but with a little bit of practice 1/15th or slower is not unachievable. Maybe if you're shooting for a billboard or ginormous prints and you need to squeeze every last bit of sharpness out of the neg... but for everyday shooting you should be fine.

This was shot at a fairly slow shutterspeed (I'm can't remember what, but it was definitely around the 1/30th area) and I was using a Rolleinar close up, which increases the need for steadiness... and it looks beautiful all the way up to a 30X30:

 
1/25 is my low shutter speed. That is with a 85mm lens on a 6x6 format. TLRs and Folders really have a 'softer' release than some other cameras so you might be able to get away with even slower.
 
gliderbee said:
Since one will usually have the camera on a neckstrap, it might be the most convenient way to do, but another way is with a rope fixed at the bottom with a screw where the tripod comes (my english is lacking): put your foot on it on the ground and pull up and you'll be quite steady. Kind of an opposite "monopod".
Click to expand...

I tried this when I first heard about it, decades ago, and a few times since. I always found it gave me less sharpness. That's with varying degrees of pull on the strap and a variety of cameras.

I'm not saying it won't work for other people. Just that it won't work for me, and, by an extension of the well known mediocrity principle, I doubt I am unique.

Cheers,

R.
 
I doubt it's anything to do with the camera at all, and much more to do with individual human physiology. Our bodies all exhibit variation in one form or another. At age 70 I can't hold a camera as steady as I did at 20 or 30 and I have to use a higher shutter speed to retain sharpness. And I haven't even got the shakes yet!
 
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