Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
It's only just occured to me that when you fire the shutter on an SLR like the OM series, not only does the mirror have to flip up out of the way but there is also a mechanism that has to reduce the aperture down to the selected f-stop setting if you have it at anything less than wide open. This mechanism still engages even if you are actually shooting wide open and it effectively has nothing to do ... there is still substantial hardware in the Zuiko lens that it has to move.
I've discovered that if you depress the button on the lens that manually stops it down for checking depth of field etc, it takes all the load off that mechanism as you fire the shutter and reduces the kick through the camera by a noticable amount. I supect that this could give close to a half to a full stop improvement when hand holding at slow shutter speeds in low light.
The good thing about this stop down preview button on the lens is that it's placed naturally for the posiition of the tip of my middle finger when I'm focusing ... holding it down as I fire the shutter is very natural. I haven't put this to the test yet but will in the next few days ... I'll try some low light shooting at very slow shutter speeds and possibly post the results. I'm talking 1/15 sec and slower which is what I'm able to achieve comfortably with a rangefinder in ideal conditions!
I've discovered that if you depress the button on the lens that manually stops it down for checking depth of field etc, it takes all the load off that mechanism as you fire the shutter and reduces the kick through the camera by a noticable amount. I supect that this could give close to a half to a full stop improvement when hand holding at slow shutter speeds in low light.
The good thing about this stop down preview button on the lens is that it's placed naturally for the posiition of the tip of my middle finger when I'm focusing ... holding it down as I fire the shutter is very natural. I haven't put this to the test yet but will in the next few days ... I'll try some low light shooting at very slow shutter speeds and possibly post the results. I'm talking 1/15 sec and slower which is what I'm able to achieve comfortably with a rangefinder in ideal conditions!
Last edited:
Al Kaplan
Veteran
If your SLR has an accessory shoe you might try using an accessory viewfinder. I find that looking through a finder during the exposure does help to get steadier shots. You can see if the subject moves in relation to the framelines just like with a rangefinder camera. Another thing that I've done is after focussing and framing site aliongside the outside edge of the prism housing where it meets the top of the camera. A lot of the unsteadiness of longer exposures with an SLR is caused by the fact that you're just staring at blackeness.