In photography at least, vibrations are not good. Vibrations or unsteadiness while taking a photograph are one of the primary causes of unsharp images. As a general rule, your shutter speed when making a hand-held photograph should be greater than or equal to 1/Focal Length of your lens. For example, if you are using a 200mm lens, your minimum shutter speed for a hand-held photo should be 1/200s, or the closest shutter speed on your camera - likely 1/250. For a 500mm lens this equates to 1/500s shutter speed. As you can see, the longer your lens, the faster the shutter speed.
This problem can more or less be eliminated by using a tripod and cable release. Tripods are one of the easiest and best ways to improve the quality of your photographs. When you can't use a tripod (or didn't carry one with you), try to brace yourself against an object such as a tree for extra stability and keep your elbows in near your chest instead of pointing them out.
View Previous Tip | Back to the Tip Index | View Next Tip |