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PROBLEM #40
Lock it down
Fat legs
A little spiky
Just stop it
If youre adjusting
the angle of the
lens, ensure the top
leg locks are firmly
pushed to their stops.
STEP BY STEP
With the mirror locked up and the ability to magnify details in the image, Live View can help you get bitingly sharp shots
Handholding technique
The rule of thumb when
shooting handheld is to make
sure the shutter speed never
drops below the focal length,
expressed as a fraction. So a
20mm lens shouldnt be used
at a shutter speed slower
than 1/20 sec, and 1/400 sec
should be the minimum with
a 400mm lens.
But forget that rule!
Some photographers
can comfortably get
sharp pictures below this
recommended minimum,
while others may struggle
to do so at shutter speeds
twice as fast. Add one of
Canons high-end four-stop
Image Stabilizer lenses into
the mix, and you may be able
to get sharp shots at speeds,
well, four stops slower than
recommended (so, 1/25sec
instead of 1/400 sec for a
400mm lens). Realistically
though, your hit rate shooting
a 400mm lens at 1/25sec
isnt likely to be too high.
Besides, none of this
will make the slightest bit
of difference if youre not
holding the camera steady.
Heres a simple guide to
getting it right
Jabbing the
shutter release
button will jerk
the camera roll
your finger onto it
instead.
The viewfinder
eyecup is there
for a reason
keep your
brow pressed
against it.
Rotate or
remove a lenss
tripod foot like
this to enable
you to cradle
the lens in your
left hand.
HandHELd:
nOT SHaRP
Lens quality
CHROMaTIC
aBERRaTIOn
CHROMaTIC
aBERRaTIOn
REMOVEd
a question
of aperture
Your choice of aperture has a very
big part to play when it comes to
the sharpness of an image.
TRIPOd-MOunTEd:
aCCEPTaBLY SHaRP
Unintentional camera movement is
invariably the more challenging type of
motion to try and deal with. In fact, the
camera doesnt have to be flailing wildly for
pictures to be ruined. The action of the
mirror bouncing up and down can be
enough to literally take the edge off details
during slower exposures. Activating Mirror
Lockup in the camera menu can help when
the cameras mounted to a tripod.
Alternatively, shoot in Live View mode as
the mirror will automatically be locked up
to allow the image to be fed to the Live
View screen. Mirror lockup, or Live View
shooting, is particularly useful when using
longer lenses or taking macro shots. This
MIRROR LOCkuP:
PROPERLY SHaRP
3 Cut it out
2 Dont swivel
5 Stop it down
4 Non-standard?