From the Leaf Aptus II-12 review:
It is folly to shoot hand-held at anything less than 2X the reciprocal of the focal length, and frankly I'd shoot at 3X to be sure of getting decent quality. So, an 80mm lens needs at least a shutter speed of 1/250 sec (80X3). Even then you'll be better of shooting from a tripod, or with electronic flash in the studio if you're working hand-held.
Just wondering whether other people have similar rules.
I personally have a P30+ and I always shoot handheld.
Bear in mind the goals and comparison points for the author.
For maximum per-pixel quality 3x the shutter speed (depending on the shooter and how he is standing/bracing himself) is a great rule of thumb for these super-high res systems.
However going lower in shutter speed may result in many of the images being slightly soft when viewed at 100% (meaning the system could have produced more resolution), but could still make highly detailed large prints. Viewing at 100% has become the new sole definition of "sharpness" for many photographers. This mentality creates a lot of misperceptions regarding sharpness/detail.
For instance let's compare:
- A handheld 80mp system which is
slightly soft at 100%
- A 5DII which is absolutely crisp sharp at 100%
The "real" resolution of the handheld 80mp may well be much higher than the "real" resolution of the 5DII. Meaning when you make a print of any given size that you can see more real-world detail in the subject in the slightly-soft-at-100%-80mp image than the 5DII image.
This is not dissimilar to the old days when a slightly soft 8x10 would often reproduce much better than a wicked-sharp 35mm (which had to be enlarged much more for any given print size).
Another comparison point:
- a handheld P30+ with 80mm lens at 1/125th
- a handheld IQ180 with 80mm lens at 1/125th
It's very possible that the IQ180 would show slight softness and the P30+ would be completely sharp when viewed at 100% pixel level but for the IQ180 to still contain more real world detail. Being slightly soft at 100% pixel level only tells you the system could have resolved more detail, it doesn't mean the system didn't resolve a whole stinking lot of detail.
More to the point in the above P30+ and IQ180 example it would be impossible for the IQ180 to show less total detail than the P30+. Shutter speed, flash duration, diffraction, and mediocre lenses can prevent a high-end high-resolution camera from achieving it's maximum resolution, but it cannot make the final image
less detailed than the same conditions on a lower resolution camera - but when viewed at 100% the higher resolution camera would appear to be more soft since you're looking at a higher magnification of the subject.
So yes, there is a meaningful lesson in his statement. But don't let it scare you away from higher res systems. If and when you have enough light to up the shutter speed half a stop from where you needed to with the P30+ (or when on a tripod) then you'll get more resolution and real world detail. When you have to use a slower shutter speed you won't get the max out of the system that is possible, but in no case would you get worse real-world detail than with the P30+.
By definition if you're getting sharp images now then there must be some headroom in your current shooting technique to resolve more detail.
But of course the take home message is as always: test the gear you want in the real-world situations you'd want to use it in. Let us know if we can help with that testing through a rental (the rental cost is credited towards your purchase) or in person demonstration.
Doug Peterson
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Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
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