Camera weight

[judybee]

This week I bought a D90 and a Nikon 18-200 lens. Together they weigh about 1200g. My old camera and lens weigh about 700g. That means that I am now holding an extra 500g.

I took the camera out yesterday to my son's soccer game and took some photos, most of which at 200. None of these photos were sharp. I played a bit with shutter / appeture controls but could not achieve a crisp photo. Later at home I tried again to hand hold the camera and then take the same photo on a tripod. The tripod ones were sharp and the hand held ones not in focus. So I am deducting that I have a fair amount of camera shake when I am hand-holding the camera.

What I am interested to know is if anybody else has had this problem after upgrading to a heavier camera/lens and if this is something that resolves itself over time with practice.

[ameerat42]

You steady the system more, how ever you can, like even using IS, tripods, bracing yourself... Am.

[I @ M]

Judy, yep, another learning curve for you.
Proper and effective hand holding of medium to long length tele lenses is another part of photography again.
Your 18-200 has the added advantage of VR to help with the 'shakes' but it still cannot protect against inappropriately slow shutter speeds and a poorly 'braced' camera.

Have a look around the net for tutorials or articles on proper hand holding and probably you will find a common them of a well balanced stance, the camera body held with the right arm well against the persons body and the lens held at least half way along its length and once again the persons left arm in as close to their body as possible.

[Ionica]

I recently bought a new camera and lens, the combined weight of which was heavier than my previous outfit. After more use and familiarisation with the combination,, and more attention to stance etc. (as mentioned above), results improved.It may just take a little time.

[Top]

You should perhaps upload an example of the photos you took that you thought were blurry.

Outside in the sun it is very unlikely to blur an image due to a slow shutter speed.

D90 does not have a very strong focusing system, and you are photographing children in action so it is likely a result of an inaccurate focus.

[judybee]

Thank you already for your advice. I have already read some tutorials on-line and hope to put some of the things i learned into practice. Here are three photos from the soccer game I was talking about.
Looking now, I can see that two of the photos are at 1/320 sec, which is pretty fast and there shouldn't be any camera shake, however they are at f5.6. The other one is at 1/125 at f8.
comments would be appreciated. Thanks
Regards

1/320 sec. f5.6
DSC_0035.jpg

1/125 sec. f8.0
DSC_0040.jpg

1/320 sec/ f5/6
DSC_0064.jpg

[kiwi]

You need to be at 1/800s for sport, next time increase the base iso to 800

[peterking]

I recently suffered the same problem. New kit and added weight and poor results. I have been working recently on my stance and holding the camera and with a little piece of information from another member who has exactly the same gear I am now getting good results. Please not only GOOD results. I still have a ways to go to get great results.
My main piece of advice is practice, practice, practice.
ANd you'll get to love the new gear.

[I @ M]

Judy, kiwi has summed it up pretty well about the first and last shot as 1/320 is well and truly fast enough to hand hold a camera and lens at 200 mm but only for stationary subjects. Active kids in a fast moving situation need much higher shutter speeds to freeze them and that appears to be the only problem with those two photos, subject motion and not camera shake. The second shot appears to be a combination of slow shutter speed, a slight misfocus and a little camera movement.
A bit of practice and experimentation will see some pretty quick improvements I reckon.

[etherial]

I actually found the opposite when I moved to a heavier camera, I found it suited me and it feels much more stable. I obtained (thanks Showipix) a monopod for when I use my 7D with the 70-200/2.8 which weighs in at 3.0 kgs, but I found that it is more a hinderance to me so I rarely use it. There is a lot more to the technique of holding a camera than a lot of people give credit for.

I found this video a while ago that might help you a little. He faffs about at times but the basics of centre of gravity, and getting your elbow in tight under you camera to get maximum stability is the key. There is also a bit of talk about slow shutter speeds (which doesn't sound like your issue here) that is good advice. Take from it what you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDsx3-FWfwk

[jibbonpoint]

Thanks for the question, Judybee. I have taken a lot from the replies.

[judybee]

Thank you so much everyone for your tips and encouragement. I have to admit I have been feeling bit negative and wondered if the upgrade was a good idea. I now have some great guidelines to practice and next week I will be using 1/800s for my son's soccer and hopefully holding the camera bit more steady.

Thanks again.

[Analog6]

Monopod, Judy. Just enough stabilisation for sport while retaining flexibility.

[kiwi]

No offence Odille, but a monopod will cause more inconvenience than good and will not produce sharper images unless your shutter speed is too low to start with.

A better plan is to actually crouch, get as low as you find comfy (I actually use a little camping stool thats easy to move when I do (NEVER use tripods in sport for this reason)

Just practice Judy, keep your apperture about one stop less than wide open and crank the iso up to make sure you are using the right shutter speed. I cant recall if the d90 has autoiso, but use it if you can

Also turn VR off
Make sure you are in af-c
Use 9-pt dynamic
CW metering

Acquire focus, focus point on the chest, track and shoot

Just takes lots of practice

[flash]

by hell you are not wrong about the weight and trying to hold it still, I'm a big feller (6' and 115 kilo's) and i find it hard, the worst thing is when we pack all our gear in the camera bag and go for a walk, my god I feel it for a week afterwards, I pride myself on being reasonably fit, full time worker and always on the go, but hell this lot gives me aches where I never had them before!, just listen to the advice that was placed previously, it's all good!

[kiwi]

Geez, soft

Most are quite happy to handhold all day a D3 and 70-200 VR, combined weight 4KG

You get used to it. Every step up takes some getting used too

[flash]

oh way to bolster my pride Kiwi!! LOL!.......... I must weigh my gear but it must be getting up there! and I am getting more lenses so the weight will only increase, ouch!!!

[Brian500au]

Judy I found when I upgraded my camera (and the weight) I was in exactly the same situation. I used to go to my son's football game with my 100-400 lens and I was so disappointed when looking through the shots.

Eventually I decided to use a monopod with a manfrotto pistol grip. It took all the weight off my neck, and I was a lot more comfortable shooting for a couple of hours. As others have advised above, you also need to up your shutter speed to capture the kids in motion.

Photographing kids sports can be very frustrating at times, but the memories are worth the learning curve. Best of luck.

[Analog6]

Well, kiwi, it works well for me, as I get tired and then the hands tremble and the camera shakes. We are not all as young and fit as you. As for crouching, with 2 dicky ankles and a funny knee, that is just not viable for me. The monopod works beautifully for me, I've used it for both motorsport and surfing and found it a real help..

[kiwi]

Agreed, a monopod is a good idea to alleviate fatigue if shooting for awhile or if the equipment you use is just too heavy to handhold

My camera and lens for sport weighs 6kg, the 400mm alone is 4.5KG