tripod vs. fast exposures

[bowlesbe]

Is there a certain speed of exposure that pretty much matches a tripod? At a 1 second exposure, clearly a tripod will give you a clearer picture... but at 1/2000 there may be no difference.

Where is the line where there is no difference? What would it be (approx) for an IS lens?

Thanks

[buddy4344]

My guess is yes - and that it is individual dependent. Logic - With my point and shoot, the shots by my 24 year old son are sharper than those by me - even when I brace against something stationary so I assume same is true with my dSLR

[Texsrt4]

figure exposure hand-held time should be 1/x or faster, where x=length of your lens in MM x crop factor of camera. that is what i have read, of course, a steady hand will help out, and severe hand tremors will hinder. its a good rule of thumb though

[ScottE]

The rule of thumb estimates acceptable camera movement blur. It was not devised to determine no camera motion blur. There is a difference between these two measurements when making big enlargements.

Generally, if you want to maximize the sharpness of your pictures, use a tripod, remote release and mirror lock-up whenever possible. However, maximum sharpness is certainly not necessary for every shot and mirror lock up and remote release are often not feasible for action photography. Consider what you intend to use the photo for before you shoot.

[poloman]

To add to what the others have said. When you open the shutter you will get some amount of vibration. I think that you will get the clearest pictures on exposures of say 4 seconds or longer. This will give any vibration time to settle out. (ie. the vibration from opening and closing the shutter are a smaller percentage of the exposure time). If you want a larger aperture and the longer shutter time, in some conditions you will need a neutral density filter to limit the amount of light striking your sensor.

[liza]

I never use a tripod for anything but wedding formals. A fast shutter speed works better for me. Tripods can be very unwieldy.