I have just purchased a Leica M6 TTL and have heard that due to no mirror vibration etc. you can use the M6 hand held at slower shutter speeds in lower light conditions. I have a 35mm and 50mm f2 and often use Ilford 3200 or TMAX where this isn't such an issue. However with Fuji Velvia or even ISO 100s I'm finding the meter (even with the aperture wide open) is often suggesting speeds of 1/8 or 1/4 when taking in lowish light. This is fine and what I would expect, but certainly with the SLRs I would be using a tripod and not worried, but with the opportunity for reportage that the RF presents I'd rather not cart round a pod. Basically what I'm trying to say is how low would you go handheld? Many thanks...

-- Paul Athey (paul@malath13.freeserve.co.uk), January 12, 2001

Answers

With 50mm or wider lense. I sometimes use f2 at 1/8 with ISO 100 film for static objects and has acceptable results.

-- Kenny Chiu (amchiu@worldnet.att.net), January 12, 2001.

It is amazing what you can get away with at times. I have shot at 1/2 second with a 21. If you are looking for negs you can blow up to 20 x 24, you will want to be fairly conservative though. Remember that at the slower speeds, subject movement is an issue as well. One accessory that helps you be even smoother is a soft release. Tom Abrahamsson makes a very nice one. His website is:

http://www.rapidwinder.com/

Cheers

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), January 12, 2001.

I have been working on a cafe series for the past 5 years. My lens of choice is the 35 Summicron and I have many images shot wide open at 1/4 or 1/8 of a second. One thing that has to be considered is the 'look' you wish to portray. A head and shoulders 'glamour' portrait will not be acceptable if less than tack sharp, but many available light candid or 'grab' shots can have a bit of softness and look fine. An example of this is the well known shot of Che Quevera (the one on all the new Leica brochures). It ain't sharp! Is it a bad shot? I don't think so!!

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), January 12, 2001.

I have shot even a 135 at 1 sec when there was a post or ledge I could brace myself and the camera against, with or without a table- pod. By using body geometry, solid objects near at hand, and some ingenuity you can get tack-sharp images you wouldn't think possible. If you are talking about quick grab-shots with no support at all, I wouldn't get publishable quality at anything less than 1 stop beyond the reciprocal of the focal length (1/60 for the 35 and 1/125 for the 50mm). Then again, it seems that allowances are made for softer "reportage" shots than would be acceptible with scenics and travel shots which are my mainstay.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 12, 2001.

...speaking of the Table Pod...I often use this as a "Body Pod" - bracing the legs against my chest. You can get incredibly show shots this way with acceptable sharpness. Without the pod at all, I brace my hand against my face and that helps considerably.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), January 12, 2001.

Feet planted firmly 18" apart; elbows down and braced against the sides; palm of left hand under the baseplate; deep breath & let it out; squeeze shutter off before the next breath; 35mm lens; 1/8 second. Need a longer exposure? Take a chance. It's only film.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), January 12, 2001.

I have gotten away with 1/8 second with the 50mm, but sometimes I need to take a few to get one really sharp at speeds that slow. What I love though is how effortless it is to consistantly get very crisp images at 1/15 and 1/30 second wide open on 800 speed film with a 35mm in what is really not a whole lot of light. I can not get these kind of images with any SLR I have ever used. This is an example of a 1/15 f2.8 with the 35 Summaron with only late afternoon window light filtering into the room

handheld low light

Now I know to you dark street shooters and Noctolux folks, window light filtering into a room is like noon day sun, but his is the kind of natural looking "no flash" people shots that I love to put in my family albulms these days. Its my main use of the "hand-holdability" of the Leica.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), January 13, 2001.

Thanks for these very helpful responses. It's given me some pause and the confidence just to get out there and do what we all love doing best - taking pictures! Many thanks...

-- Paul Athey (paul@malath13.freeserve.co.uk), January 13, 2001.

According to Beaumont Newhall, Henri Cartier-Bresson was able to hand hold Leica camera at 1/4 sec. In order to do that, HCB was a fit as an athelete, "he didn;t drink, smoked little, wnet to bed early"

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), January 14, 2001.

HCB also trained with a yogi living in an ice cave on the peak of Everest to reduce his heartbeat to once every ten seconds.

I've found that for focal lengths 35 and shorter, I can do 1/8 of a second about 1/3 of the time. I shoot only 100 ASA and seldom use flash, so I'm off to Everest myself just as soon as I can afford the flight.

Rob.

-- Robert Appleby (laintal@tin.it), January 15, 2001.

It depends on the individual. 1/125 is the reliable lower limit for me I'm afraid. I do 1/60 and 1/30 but its hit or miss (I have shaky hands) but I overcome the limitation indoors by sitting on a chair backwards and using the chair back to steady the camera/my hands. Works quite well to 1/8 and in people pictures, lends a certain informality to my picture taking activity.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), January 16, 2001.

I meant to add - but didn't because I shun controversy... - that a lot of HCB's pictures display camera shake and poor focus. I think he just stuck film in the camera and shot as if there was no limit to what he could do. Maybe he reasoned that it's better to get a blurry, poorly focused picure of something than nothing at all. But I certainly wouldn't look at his pictures for any technical pointers.

Rob.

-- Robert Appleby (laintal@tin.it), January 16, 2001.

Mani: Your backward chair technique is a great idea! I'll have to try it out next time I get a chance.

-- Steven Hupp (shupp@chicagobotanic.org), January 17, 2001.

Leaf shutters rule when it comes to long exposures.

The Rush, Mamiya 7, 1/2 sec handheld, copyright 2000 Jeff Spirer

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), January 17, 2001.

Jeff:

Even from the web picture, that is an amazing picture. Did you brace the camera against something or were you just holding it normally with arms unsupported?

I agree about the bit about leaf shutters-they are often quieter than focal plane shutters too-dare I say it in this forum?

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), January 17, 2001.

I pressed my arms against my chest and held my breath, leaning against a post. I was surprised, this was probably the best result I have had with handholding at this speed.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), January 18, 2001.

a few minutes, i would do...

depends on the results one wants to capture, really..

-- grant (g4lamos@yahoo.com), January 18, 2001.

So the old rule of thumb with SLRs is (1/focal length in mm) seconds. Does this apply to RFs too? Or 1, 2 stops beyond? What would be the lowest speed for a 90mm? 1/60? 1/30?

Tse-Sung

-- Tse-Sung Wu (tsesung@yahoo.com), September 17, 2001.

I have taken handheld pictures at the 1 second shutter speed with reasonably good results. Good photographs are easy to take at the 1/2 or 1/4 second speeds. The Leica M is the perfect low light camera!.............

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), September 17, 2001.

I would like to see click stops on the shutter speed dial, located 1/2 stop between the existing speeds in the range of about 1/8 to 1/60 or so. An example would be 1/21 second, which would be 1/2 stop between 1/15 and 1/30. This would enable us to shoot at the lowest speed we can manage to hold. 1/21 just sounds safer to hold than 1/15. And 1/11 must be a little better than 1/8. The in-betweener for 1/30 and 1/60 is 1/42; but I imagine that would be overkill, since we already have 1/50. An intermediate between 1/60 and 1/125 (1/87) might not be asking too much, either. Might come in handy with 75 & 90mm lenses.

The extra sppeds wouldn't need to be identified with numbers. An engraved line ought to be good enough.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), September 17, 2001.