What shutter speed for hand held macro?

andrewcollier

What should I consider a minimum shutter speed for hand held macro (flowers). I am mainly using a Sigma 105, rarely at minimum focus. I have been using 250 sec min (as set for when I use flash). Also but what would be a reasonable minimum when using a tripod, allowing for a little flower wind movement?

Thanks

Cygnus Studios

andrewcollier wrote:

What should I consider a minimum shutter speed for hand held macro (flowers). I am mainly using a Sigma 105, rarely at minimum focus. I have been using 250 sec min (as set for when I use flash). Also but what would be a reasonable minimum when using a tripod, allowing for a little flower wind movement?

Handheld? Whatever you can get away with. Personally I am pretty useless at anything slower than 80 with a large lens like the 105mm and macro stacks.
With the tripod and cable release I can to bulb on stationary items.
It really depends on what you are shooting and how steady your hands are.

Miguel Delinquento

I'm assuming that your shooting setup does not have any anti-shake stabilization technology involved?

I don't like shooting a longer, heavier macro lens without any kind of suppport. Handheld I'd say 1/60 if you can control your breathing well. I would recommend you purchase an Ultrapod II. Very light and cheap. I use it as a chest-supported tripod for most of my shooting when I cannot use a tripod.

Wind moving flower parts have to be dealt with, so if you cannot wait for the calm 3 seconds, then it's going to be 1/60 or faster regardless of what support is or is not used. With the Ultrapod II, I have obtained good results down to 1/20, but that's with little wind.

M

mehampson

Well, depends on how much wind there is, but if it's on a solid tripod you shouldn't have too much trouble. You can always rig a plamp or something up to brace the flowers, too.

Why not use the flash and the tripod? You can use it as regular fill, or get creative with it, if you get it off-camera -- I like shooting through the flower or leaf itself when shooting tripod-mounted plant macros. Either way it'll freeze a lot of that motion for you.

Lord Vetinari

I'd stick to around 1/200th - 1/250th for no support handheld shots. I think the normally used calc of 1/focal length * crop actually also gets multiplied by 1+M where M is the magnification so for 1:1 with the 105 comes out at 1/320th approx.
For a tripod mounted setup - really very dependant on the wind but you may go as low as around 1/50th of a sec. I have seen one macrophotog taking bug shots using a bean bag or a tripod down to 1/10th sec.

Brian V.

IPClark

I managed to get away with 1/1000 @ F8 with a diffused 430 EX II in my recent spider shots that I used extension tubes on a Sigma 105 to capture with.

ETTL is lovely