zoom length and shutter speed

[Eveone]

Hi, my question is when a lens length is say 200mm does it require 1/200th + shutter speed or does the 35mm equivalent lens length of 300mm mean that it has to 1/300+ to ensure a shake free shot.
Not counting any I.S of course,
Thanks

[tclune]

The "reciprocal of the focal length" meme is just a swag. It varies with user technique, crop factor, number of pixels in your sensor, and how picky you are about such things anyway. It really doesn't make much sense to over-interpret it AFAICS.

[TCav]

It's a Rule of Thumb based on experience with 35mm film SLRs. When applying it to APS-C dSLRs, you should use the 35mm equivalent focal length. There are a number of factors that affect the reliability of the premise, not the least of which is technique.

Of course, the use of image stabilization technology makes its application superfluous.

[Eveone]

Thanks for the replies.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day eve

TC above is pretty much on-the-button here > and it does depend upon so many variables there's no clear answer

The 'however' comes along as - Q: is it windy? - do you have any body-shakes? - how heavy is the camera & lens combo? - etc etc
I find that I can hand-hold my Fuji X-s1 over its 400- 600mm max lens zoom, down to 1/4second ... provided I use 'burst' mode and after taking 3-4-5 images, I then look very-very carefully to select the best of the bunch.

Using burst means that the 1st image is often blurred a bit via the very-gentle pressing of the shutter > after then I am just hand-holding and letting the camera do the hard work

I can post some images if you wish...
Regards, Phil

[SIMON40]

I think one thing often overlooked with regards zoom/shutter speeds is your subject matter...
If your subjects are moving around quickly,you'll need a FAST shutter speed- regardless of focal length...!

[TCav]

True. There are two types of motion blur:

• Motion blur due to subject movement
• Motion blur due to camera shake

The way to avoid either is to use a faster shutter speed, but that's not always possible or desireable.

But I believe that since the OP referred to a presumed relationship between zoom length and shutter speed, I believe it's the camera shake he/she is referring to.

[Eveone]

Thanks for the replies and yes I was wondering about lens shake .
TCav gave me the answer I was looking for in his first reply.
Sorry for any confusion there.