Hand holding your camera

There are some times that you just can't use a tripod while you're shooting video. Here are some techniques to get the best possible footage while hand-holding your camera.

The primary rule of a hand held shot is DON'T USE THE ZOOM. A zoom lens magnifies the image...it also magnifies any camera movement or shake. So, instead of zooming in to fill the viewfinder, zoom back and get very close to your subject.

This has another benefit. If you are hand holding the camera, zoomed back to a wide angle setting, and are a couple of feet away from your subject, then you can capture very good audio with just the on-camera mike. I've seen professional TV ENG crews doing simple interviews like this.


If you can't get close to your subject and don't have a tripod, there are a couple of tricks you can use. Wherever possible, set the camera down on something--a wall top or railing, a table or
bookcase--any horizontal surface. To see what you're shooting, angle the viewfinder upward so that you can look through it .

If you can't steady your camera by one of these methods, try to brace yourself as you hand-hold it. Again, lean against a vertical support or prop your elbows on any handy horizontal surface. For low angles, try kneeling rather than squatting.

Here are some other good hand-holding techniques. Such as:

Hold the camera with both hands, elbows spread away from the body so that they can act as shock absorbers. You can hold your elbows tight at your sides for extra bracing.

If the shot won't run very long, hold your breath. Take a deep breath, let half of it out, then hold the rest and shoot.

If you pan the camera, stand with your feet parallel to the middle of the movement, then twist your upper body back until you can frame the beginning.

Remember, shoot hand-held footage with the lens at the widest angle setting you can. Remember that wide angle lenses tend to minimize the effects of camera shake.