Paintball Phototgraphy: Stabilization

One of the classic problems for photographers has been capturing a moving object. Often times when shooting moving objects or when on the move you end up with 'blur'. Blur itself can be manipulated to create very intresting and creative pictures, however the vast majority of paintball photography is done with the intent to show abosulute clarity. Blur is most often caused when the lens shutter speed is set too low and causing there to be too much exposure to the film or digital media. There are other ways that can cause blur however most manufacturers are focused on improving the shutter capabilities of a camera and this is where the term 'image stabilization' is coined. In the old days the rule of thumb was to shoot at a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the size lens you are using to shoot with. So if you were using a 250mm lens then you would shoot at 1/250th. More often then not you might have to jump up a step in speed because the specific camera model you had didn't have a precision setting. But here's where the magic of image stabilization comes in. In it's most simple form the job of image stabilization is to keep the shutter speed lower then what would be considered lower then acceptable.


There are a number of different ways to stabilize your current setup and the simplest of is to add a 'stabilized' lens. Lens that are in production today use what is called optical stabilization which means that the lens inside the lens housing move and adjust to the movement of the camera. For more expensive slr and dslr type cameras IS lenses are becoming widely available.


The industry today is moving toward making stabilization a standard in all cameras. Konica Minolta before leaving and market produced the first stabilized camera allowing the user to use any lens blur-free. They had produced what was refered to as ccd-shift stabilization a system where the digital sensor would move and adjust to movement inside the camera body. This technology is now being seen in the Pentax/Samsung new K100 series and in the Sony dslr models. Many mainstream brands haved started integrating the technology into their point and shoot digital cameras offering the convienence to many different price ranges and budgets. Canon, Panasonic and Pentax have IS enabled point shoot models on the market today.


The majority of the proffesional photographs that are seen in magazines are taken using IS technology. For the amateur paintball enthusiast however major brands Canon and Nikon have a line of inexpensive dslr lenses that are great alternatives to the several thousand dollar lenses many 'working' photographers use. For photographers that aren't looking to pay more for a slr or dslr camera both Canon and Panasonic are producing product lines that integrate IS technology in cameras that have similar performance without the bells and whistles. One last option is to use a 'gyro stabilizer' which is a bulky device that will adjust the entire camera to movement. Most 'gyros' are bulky enough where they are mounted to a tripod and act as an extension. Gyro stabilizers are very costly and are used in filming from helicopters, plains, cars or when filming from extreme distances.


Whatever your budget there is a way to get the blur out. Even if you cannot afford any of the products above you can still use a cheap tripod or monopod with a camera mount to reduce vibration and movement to clear the blur. Think carefully however, how you intend to use your camera and how much. Don't buy a thousand dollar IS lense if you don't even have the means to photograph something with it. Keep all these ideas in mind and keep the blur out.