Quote:
Originally Posted by scheerspeed
well i use the tripod whenever the shutter speed falls below 1/8 of a second. i usually use manual focus.
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I think 1/8 is too low of a cutoff point for hand holding.
A general rule of thumb is 1/(the focal length), but never below 1/60th.
So if you are shooting at 125mm I wouldn't hand hold below 1/125 second. At 35mm you shouldn't be hand holding below 1/60.
Image stabilization can skew these figures, but figure it gets you an additional 2-3 stops lower.
Finally, dSLRs are typically a little soft from the factory. This is intentional. The manufacturers leave the photo a little soft because they do not apply in-camera sharpening to the images. They feel a dSLR is a creative tool and that sharpening should be left up to the photographer (to be done in photoshop, etc.). Point and shoots are geared toward consumers so they do a lot of sharpening and adjusting of the image in-camera before you download it.
Maybe you could post up some examples of problem images...