Characterization of camera shake

Abstract

In the early days of photography, emulsions were not very sensitive to light and lenses had relatively small apertures, so long exposures were needed and cameras were generally mounted on solid, stationary, supports. However, in modern use, cameras are nearly always hand-held – and this introduces shake. Vibrations also are introduced by the complex moving systems within a camera and lens. Although many cameras now incorporate mechanisms for minimizing the detrimental impact of shake, and there is a standard test procedure to measure effectiveness of such measures, there is surprisingly little published on the characterization of camera shake itself. The current work describes how inexpensive shake measurement hardware can be built, proposes a testing methodology for characterizing shake, and summarizes preliminary results obtained by measuring shake under a variety of conditions.