Ybis IMAGE STABILIZATION FOR EVERY CAMERA

Use your own body to provide image stabilization and double your handheld shutter speed

01 PUT A RING ON IT

First of all, you’ll need a 1/4-inch hinged D-ring screw. These are available for about a pound or so on sites like ebay, or alternatively you could just remove one from the mounting plate on your tripod – keeping it all nice and simple from the start.

02 TWIST AND TURN

Screw the D-ring into the mounting thread on the bottom of your camera body. Obviously do it up as tightly as you can, to ensure that it doesn’t come loose (it’s liable to get turned and twisted when you attach the hook, so screw it in well).

03 ROPE-A-DOPE

Now you’ll need a travel bungee cord – which costs less than a fiver, and comes pre-looped with a hook attached – or a length of shock cord, to which you can attach your own plastic hooks. Between 25cm and 35cm should suffice, depending on how tall you are.

04 BELT UP

Undo your belt and remove the end with the holes from the first loop on your trousers. Thread your belt through the cord, then do up your belt again as normal. (If you are left eye-dominant, attach the cord on the opposite side of your belt / trousers.)

05 CAPTAIN HOOK

Now all you have to do is simply attach the hook on the end of your length of bungee cord to the D-ring that you screwed into the bottom of the camera. Et voilà – you have successfully constructed the your budget body image stabilization system!

06 STRONG AND STABLE

When you raise the camera to your eye (or out in front of you, if composing using the back screen – you will stretch the cord. The tension between the base of your camera and the anchor point on your belt will steady your shot and enable you to slow your shutter.