Handheld at the equivalent of 600mm. The IS on this camera is superb, and the lens is no slouch either. I didn't expect this to be so sharp. What I don't do is delete any images directly from the card as I am shooting. Memory is cheap and there is no reason to be running out of space while out photographing. Many a time I have been quite surprised at some of the images I have taken after downloading them onto my PC. Keep everything until you get home and download everything onto your PC. You can always delete them then.