I use the 55-250 for my rugby shots, can recommend it

Ordered the latter, not bad price. Also ordered the Canon 50mm f1.8 cheapy, seems to have good reviews for the price of it, not many f1.8 lenses at under £100 out there.

Catsitting for my son in law - great subject



With my new super duper Olympus Pen E-P5 - viva micro 4/3rds!!

I'm assuming you are wanting to avoid flash (as in the nice Blackpool pictures above).
The blur from hand-held depends largely on the length of the exposure, i.e. shutter speed.
At night, even a large aperture (let's say f1.4), even wide open, at a high enough shutter speed to avoid blur, isn't going to gather enough light for a decent image, so you'd have to use a slower shutter speed which, in turn requires a tripod and a cable-release to avoid the blur.
I have heard of people tying their camera firmly to a fencepost or suchlike and using a cable release (when they've forgotten to take their tripod) but haven't tried it myself, it sounded way too difficult to frame the shot.

In those Blackpool pictures, the exposure looks to be several seconds long, possibly manually-timed via cable-release, i.e. long enough for passing trams to give that white and red line effect across some of them ... and camera shake would be unavoidable hand-held with such long exposures.

Yeah pretty much. And the avoidance of having to lug around a tripod or finding somewhere flat to rest my camera to keep it still to allow as much.

So, at f4 and a long shutter speed, would it be better to get a release cable and have my tripod with me, than fork out for an f1.4 lens that still may give me the same issues?

Yes, absolutely.
Way back when, I tried all sorts of ways of keeping the camera still whilst holding it and pressing the shutter release.
I tried bracing myself against lamp posts, putting the camera on a wall (the weight of the lens always tilted it) ... all sorts of things.
None worked.

It doesn't always have to be the big expensive tripod though ... I know people who swear by monopods/mini-tripods etc that you can even velcro-strap quite securely to a fence or post thereby still giving the ability to use the tilt head of the monopod/mini-tripod.
Or look at Gorillapods, which are very small and have amazing bendy legs for gripping something stable like a post etc but can still support a DSLR with a longish lens and can be fitted with a ball head for pointing your camera in the direction you want it to be pointing.
I knew one guy who carried a very light and cheap (and often wobbly) tripod and he was known to sometimes make it more stable by suspending something heavy (like a handy brick or even his bag of gear) from the tripod head with his trouser belt and let it dangle in the middle of the tripod legs.

The cable release is though, IMHO, essential.

This is one I took in Rome earlier this year. Tried holding the camera but it came out blurred, and ended up resting it on a wall on a bridge to make sure it was still - but realise that sometimes a bridge or wall may not always be handy, which is why i'm looking for the best way to reduce blur and still let enough light in to get a good shot.

rlrl

Just one last thing, should have mentioned before ... Nikon do make a wireless remote shutter release, even lighter than a cable to carry in your pocket.

was thinking about getting a canon 650d (currently have a 1000d), reviews seem good but has anyone here got one and is it any good?

It depends, is hat you are shooting moving? if is then a fast lens is what you need.

No, probably not. Thinking more along the lines similar to the St Peter's shot, city scapes etc.

Just to point out that a cable release isn't always required. Simply use the 2-second shutter delay that most cameras will have. This allows time for the camera to settle down again after you press the shutter, without the pain of waiting for the 10-second timer (which is there to allow you time to sprint round to get into the shot yourself).

Many cameras don't have a remote or cable release available.

But what if I don't have my tripod or suitable resting place for the camera to keep it still?

Basically I'm guessing that I will need to have my tripod with me in the evenings or for low light shots rather than spend a fortune on a new lens with a larger aperture?