Hand held 5x4 grab shot.

[thronobulax]

A large-format camera is quite a heavy object. It needs more force to move it. Camera shake is mostly induced by releasing the shutter. That would be the force applied by one finger which would move a heavier object much less.
Even if the camera does move, the resulting image is unlikely to be enlarged as much as a 35mm negative, so any bout will be minimised.
We shouldn’t discount the fact that a large format camera will almost certainly be used by an experienced photographer who will have already refined their technique.
Lurking in the background, of course, is image stabilisation on digital cameras.

I have both a Crown and a "Baby" Speed Graphic. Both are fully operational with several lenses per format. They do, however, have one problem in common. With time, the internal shutter release cable that transmits the push on the body's shutter release has weakened and will not reliably trigger the shutter. Having to press it hard induces camera shake. Thus, for tripod mounted activity, I use a release connected directly to the shutter housing. For handheld, I just reach for the trip level on the shutter housing directly to manually fire it. (If someone knows how to fix this, I'd be much in your debt.)

The on body shutters were really only useful for the original "standard" lenses like the 127mm or 203mm on the Crown or the 101mm on the Baby Speed that often came with these cameras. These lenses had shutter release tabs that aligned well with the on-body triggering mechanism. Pretty much no other lens I have tried aligns properly with that. In short, I have mostly abandoned the use of the on-body release.

 

[Nas]

They are excellent images Nas. Perhaps a Polaroid conversion is the ideal camera for hand held 5x4, it has the best ergonomics, the only downside is a fixed lens. But then I shoot with a Rolleiflex and that's a fixed lens,

Ian

Thanks, Ian. I think it’s hard to beat a Polaroid conversion with an accurately calibrated rangefinder. I’ve seen some conversions with interchangeable lens boards and infinity stops but the standard lens is fine for me. The camera design folds up very nicely and makes it very portable.