I like the feel that a shoulder mounted rig gives you, without the extremes that Von Triers went to with 'Breaking the Waves'. If you look at some of Christopher Nolan's films, he'll go to hand held in scenes that have emotional conflict in them - there's a couple of examples in 'the Prestige' that illustrate this very well. It's subtle, but definitely introduces a sense of unease in the viewer.

There's a nice trick you can do in avid - edit a hand held shot you like the feel of on a bottom video layer. Above that, edit in the static shot you want a bit of movement in. You can then apply tracking values to your top shot that are taken from the layer underneath. It's totally convincing if that's what you're after.

I agree that subtle shakiness can induce an added feeling of uneasiness – in the right scene at the right time.

I'm only opposing the overuse – it was only yesterday that I saw a short by a few young people that had good lighting, good actors, nice camerawork (focus and framing) – but was so shaky even on a relatively small projection that you got sick after a short time (not only me…). And I've seen overuse by some great names, I don't excuse anything just because he or she is a VIP…

And I second the tracking suggestion, would work in any software with a decent tracker.

Some of my favorite films were done with handheld..the Shining was done by the inventor of the Steadicam himself, Garrett Brown..another great, gritty film is What Doesn't Kill You...a lot of handheld shots there, no steadicam...Laws of Gravity is another, although that one is just a little too shaky for me..and of course the 'induced documentary style' of The French Connection. I haven't tried any software yet though.

I shoot hand held ALL the time, but i at least have the camera on a small rig (monopod, flash bracket, waterproof housing etc). If you do it often enough, you get good at it. The tiny little jitters you can remove with mercalli etc, with virtually no degradation of the image.

But then, i'm traveling light jumping on planes with carry-on most times.

@mrbill @nomad brought up what I think handheld is good for: Dynamic. A scene where one looks for a feeling of uneasiness, something that is confusing or very fast or similar can be great to show with a handcamera (say fight scenes, chase scenes or something similar) but I was recently the gaffer of a short which was all handheld. It was a film with low-tempo and mostly dialoge. To me the shakiness was completely out of place. It didn't add anything (for me it took away). I prefer to match with the dynamics of what's happening. If it's a slow paced scene with a low tempo and with an "easy" feeling tripod is the way to go, while a handheld is perfect for a high action or intense scene.

In this video, we discuss what the purpose of a Steadicam shot is and if it is something you even need to use or consider for your film. Steadicams can be expensive and take time and patience to learn. But often times, you might not even need or want the effect that a Steadicam creates. You might be able to shoot your entire career handheld. It depends mostly on what you are trying to say or the effect you are trying to create. You should choose your tools based on what you are trying to accomplish emotionally. You should not be using a tool just because you can.

Plus if I ever see another handhold test that is in SLOW-MOTION I WILL KILL SOMEONE!!

I used handheld shots in my film and had no complaints. As long as it's not "Blair Witch" shaky and the story is great then it usually doesn't matter in my opinion. I love Lars Von Trier's films and he uses handheld shots almost exclusively.

Hand-held because you know what effect you're after (like parallax, POV or that certain "live"ness where the presence of the camera operator is implicit in the genre), will succeed.

Hand held because you're lazy will just end up looking the way your bedroom probably looks. Give up film making and try golf.

In Australia's ABC Four Corners program last week entitled Journey into Hell, there was a lot of hand-held camera stuff - necessarily so, because reporter/camera operator Mark Davis was undercover in Myanmar, putting his life at risk and using the least kit possible so as not to attract attention.

Monday 22nd June 2015 Journey into Hell: On the trail of the traffickers exploiting the most unwanted people on the planet.

They promise a safe passage away from persecution and a new life in a safe haven. Instead they beat, rape, starve and often kill those who put their trust in them. They're the people smugglers trading in human misery.

Four Corners investigates the network that has trafficked tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into Thailand, through eye-witness accounts as well as video and audio recordings.

"This is a network that's been in place for years." Human rights investigator

We take the smugglers' route, discovering their methods and their alliances.

There are lots of occasions where we can view the important 2-shots (from a B-Cam) of Mark shooting tricked-out DSLR (A-Cam) while interviewing - even from the shaky position at the back of a truck, as above. These 2-shots would have been considered obligatory by the ABC's own broadcast quality standards - in order to make the shaky handheld shots acceptable! In this case:

Using an establishing shot with a B-cam will help the viewer go on the journey and remain largely consensual, even complicit, as a participant, in the A-Cam's shakiness.

Watch the show completely, if you can. Learners can note the interspersing of footage of various types: in-field hand-held DSLR, Tripod-shots of same subject and of reporter, full ENG shots over the border from Myanmar, even studio-lit studio camera interviews. The hand-held shots are carefully validated by the steadier 2-shots like the one above. The handheld technique could not have been used otherwise.

This is an example of a new kind of one-man TV journalism genre. Mark would have travelled alone, sometimes setting up a second camera on tripod, perhaps asking a passer-by to shoot video, watching his rushes back in his hotel and (I'm guessing) consulting with his producer online.

If you are in Australia or you use a VPN to pretend to be in Australia, you can view the full story at http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/fourcorners/video/4CNs_Tx_2206_288p.mp4

Or, if you wait a week or two, somebody might put the episode up on YouTube.

[slightly off-topic but relevant] After a few minutes of handheld, a relaxed, tripod-mounted interview gives the viewer a break to steady viewing and helps complete the mix.

sorry, what is hand-held simulation software? thanks a lot goanna. that's very interesting and helpful. is that a shure lens hopper mounted on his camera? interesting how he holds the camera to his side with his elbow resting on his knee.