Recording gamma images using a hand held small field of view (SFOV) hybrid gamma camera requires a few minutes to complete an acquisition. Operator motion during image acquisition may deteriorate image quality and hence affect diagnostic accuracy. The purpose of this study was to assess the magnitude of movement caused by the operator when holding a camera weighing approximately 1kg. Six participants were invited to take part and each was provided with a full explanation of the study. A SFOV hybrid gamma camera was used to acquire gamma images of a radioactive point source containing approximately 15 MBq of 99mTc-pertechnetate placed at source-to-collimator distance (SCD) of 7 cm. Each participant was requested to hold the camera for 3 minutes at their convenience during image acquisition in a clinical setting. A control image was acquired with the camera head mounted on a fixed articulated arm. The scintigraphic images obtained were post-processed and saved as DICOM images prior to assessment using bespoke software (MOCO) to determine the magnitude of motion by tracking the centre of mass (COM) of the hot spot. From this study the centre of mass (COM) was found to move away from the initial point by 4.34 ± 2.43 mm and 7.18 ± 3.34 mm in x and y directions respectively. Subjective assessment of the images acquired with the camera held by an operator showed blurring of details when compared to the control image. The mean COM displacement for the first 30 seconds of the image acquisition was less than 5 mm; however it exceeded 5 mm after one minute of acquisition. This study suggests that the image acquisition time of the SFOV gamma camera should preferably be within a minute when the camera is hand held during use.