How much does your tripod leg vibrate?

[jem]

Originally Posted by stevebrot

If you insist:

Sightseeing Screwmount

Steve

Thanks! Nice glamour shot!

[Marc Langille]

You guys kill me...

John: that's a great use for the Lowepro bag - nice weigh (pun intended ) to weight the tripod!! And that's might purdy black macro lens y'all got there...

Steve: is that sort of a high key shot of the tripod? I agree about the Giottos club. If a second workshop happens, I'm going to consider getting a Gitzo too... but... John, how tall are you? I'm just around 6'3" and I've avoided the Gitzos because only the ridiculously priced $1200 goes above my height. I know with the foot/collar of the lens can help, but I thought I'd ask your height since the GT5541LS shows max. height of 60" on B&H Photo... You'd think everyone is vertically challenged with that max. height!!

Regards,
Marc

[jem]

Originally Posted by Marc Langille

John: that's a great use for the Lowepro bag - nice weigh (pun intended ) to weight the tripod!! And that's might purdy black macro lens y'all got there...

Yes, she is everything you said and more. And the working distance! I'm in heaven!

Originally Posted by Marc Langille

If a second workshop happens, I'm going to consider getting a Gitzo too... but... John, how tall are you? I'm just around 6'3" and I've avoided the Gitzos because only the ridiculously priced $1200 goes above my height. I know with the foot/collar of the lens can help, but I thought I'd ask your height since the GT5541LS shows max. height of 60" on B&H Photo... You'd think everyone is vertically challenged with that max. height!!

I'm 6'4" and yes the floor to base-plate height is 60" for the 5541. Add in the 2" height of an Arcatech leveling head (came in yesterday) and the 8.5" for the Wimberley arm's pivot point, it puts the viewfinder at eyelevel with me standing flat footed and the head leveled. I'll probably drop the legs an inch or two if I have the leveling head in the system. I bought the Gitzo legs for less than $900 USD (can't remember the NYC shop), the Wimberley from B&H and the Arcatech direct. All in all, it fits me pretty well and I don't regret not getting the 5561.

Edit: Just looked at the 5561 - 8.5 feet??? I didn't realize they had such a gap between the two.

[Marc Langille]

Originally Posted by jem

Yes, she is everything you said and more. And the working distance! I'm in heaven!

Awesome... the FOV + MWD for the Pentax 200's are nothing short of amazing - it is wonderful with 200mm.

Personally I don't think you'll find any flaws on the A* 200/4 macro. The option to stand back yet fill the shot is really a treat!

Originally Posted by jem

I'm 6'4" and yes the floor to base-plate height is 60" for the 5541. Add in the 2" height of an Arcatech leveling head (came in yesterday) and the 8.5" for the Wimberley arm's pivot point, it puts the viewfinder at eyelevel with me standing flat footed and the head leveled. I'll probably drop the legs an inch or two if I have the leveling head in the system. I bought the Gitzo legs for less than $900 USD (can't remember the NYC shop), the Wimberley from B&H and the Arcatech direct. All in all, it fits me pretty well and I don't regret not getting the 5561.

Edit: Just looked at the 5561 - 8.5 feet??? I didn't realize they had such a gap between the two.

That's what I thought... add it all up and it's golden for the tall guys...

Hmmm... Wimberley's already got a MKII penciled in for me for the workshops... I love being a Professional Services Member - they are super good to me! BTW, we receive and can give out some extras (plamps, not MKIIs!!) with no strings to the workshop participants...

[song_hm]

Originally Posted by Marc Langille

Long lens technique... hmmm... I am going to do it at the workshop... Are you coming?

I wish. Gotta feed the family first. Someday hopefully...

Originally Posted by jem

Here you go guys! Note that the bungee can't be too tight or it will pull the legs together. I use one (or more) of those Velcro computer straps to adjust the tension on the bungee so that it is not too tight. The main idea here is to dampen vibration or other resonances in the legs from wind, traffic, large herds of big footed tourists, etc. A plus is that it will fix the dead weight (gear bag) in place and the bag will dampen bungee cord vibrations. Yes, they can vibrate too. I’ll use this setup with spiked feet if the surface I’m on is suitable - small sand bags if not.

A big thanks for taking the effort. I am surprised it does not have to be as elaborate as I imagined. I thought you might have wound the bungee around each legs a couple of rounds, and then around and up and down the legs a few times.

Great tip on the use of spiked feet.

[stewart_photo]

Originally Posted by song_hm

(snip) Does your carbon fiber vibrate like this? Is it an issue?

Lets be realistic here. Assuming you're not planning to do your vibration test (tapping on the legs) just before taking an image, vibration really isn't much of an issue unless that from the tripod foundation (ground, floor, etc) is easily transferred through the legs to the camera. Personally, I've found carbon fiber tripods to be slightly better than average at isolating the camera from such vibrations, which is why I choose this type of tripod for industrial photography around large machinery. Of course, if the vibrations are strong enough, nothing short of hand holding the camera will really resolve the problem.

By the way, since others are promoting various tripods, mine is an off-brand Davis & Sanford (CarbonliteX10) which I feel is just about as good as similar name brand tripods. I don't like pan heads, so removed that and fitted the legs with the Giottos ballhead from my old, now retired due to age, Giottos tripod.

stewart

[stevebrot]

Originally Posted by jem

Thanks! Nice glamour shot!

Yes...camera/tripod porn...

Steve

[Russell-Evans]

Originally Posted by jem

Here you go guys! Note that the bungee can't be too tight or it will pull the legs together. I use one (or more) of those Velcro computer straps to adjust the tension on the bungee so that it is not too tight. The main idea here is to dampen vibration or other resonances in the legs from wind, traffic, large herds of big footed tourists, etc. A plus is that it will fix the dead weight (gear bag) in place and the bag will dampen bungee cord vibrations. Yes, they can vibrate too. I’ll use this setup with spiked feet if the surface I’m on is suitable - small sand bags if not.

You might try latex tubing instead of the bungee cord. A set of Resistance Exercise Tubes is about the right length. You could create a set of three tubes for the junction between legs instead of trying for the all in one wrap around to minimize the chance of pulling the legs together.

Thank you
Russell

[jem]

Originally Posted by Russell-Evans

You might try latex tubing instead of the bungee cord. A set of Resistance Exercise Tubes is about the right length. You could create a set of three tubes for the junction between legs instead of trying for the all in one wrap around to minimize the chance of pulling the legs together.

Thank you
Russell

Interesting idea! I haven't thought of that material. I've tried bicycle tubing, self-clinging packing wrap/tape and various elastiic cords with varying degrees of success. This type of problem/solution pretty much became moot for me when I bought the heavy-duty carbon tripod for my long lenses. But it is still a handy trick on a windy day with my other tripods.

[lmd91343]

To stop the vibration with my Manfrotto 3001bpro legs, I hang my camera bag or weights from the tripod and use vibration suppression footpads under the tripod legs. I got them about 8-10 years ago for about $20. They work great. I used them with 300 and 400mm lens. Of course I also used a cable release.

Here is the link to the manufacturer:
VSP (Vibration Suppression Pads) (item #93503) / Celestron.com - Telescope | Computerized Telescopes | Microscopes | Binoculars | SkyScout

[Lloydy]

If you want to see a good visual of the vibration the camera shutter can cause on a tripod use a small, shallow container such as a jar lid with a small amount of water in it and balance that on the top of the camera. Then fire the shutter with the remote when there are no ripples in the water.

Watch the water, the intensity of the ripples will give you ( nightmares ) a good indication of the vibration.

Obviously be careful to not spill the water over the camera, a bit of Blutack will help keep the lid safe on the top.

[Lowell Goudge]

there are 2 points missing here in this thread so far.

first of all, older tripods had an inverted tripod that locked the legs to the central colum to take away part of the leg vibration,

second, even with this, the head connection is not vibration free. Yoou can take that out with one of the following,

359 Manfrotto (Distributed by Bogen) Long Lens Camera Support (#3252)

they work well, but I use them at an angle to remove both vertical and horizontal vibration.

several of you did pick up on the need to hang additional weight on the tripod. I posted once that all tripods weigh 20 pounds, where a 5 pound tripod needs 15 pounds of weight, a 10 pound tripod needs 10 pounds of weight and a 20 pound tripod does not need weights.

I also liked the bungee cords on the legs, hemps if you can't lock them to the center support.

[philbaum]

Tripods are such a complicated issue.

It isn't just the tripod that is an issue, its also about how securely a tripod is connected to the ground. Setting a lightweight tripod on carpet for instance gives one a real bouncy situation.

The last time i had a problem with a fuzzy picture from a long distance DA 300 shot, i found that just tying my camera bag under the tripod solved the problem and took my fuzzy shot into the pixel peeping range - amazine turnaround. course i also was sure to push each leg into the ground as far as i could get it.

Adding weight to a vibrating tripod does 3 things, pushes the tripod against the ground, gives the tripod more wind resistance, and changes the natural vibration frequency of the tripod to a lower frequency which is generally a good thing.

I'd say, pick a solution that is the easiest and fastest to do, adding weight looks very good to me at the moment. I'm actually adding a loop of line permanently tied to the tripod juncture, so it can be deployed quickly to tie up my camera bag underneath.

Phil

[Gruoso]

I dont know Stewart. Shooting on "vibrating" environments is not all that weird if you shoot landscapes. Sometimes the best views need the tripod on water or the picture taken from a bridge.

Originally Posted by stewart_photo

Lets be realistic here. Assuming you're not planning to do your vibration test (tapping on the legs) just before taking an image, vibration really isn't much of an issue unless that from the tripod foundation (ground, floor, etc) is easily transferred through the legs to the camera. Personally, I've found carbon fiber tripods to be slightly better than average at isolating the camera from such vibrations, which is why I choose this type of tripod for industrial photography around large machinery. Of course, if the vibrations are strong enough, nothing short of hand holding the camera will really resolve the problem.

By the way, since others are promoting various tripods, mine is an off-brand Davis & Sanford (CarbonliteX10) which I feel is just about as good as similar name brand tripods. I don't like pan heads, so removed that and fitted the legs with the Giottos ballhead from my old, now retired due to age, Giottos tripod.

stewart

[Gruoso]

Jem or Marc. Have you ever tried Berlebach tripods? It is my understanding that they are pretty good absorbing vibration (although they are on the heavy side)