My quetsion about Tripods.

[Mr Felix]

I have just taken a few night shots with my tripod.

Now I have questions.

(Actually I have 2 tipods, but use mostly one now)

Originally I had one. The "stock" base model. Round legs. Basic attachment for camera and all friction grips for height adjustment. No leg stabalisers.

When I was away on a holiday, I found one in a hock shop. It was more a "pro" model.
It has one of these quick release mechanisums where you attach a small thing to the bottom of the camera, then all you do is connect that to the tripod when you want to use it. Other tripods you have to screw the camera to the tripod every time. Time consuming and annoying if you are moving alot between shots.
This one also has a little spirit level/bubble thingy. The legs are locked with folding hindges rather than washers you turn.
The legs were also attached to the centre pole so all legs opened together. Good (and bad).
The height of the camera is adjusted with a crank handle which has teeth on the centre pole, where as my other one was all just friction.
It also has a TILT thing where you can tilt the camera 90 degrees to go from landscape to profile easily. Well, so I thougth. It only tilts about 87 degrees. AARRGGHH!

Anyway, I don't know but after a couple of shots I did I am getting blurring. I don't know if it is because of the DT's, or where/how the camera is connected to the tripod. If the fitting is lose, then there is possibility for shake to happen there.

Maybe without buying the squillion dollar model, there may be a better one for me to get.

With this "better" one, with the little bubble level and all, it is still sometimes difficult when you turn the camera to keep things easy to use/do.

Maybe it is because I don't have much time using it. But it is infuriating when I am wanting to do pan shots and have to keep adjusting the angle. In retrospect, I'm thinking that is because I am not getting the tripod exactly level, or level enough, at setup?

Also the tilt thing is annoying. As it doesn't go the whole 90 degrees, if I want to go for portrait shots, I have to shorten a couple of the legs so the missing few degrees are compensated for by the shorter legs.

I'm looking around, but would like to know if people have any suggestions.

[ricktas]

it will tilt to 90 degrees, just adjust a leg a bit shorter..easy.

As for blur, are you using a VR/OS/IS lens? if so, turn that off, as the lens is expecting vibration and trying to counter it, when a lens is mounted on a tripod, if it is not moving, the VR IS OS can create blur, cause it is adjusting to stop something that doesn't exist in the first place.

Next is, shutter pressing, when you press the shutter, you can physically move the camera by doing so, use the 10 second timer, or a remote shutter release.

Also when the shutter is pressed, the mirror bounced up and down, this can create movement in the camera body, again use 10 second timer or remote shutter release.

Next up, what surface were you on, sand is notorious for moving under a tripod, wooden decking (boardwalks) can also move with people walking on them while you are photographing, same as wooden jetties and wharves.

There could be 100 reasons for the results you are getting and its a matter of eliminating them one by one till you resolve the cause.


What brand is the tripod. To be honest, you are better off investing in a more expensive, better quality one to start with, it will last a lifetime, rather than buying cheaper and finding that you need to buy a better one anyway. Spend several hundred dollars now and with care, you shouldn't need to buy another one..ever.

PS, that thingy you are attaching to the bottom of your camera that links to the tripod is called a tripod mount!

[Mr Felix]

Rick,

Yeah, the older tripods didn't have one. The "mounts" were for the pro's - at that time. Most tripods were the typical "screw into the bottom of the camera" type. Which is the el-cheapo one I bought 30-ish years ago.

About 4 years ago I saw this new one in a hock shop for a nice price and bought it.


Anyway.....


I don't hve the "image stabalise" turned on. Haven't played with it too much as yet.

Surface: Cement. I was a the quay in Sydney. All hard surfaces there. After a couple of shots I did use the cable release.

WRT the mirror and the "lock up" to stop shaking.... Ok, this LIVE VIEW locks the mirror up and uses the sensor to read the shot and display it on the back of the camera. But the few times I have used that fuction and I press the shutter button, I still hear (or THINK I hear) the mirror. Ok, thinking about it, it could be the shutter/s moving.

I'll not post too much as I am having difficulty posting. The server is extremely busy. Aren't people supposed to be celebrating Mother's day today? Why is the server so busy?

[ricktas]

other users on the server are hogging the load, I have raised this with tech support at the hosting company and they are actioning it.

[snappysi]

Agree with Rick on just about all points here. It is hard to troubleshoot an issue like this over the net but would have to think Rick is on the money.
One thing i agree with and also an issue i would say 90 % of people on this forum would agree with is buy a good, tripod to start with. It seems like a lot of money up front but it will be with you for a lifetime. I for one am one that bought a "cheap" one to start off with and was a complete waste of money.......

Simon.

[arthurking83]

The brand and model of the tripod is the important factor here.

As Rick said, one of the most likely causes of blurring in tripod images is mirror slap.

Live view fixes this, as the mirror is locked out of the way until after the exposure has been made, so with Live View mode enabled you should get no mirror slap induced vibration at all!
When you use Lv mode, you will or should hear three sounds to effect a single exposure.
1. The initial snap of the mirror raising
2. The quieter 'snick' of the shutter making the exposure.
3. The louder snap of the mirror coming to rest again.

In all this 'noise' when using Lv mode it's important to note that even tho you can hear the mirror bouncing up and down in the camera, during the important phase of capturing the image the only movement in the camera will be the shutter, which has no bearing on the stability of the camera. The mirror's movement is either before or after the exposure. So for this it's important to either use a remote release or the timer(if possible).
Also if the exposure is made immediately after the initial raising of the mirror(ie. less than 0.4sec delay) then the mirror could still be prone to causing blurring in the image. You really only need an 0.5sec delay between mirror up and exposure for the mirror to settle and not cause blurring.

Without seeing the tripod, camera and all the other set up variables, my guess would be that it's either user error and probably wind causing these slight vibrations. Or a combination of both.

If you don't have the model or manufacturer of the tripods in question, then a photo of the tripod(s) would be a good start.

[kiwi]

you can take a sharp shot resting your camera on a wall, i doubt its the tripod even if its half decent.

[J.davis]

Is your tripod tall enough to use without the centre section raised. Raising the centre section nearly always allows the camera to shake.

[lucky phil]

anybody tried the Vanguard Alta Pro tripods?, any good, seem reasonably priced.

[arthurking83]

Yeah, I saw some Vanguard tripods in Vanbars a while back, which was legs and ballhead as a kit for about $160?? maybe.. maybe $200 or so.. anyhow I though they were cheap enough and for the price made them a very decent value for money proposition.
The ballheads seemed sturdy enough, but as with the manfrottos, not super solid.. just solid enough for most purposes.

I think for the money you can't go wrong ... and I really can't remember the model names other than the brand is Vanguard(I have a Vanguard backpack).

[Mr Felix]

Yeah, thanks.

But I am glad I worked out why the SILK tripod I had/have is/was so confusing to use. Because it was for video rather than camera.
The longer PITCH control arm.

The clamp was also annoying as when it was tight the screw was difficult to turn (obviously) but it wasn't "smooth"... This new one is a lot better, neater, smaller and clips in nicer.

I shall soon be really testing it when I am the grand canyon. Dawn/Dusk shots.

I would have liked to get a WIDE angle lens, but .... They are just a wee bit too exe' just now. I may get one while over there.

[Mr Felix]

Well, I finally bought one.

Manfrotto 190X Pro.

It came with a free bag as well and it was about $.... 300-ish. It has the better head on it. Not the standard one.

Anyway, on a side note, I learnt that my other tripod which I was using was for video rather than camera. But anyway, accademic now.

Ok, so this new tripod:
It's heavier than my other one. But it is solid.
It also has this "function" where I lift the centre column and press a button and it pivots 90 degrees to the horizontal. This allows low to the ground shots.

But here's a question resulting from this ability:
There are the three axis adjustments. I'll call them Pitch, Roll and Yaw.
All three axis have markers. The ranges on them differ and the pitch and roll don't have full movemnet - but that is to be expected.
Also, they have numbers with a "reference" of ZERO, then numbers in degrees either side. But which is ZERO? I would have though that the axis would have been aligned with each other better. What does that mean? Glad you asked. I'll explain shortly.

The tripod also has TWO bubble levels. One for the legs, and one for where the camera mounts. I can understand that sort of.
I set the tripod so the legs are level so when I do pan shots, their horizon is the same in each frame - less waste when I join them.
Then I have the level on the camera part. This is where I am getting confoused.
If the legs are level and I set the pitch and roll axis to ZERO, then yawing the camera should be all nice and level.
So, without the camera (for ease of seeing the levels) I set up the legs as level as I can. Then I get a torch and set the pitch and toll to ZERO and look at the second level. It's usually ok. But when I spin the top the bubble sometimes moves! That shouldn't happen! Everything is set to ZERO!

Mucking about a bit, I suspect the ZERO and the actual line/mark is to the LEFT of it, not actually "ON" the number. Can anyone help me with that?



Ok, that's pitch and roll. They are sort of understood. YAW, here's a question:
Setting it to ZERO - which I guess in YAW is arbitrary as what is ZERO degrees yaw anyway?

Ok, I set that to ZERO, then I lift the centre stick and tilt it horizontal. To me one of two things should happen: The lens if pointing directly up or down, or is pointing horizontal but the camera is on its side.
If the latter, if I took a shot it would be portrait style. The former, well of the sky or ground.
Instead the lens is skewed looking down. I have to then rotate it (what was the YAW axis) to about 70 degrees to get the lens horizontal then adjust the ROLL axis to 90 to get the camera level.

Ok, not rocket science, but as the axis are numbered - with ZERO being the "NEUTRAL" position, why is it I wonder is it that I need to adjust two axis to take the tripod from the standard mode to the other mode?

It would have made a lot more sense to me if this "70 degrees YAW" was actually the ZERO position so if/when I want to put the tripod into this other mode, all I do is ZERO the YAW axis, extend the stick, flip it horizontal and adjust the ROLL to 90 degrees and the camera is level.


I'd better stop there. I may be digging a large hole for myself.

As usual the pictures are in reverse order to what I wanted them, but the names should help with understanding what is going on.

[William]

Mr Felix, Dont worry about Pitch, Yaw , Roll, Just look through the View Finder / Or Live view, Get the Horizon straight in your mind and take the shot , Dont worry about Level bubbles and Zero marks, Thats all just extra stuff to just confuse you , So long as It's stable and sturdy , It will work , Mate , I still use a $45 Tripod I bought 6 years ago , It's plastic and Aluminium , Works well and I've sold a lot of shots , Dont get too involved with Technicalities of things