JCullman

Looking for advice on tripods. I have a Nikon 810 and want to take 1/4 to 15 sec photos. Current tripod seems to amplify shutter vibration. Using live view to eliminate mirror movement which feels like a cannon ball when it goes off. You can physically see the movement.

JR45 Loc: Montgomery County, TX

What is your current tripod?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

In this case, bigger and heavier is better ....add weight to the tripod if need be.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Buy carbon fiber, forget aluminum. Get a good one too, don't scrimp.
"Buy once, cry once."

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Carbon fiber has less vibration. Weigh down as necessary.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

What focal length lens(es) are you going to use?

jeffhacker Loc: Dallas, Texas

Just a quick question: are you using Mirror Lock when using the tripod? That might help with the tripod vibration.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

If that were true, my 12.65 lb aluminum Bogen 3051 tripod(load capacity 26.4 lbs) with it's 2 leg sections, braced to the geared center column, and it's companion 3 lb 3047 3-way pan/tilt head (load capacity 16.6 lbs) should be so much more "stable" than my 4 lb Feisol CT3472 (load capacity 66 lbs). Trust me, if such were the case I'd still be using it. It wasn't even close.

It's not that simple to say that Tripod weight = stability and dampening. While I never worried about putting a 15 lb camera and lens on it my Bogen (I used to use it with my Sinar P 4x5 without hesitation), When I tried it with my 300mm lens on a 35mm camera, it vibrated, even with the center column fully retracted.

I purchased a Gitzo Series 3, which was fine with a 300mm lens but vibrated with a 500mm lens. That was expected as Gitzo only rates their Series 3 to be stable with up to a 300mm lens. I returned the Gitzo, since I had also recently acquired a 500mm lens. And waited a couple of months for the Feisol CT-3472 to be released. It was stable, and it completely dampened vibration caused by shutter as well as the mirror, and it weighs 4 lbs without the head, 7.5 with a Manfrotto 393 gimbal on top.

Vibration from shutter movement usually occurs between 1/25 and 1/200 sec with my D800, it was a bit different with my D300S, and since it occurs as the very last thing after you press the shutter, after the mirror vibration is largely dampened, it is the culprit in many cases of micro-vibrations. A cheaply cheaply constructed aluminum tripod is going to have a hard time dampening these vibrations compared to a well designed and constructed carbon fiber ones. Oh, and the weights of both will be similar, with the aluminum being about 1.5 lbs heavier and offering far less stability, despite its 15 lb load rating.

Load capacity and tripod weight are NOT are not synonymous with vibration dampening, nor are they good criteria for comparing and selecting a tripod. Top tube diameter, as explained by both Really Right Stuff and Gitzo, however, is great bellweather for tripod performance. Now you can argue that tripods with beefier legs (and correspondingly larger platforms) are "heavier" than tripods of similar construction and materials. Yes, I have no disagreement with you on that. But across platforms and comparing aluminum, which "telegraphs" and amplifies camera-borne vibrations, and carbon fiber which does not, I think you are comparing apples to pineapples. Both have apple in the name, and both are fruit, but they are very very different in nature.

Long lens use, and macro are both high magnification applications. Therefore they need more stability than say a wide angle lens focused on a waterfall which is far less prone to vibration. It's the reason why it is far harder to hand hold a camera for long tele and macro than it is for landscape.

Virtually every tripod manufactured, even the sub-$100 ones, have the load capacity to support most digital cameras and lenses. But only the better made ones with thick legs will be stable.

I have presented factual data in the past along with personal experiences with everything from a $150 Leitz Tiltall to a $3000 Linhof tripod, in a variety of shooting situations, and I use a 300 lb Cambo studio camera stand with an Arca-Swiss geared pan and tilt head.

Here, once again are the articles by RRS:

http://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/choosing-a-tripod-part-1/
http://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/choosing-a-tripod-part-2/
http://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/choosing-a-tripod-part-3/

And the Gitzo tripod catalog in the attachment. See pages 13-15 for a good description of their design philosophy and how they correlate leg section diameter to stability.

One last thing

So that is the reason I asked the OP what lenses he intended to use, and not what camera he has.


Here are some thoughts by a respected long-time blogger, Thom Hogan on tripod specs and selection.

http://www.dslrbodies.com/accessories/camera-accessories/camera-accessory-faq/what-do-tripod-specificatio.html
http://bythom.com/support.htm

And a great summary article by Nasim Mansurov - on how to reduce camera vibrations. Hint - using a cheap, unstable tripod and trying to make up for that mistake by using mirror lockup, remote release, and shutter delay is not a good way to proceed.

https://photographylife.com/how-to-reduce-camera-shake-on-a-tripod

And here is a test procedure to determine if your tripod is stable enough.

https://digital-photography-school.com/is-your-tripod-sturdy-enough-lets-test-it/

Last point on adding weight to a less stable tripod to make it more stable. You will see this recommended over and over again. But it won't improve vibration dampening. Sure it will minimize the chance that it will blow over in heavy winds, but if the top of the tripod is inherently less stable, attaching a weight will do little to dampen camera vibrations from shutter and mirror. Attaching extra weight directly to the camera will help a lot more than hanging it from a tripod hook. The cord or strap can resonate with high enough winds adding to the problem, btw.

Here are some analyses on camera vibrations that may be helpful in getting a better understanding of where vibrations come from and how to deal with them.

http://1000wordpics.blogspot.com/2013/10/mirror-slap-versus-shutter-shock.html
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/the-shutter-vibration-issue-explained-by-joseph-holmes/
http://blog.kasson.com/the-last-word/mirror-slap-and-shutter-shock-on-the-nikon-d810/

I know you and I will disagree on this until one of us passes on. But my opinion is clearly supported by actual data and my own personal experience and that of others, and your's seems to be less so. My recommendation is to get a good quality tripod that will serve your needs today and in the near future, rather than go the budget route, then replace, once, twice or even three times - until you end up with the right tripod. Much easier and cheaper in the long run to buy the right one at the outset.

Lastly, I know you will like this guy's opinions on tripods. After all, he uses a "body pod" similar to yours.

http://www.digitalbirdphotography.com/4.1.html

Gitzo Product Catalog
Attached file:
(Download)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Not knowing what legs you are using I will offer two suggestions. Rather than Live View, have you tried using a 2 sec delay on shutter release? Live view still has to close the shutter, then open it again, all of which causes vibrations that cannot be dampened by a less adequate tripod. Look at my response to Imagemeister's suggestion for a lot of detail and some helpful links.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

indurotripods.com They are very good and reasonably priced for what you get.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

What a great article by Mansurov on camera vibration...everyone should read this if they read nothing else; really informative.

JCullman

It is a Sunpak 7000. I am hoping the tripod is the problem, but the Nikon 810 seems to have a lot force delivered to raise the mirror and fire the shutter.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Things like a large contact mounting area to the camera body/tripod collar, proper balance over the head pivot point, - indeed the head itself and it's mounting also come into play. Also, using a camera body like a SonyA99 with a non-moving mirror ( or NO mirror) can also help you.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Get a better tripod a carbon fiber Induro makes excellent ones