rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle

I've used the light weight Manfrotto BeFree tripod for a lot of night and long exposures and never had a tripod problem. I'd try a 2 second delay before the expense of a new tripod. Oh yeah, and make sure that the incline isn't docking while you're shooting if you're on that platform

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

No photo attached. Oops now I seem them.

I think the focus is off.

mth412

re the incline. I'll try to add a delay for my next shoot.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

Agree with the experts on combo of movement. I took some photos of Reno lights (cropped down) from the seat of a moving car and captured fairly decent shots. All hand held using VR lens on D810. In order to eliminate blur I cranked up ISO. What shocked me was no windshield reflections.

Have a peek.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-515776-1.html

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

looks like camera/lens movement. Long exposures, required: Good tripod, add weight to the center post if needed in breezy conditions. Lock everything down tight on the tripod. Go to manual focus. Lock up the mirror if your camera has one. Use a remote shutter release or self timer. I hope that this helps

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Definitely movement, with the possibility of focus issues as well.

With a rock solid tripod and remote shutter release.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-574456-1.html
--Bob

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I don't want to disagree with the folks who have just replied above, but it is extremely suspicious to me that where the image is doubled (the lights on the bridge in particular), both images are identical. Statistically, I'd expect that one would be brighter than the other if the camera moved at a random time. The implication here is that the movement was exactly in the middle of the exposure. Not impossible, but certainly not the most likely circumstance. Do you remember any particulars around when you released the shutter? Did you have your hand on the camera for half of the exposure, then remove it? Was the camera or lens securely tightened to the tripod? Is there vertical play in your tripod mechanisms, especially the vertical tilt movement? (The visible shift is almost perfectly vertical.) It doesn't take too much movement to produce this effect. I had an old tripod with slack in the tilt movement, and it would do this very same thing. Almost every time. Life was much better after I replaced it.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

"(The visible shift is almost perfectly vertical.)"
Mirror slap comes to mind. But at that focal length, I don't know if it would be that noticeable.
--Bob

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I was thinking that in a 2 second exposure, anything like mirror slap should manifest as a very short deviation, and that the image from it would therefore receive much less exposure from it than from the bulk of the time...these images are equally exposed.

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

Now that I have gotten a chance to view this on my computer display, there is no question that you had camera movement. The amount is about 7 pixels, small enough to be shutter shock. But the 1 sec exposure and the 280° angle of movement is throwing me for a bit of a loop. In any case, take a look at the attached image to see if it appears any better to you. There is not much that can be done with this image, but at least knowing you have movement should help.

While mirror lock up, remote shutter, and shutter delay certainly won't hurt - none of the above will counteract shutter movement induced blur. BTW, exposure delay is actually a combination of mirror lockup and invoking the self timer.

Here is a quick analysis and a super slow motion video of the mirror getting out of the way and the shutter opening and closing.

https://photographylife.com/what-is-electronic-front-curtain-shutter

What is important to note is that the last vibration-causing internal mechanism movement is the shutter opening AFTER the mirror is up. An excellent tripod and head will quickly dampen and minimize the effect of the movement. But as you can see, the shutter movement alone can, and does, cause movement - and all the other measures, other than using a camera with electronic front curtain shutter and/or an outstanding tripod and head may be fools errand. Or not. You should definitely test with various shutter speeds, mirror up, exposure delay, and hanging some weight from the camera (not the tripod). If there is a breeze, evel a light one, if the tripod is shaky, it will diminish sharpness.

A good tripod and head will solve a lot of your issues. In any case, it wouldn't hurt to have a solid platform to shoot from.

Nikon users may want to note that using EFCS will generally only work if you enable mirror lock up at the same time. Go figure.

The D750 does not have EFCS.

Here is another illustration with slo-mo:

https://www.discoverdigitalphotography.com/2015/what-are-mirror-slap-and-shutter-shock/

(Download)

Railfan_Bill Loc: "Lost Wages", Nevada

Hi Mth, I agree with the majority of the people that it seems to be camera movement. What could have caused this... Anyone's guess from touching the camera, mirror slap, curtain movement, or a host of other things. BTW, even walking around the camers can cause movement if the ground is not stable. BTW, was this shot at the West End Overlook. It looks like. I thought it might be from the Incline, but it seems too distant to get get all the Ft. Pitt Bridge in the view. BTW, I lived in Pittsburgh until I left to join the navy and only been back there about three times. Lost Wages for me!!! RFB

mth412

Hello;

Yes the shot was taken from the West End Overlook. Everyone seems to agree that it is a combination of camera movement and imperfect focus. I will continue to work at it and see what I can improve.

mth412

Thank you for all of the information. I have seen some people suggest placing / holding a black piece of cardboard in front of the camera, trip the shutter, then move the cardboard away. When the exposure is complete, bring the cardboard back, then close the shutter.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

WHY are you putting a UV filter on the lens for night shots. All it is doing is reducing light transmission, because there is no UV to worry about at night.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

JD750, a UV filter doesn't cut down any light passing through it. Well, to be accurate, the amount of transmission loss is negligible. That said, I remove my UV filters for night photography simply to remove a reflecting surface and thus remove the possibility of stray light bouncing around between the front of the front element and the back surface of the UV filter.
--Bob