D600 sharpness question…..something I can’t figure out.

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<p >I noticed something I can’t quite explain while testing my Nikon 300mm f/4 lens on both my D600 and D300. Both camera’s set up: Aperture mode, f/8, ISO 200, Auto WB, 5sec delayed timer, RRS tripod and ballhead.</p>

<p >On the D600, shooting a stationary target (my neighbor’s electric meter from about 30ft away) the images were not sharp (noticeably blurred) at any shutter speed below 1/160sec. Even though the flag in my neighbor’s yard was barely blowing, I attributed the blurriness to the wind, even though it was barely noticeable. However indoors, same settings and tripod mount, the images were sharp well below 1/160sec. (The D300 was sharp well below 1/160sec indoors or outside.)</p>

<p >I can’t figure out why the D600 shots were blurry below 1/160sec........only outside.</p>

<p >Does anyone have any ideas why I’m seeing this behavior?</p>

<p >Is that small amount of wind having that much of an effect? Small leaves near where I was set up were not moving at all.</p>

<p >If it's wind, could the difference in weight between the D600 and D300 give much sharper pictures below 1/160sec.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Mel</p>

<p>Since the D600 is FX, it has a much larger mirror; potentially that can contribute to the vibration.</p>

<p>Are you using mirror lock up or that one-second (or multiple seconds) exposure delay?</p>

<p>Some thoughts:</p>

<p>1) Outside, the tripod is not solid or is being perturbed by external force - the wind, passing traffic, etc. The ground may transmit vibrations that are damped inside. </p>

<p>2) Mirage effects caused by air movement and heat.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Could this be caused by the different focus length's between your outdoor and indoor shots. I presume your focusing on a point that is further away outside than you are on the indoor shots.</p>

<p>Have you gone into the setup menu on the D600 and AF fine-tune to create a profile for your 300mm f/4 lens. I had much sharper images on my D600 on both my Nikon 70-300mm VRII lens and my Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 lens once I had set up profiles for each. Interesting that both lens's required -15 adjustment to create the sharpest image.</p>

<p>John</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for the replies:<br>

<br /> Shun, I didn't use exposure delay or MLU but I did use 5sec timer. if the mirror was the source of vibration wouldn't I'd see that indoors at low shutter speeds as well?<br>

<br /> Brooks, I'm pretty sure that there were no ground vibrations and the wind was minimal. The temp here in NE Florida yesterday was hi 60's, low humidity and the D300 didn't exhibit this problem.<br>

John, The distances were different, but not much. I'm estimating that outdoors target was 30ft away and indoors target was 25ft away.<br /> I have not done any lens alignment for any of my lenses on any of my cameras. I take a tripod mounted shot of a target from 10-15ft away of something with fine detail and if the pic and the target look close, I'm happy. <br>

Mel</p>

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<p>Shun, I didn't use exposure delay or MLU but I did use 5sec timer. if the mirror was the source of vibration wouldn't I'd see that indoors at low shutter speeds as well?<br /><br /></p>

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<p>Does the mirror flip up at the beginning of that 5-second delay or at the end?</p>

<p>Since I am not familiar with your test procedure, I am afriad that you need to figure that out youself.</p>

I would guess a difference in balance - the stability of the 300 f/4's tripod foot design has been

criticised on a number of occasions. It may be worth wedging something between the foot and lens

and seeing whether it helps.

<p>Some variables to take into account:<br>

The original AF-S 300/4 tripod collar - poor. If it is mirror induced blurring, then there is a an exposure time around which it is at its worst. This time can be camera type dependent.<br>

Tripod support - the quality of the ground/floor can have an effect. Moss, grass, concrete, wood.<br>

Delay - better to test with MLU or with exposure delay (1- 3 seconds). Delay is the one you get with the timer (2, 5, 10, ,,seconds). Exposure delay flips the mirror first then waits and then trips the shutter. Normal delay just waits the set time, flips the mirror, makes those vibrations and trips the shutter. ;-)<br>

FX versus DX cameras - may react on mirror vibrations differently and on different time point.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I have not done any lens alignment for any of my lenses on any of my cameras. I take a tripod mounted shot of a target from 10-15ft away of something with fine detail and if the pic and the target look close, I'm happy.</p>

 

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<p>I presume the reason for your post is that your not happy.</p>

<p>One other thing to consider is the light levels between indoors and outdoors is the auto focus struggling in the lower light conditions of the indoors and thus not giving you a crisp sharp image. Also maybe the subject hasn't enough contrast for the auto focus to snap on, The auto focus will have trouble on a flat even coloured object. Make sure your focusing on an edge of an object with some contrast between it and the background.</p>

<p>Doesn't the D600 have Liveview? That would surely be the best way to ensure sharpest focus and abolish mirror vibration. Personally I wouldn't use AF for lens sharpness tests on a camera that offers Liveview magnified focusing. It also lets you see any air turbulance or slight tripod vibration quite easily.</p>

<p>Thanks for the input, guys. I'll try a few things and update this post in a day or so.<br>

Mel</p>

<p>Kari is right - 300mm f/4 tripod collar is poor.<br /> If you take a picture on a tripod from 1.5 m you can see, that even the shutter movement makes the combination shake :0 (with self release and shutter delay) - you can see this from live view after exposure.</p>

<p>If this is the 300 f/4 AFS lens it's probably the tripod collar coupled with the mirror shake. I had issues on my D300 when I first got the lens. The RRS collar fixed that.<br>

If I remember correctly the 5 second delay doesn't prefire the mirror. The is a mode on the D600 that does this; d10: Exposure Delay Mode. You can set this to 3 seconds and the camera will raise the mirror, wait the set time and then trip the shutter.</p>

<p>I'd also lean towards the tripod collar; the D600 is a bit lighter than a D300 so in wind, this might make the combo just vibrating a bit more.<br>

Another thing obviously to consider is 24 MP versus 12MP - at 100% magnification, the D600 will show a lot less, and every micro-movement will reveal itself more.</p>

<p>Well, after additional testing I've concluded that it's mirror slap. With a delayed exposure (d10 on the menu) of 3 seconds, the images are sharp. I tried 1, 2 and 3 seconds delay and 1 was a little better, 2 was acceptable and 3 seconds was sharp.<br>

I tried wedging something between the lens and the foot but that didn't improve anything. Only delayed exposure cured to problem.<br>

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.</p>

<p>Mel</p>

<p>Thanks for the update and glad you found the problem and a solution to it. I did notice that My shutter / mirror on my D600 was quite stiff and loud for the first thousand or so shots. It then started being a lot quieter and smoother in operation. If your camera is still very low shutter count then maybe yours will improve as well over time.</p>