___Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

Hi! What ways of absorption of vibrations at shooting with a tripod are you

know?

Use a wood tripod they have very very high resistance to vibrations

Hanging a weight from the center of the tripod may help. But sometimes handholding the camera is best. Your body does a better job of absorbing vibrations from passsing trucks, subways, lowflying planes, etc. than a rigid tripod.

Sometimes I use my hand to put light downward pressure on the tripod collar before tripping the shutter. Don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better....:)

The place to start is the selection of the tripod. In general, you can pick any two of <i>Stiff, Light or Inexpensive</i>.

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The stiffness of the components is a key factor. Starting with the legs: CF>Aluminum, Round>Rectangular>U-Shaped, Short>Tall, 3-Section>4-Section. The quality of the head and mount (especially quick-release mounts) is another factor. If the head is flexible, the camera is not coupled with as well and the camera tends to wobble. Plastic heads and mounts on Discount-Store tripods are the extreme example. Using a column may introduce extra wobble due to fit, but always exaggerate any motion of the tripod because of the extra extension. Wood tripods are very stiff and often inexpensive for their capacity, at the expense of being relatively heavy and often long when collapsed (most have two-section legs). (Hint, how many bicycles do you see made from wood, compared to aluminum or CF?).

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Placing weights on the tripod, (e.g., hanging a bag from a hook on the end of the column) decreases motion induced by wind. Since the coupling is flexible, they have little effect on damping motion caused by vibrations in the legs or the camera itself. Applying a little downward pressure on the camera, directly down the axis of the tripod, helps a lot with long lenses and in windy conditions. A key proponent of this technique is Moose Peterson (qv. http://www.moosepeterson.com).

 

Camera motion due to mirror or shutter vibrations are most serious at exposures longer than about 1/15 second.

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More important are vibrations induced by pressing the shutter without using a cable release. When timing is paramount, I use the <i>Moose Peterson</i> technique. Otherwise, I use a the self-timer or a cable release. For maximum sharpness, I use mirror-lockup (not since the Nikon F5 days) or mirror pre-release (especially with an Hasselblad). For extreme cases, like for star trails, cover the lens with your hat, hand or notebook (not touching) before you open or close the shutter.

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A tripod is useless when vibrations come from the supporting surface. Avoid using a tripod on boats of any size, or on a vehicle when the motor is running. It is especially deceptive on an ocean liner (e.g., an Alaskan cruise) because the engine turns so slowly as to be inaudible. Your camera knows! Hold the camera by hand, or rent a Ken-Labs gyroscope.

I've found an unextended monopod tucked under my belt does quite a good job and allows rapid repositioning.