How do I minimize mirror slap on Pentacon 6?

[always_wanderlust]

Is there a way? I have a somewhat decent tripod and I swear the

ground shakes everytime I press the shutter on this camera.

[stuart_whatling]

I had a Practisix (Pentacon 6 clone) many years ago and I also suffered from mirror-induced shake at slower speeds. The problem is not so much the strength of the tripod is but how tightly the mounting-plate grips the base of the camera. Only thing I found which made any real difference was to hang my fairly heavy camera bag under the tripod with the strap over the top of the pentaprism (assuming you're using one). Needs a sturdy tripod but that extra ballast weighing the camera down does help to dampen the vibrations. Not much help if you're using the waist-level finder though.

 

If it's any consolation, the earthquake-inducing mirror in my Bronica S2 is even worse.

[kevin_lee5]

This can be treaThis can be treated as a mechanical vibration issue. To dampen the vibration for a system (your system is a camera plus a tripod), in principle you can either increase the mass (weight) of the system or increase the stiffness of the system; or, increase both.

 

Hanging a camera bag or a sand bag below the tripod center column will help. Make sure to have a very tight coupling between your camera and the tripod head will help. Or, do both. Of course, a heavier and stiffer tripod will help, too.

 

Kevin

[richard_p]

As Kevin said, you need a mass to adsorb the vibration. I have not noticed any impact caused by the vibration in my pentacon. I use a heavy duty tripod with a gear head. The steel gear head weighs 6-7 lbs alone. Check 2dreammaker on ebay who has a great selection of tripods at basement price.

 

Richard

[b_kosoff]

You may want to experiment with an alternate approach. I have the very

heavy and large metal Gitzo tripods, the kind used to hold an 8x10 camera 8

feet off the ground, I also have some Gitzo Carbon fiber tripods. Clearly the

carbon has little weight in comparison to the metal ones, however carbon

fiber is an interesting material, it does not resonate like metal. I have tested

cameras on both tripods, with the same Arca swiss ball head, and have found

that the CF tripod vibrates very little when you tap it, and that vibration seems

to die down very quickly, whereas the metal tripod, for all it's mass, seems to

ring like a crystal glass and continues to do so far longer than the CF one

does.

[OCULUS New York]

Strategically placed mini-marshmellows. If it's humid enough, they actually double as a lock-up.

 

Yum!

Ray Hull

[fred_mueggelhopper]

Vibration from mirror slap should really be pretty much

a non issue with your Pentacon. The mirror goes up just

before the exposure is made, but it does not return to position

until the film is wound again. Yes it is loud and noisy, but not

nearly as vibration prone as the instant return mirror MF slr.

[stuart_whatling]

The tripod mounting area on the Pentacon's base plate is a small circular protrusion which only has a very narrow area of contact with the tripod head plate. So with this particular camera, it doesn't matter how big and heavy the tripod and head are, what they're made of, or how much weight you hang from the bottom of the centre column; the main area of vibration is around the point where camera and tripod meet meet, not within the pod itself. Hence my point about hanging a weight over the top of the camera because that's the only place where damping is going to help.

 

And for the record Fred, vibration induced by the slap of the mirror frame against base of the focusing screen mount just before the shutter curtains open IS a problem with these cameras. Instant return mirrors are no worse in terms of camera shake because the return happens after the exposure is completed.

[h._p.]

This one will run and run :-)))

 

I'm looking at a 16x16 picture of a kitten, shot with a Pentacon Six, and it looks sharp enough to me. From memory (I shot the picture thirty odd years ago) I used a bean bag, which presumably absorbed a lot of the vibration. Mind you, I'm not convinced by these arguments about mirror slap. Perhaps the people who complain about it are used to 5x4 cameras and contact prints.

 

Cue the egregious Brian Kossof and one of his rants about now...