VR causing vibration on a tripod

[Coho]

I have a D70 and use an 80-400 VR Nikon zoom on a tripod, Sunpak

800I UT. I do a fair amount of wildlife photos and use this lens at

600mm equivalent on the D70 and use the infrared remote control with

the lens on VR mode for the lens only. Even with the tripod locked

and the remote only, I get a lot of movement from the action of the

VR motor which blurs the image. Anyone else have a similar

experience? (I have just purchased a Bogen Manfrotto tripod with

ball head capable of supporting 3 kilograms and am hoping the better

tripod will eliminate my problem. It should arrive next week.)

[john_carter_rhodes]

VR is specifically designed to work where the camera might be moving slightly, for example, while hand-held. If the camera is completely still, when it's mounted on a tripod, the VR will itself introduce 'movement' of the image.

 

Switch VR off when you have the lens mounted on a camera on a tripod.

 

John.

[michaelkh]

I've seen advice somewhere, admittedly referring to Canon image stabilised lenses, that

says you shouldn't use them when the camera is on a tripod, because the lens can actually

damage itself (knocking inside the lens barrel).

 

Their point of view being I suppose that image stabilisation is of negligible benefit on a

tripod?

[beepy]

You are supposed to turn VR (or IS in Canon) off when you use a tripod. You might want

to look at manual for the VR lens. I believe it is this problem they are referring to. VR is

meant to counter shake due to handheld use.

[Coho]

What about panning to follow wildlife that is rapidly moving? Camera is on tripod during the panning.

[ray paseur]

Nikon advises to turn off VR if the camera is supported on a tripod, but they do not say anything about panning on a tripod. Since VR is supposed to be able to recognize panning, you might find that you can use VR on when you're panning and VR off when you're stationary. I would love to hear your experience panning on a 'pod.

[john_carter_rhodes]

I believe, though I'm not sure, that the more advanced Nikkor VR lenses have a setting where you can still use VR in panning mode. I think that the 80-400 doesn't have this. Using this lens on a tripod mounted camera, switch off the VR.

 

John.

[joseph_smith3]

Also try leaving VR on, but do not lock down the lens on the ballhead. This might make the vibration stop. Joe Smith

[genec]

Yes, you should have the VR turned off but I don't think this is your problem. Your problem most likely is camera shake. With a long lens a remote does not really help with camera shake due to mirror vibration. To counter this, you need to use proper long lens technique. i.e. Place one hand on the barrel of the lens and scrunch your eye firmly against the view finder when you depress the shutter. This will damper any vibration. With a bit of practice you will find that your images will become much sharper.

 

Moose Peterson has a good article about long lens technique in his web site.

[Jerry_]

With the VR 24-120mm lens, a monopod and the VR function can work together. The use of a tripod is not highly recommended.

 

 

 

With the VR 80-400mm lens, the instructions are fairly clear: VR on a tripod is not good. Poor battery consumption, and as you found out: not great images.

[pronai]

When speaking abbout panning, the VR function recognizing panning mainly means that the system is set to react to vertical vibration and horizontal vibration is ignored. The lens, as forementioned by others should have VR off. Even on it does not make the panning smoother. I think it was the video heads or now fluid foto heads used for nice smooth panning. For the vibrations, there is also mirror lock-up which helps, but that I think is not on D70's feature list. I have seen somewhere (never tried myself actually) a setup where the lens was mounted on a tripod and the camera was additionaly supported by a monopod.

Also, maybe if we asked kindly the collegue describing his technique with keeping the camera still by pressing your cheek against it if, I understood correctly, might describe it a little more, it sounded interesting to me to give it a try.

[genec]

Check out this article in Moose Petersons web site. He describes the proper technique very thoroughly. http://www.moose395.net/howto/longlens.html

[ronald_moravec1]

Bogen makes an arm that clamps to one leg of the tripod and the other end to the base of the camera. This keeps a long lens from from see-sawing on the lens tripod mount. It is as effective as two tripods, one for the lens and one for the body, which is a standard practice in some circles.

[robert_friedlander]

The VR should be turned off.

Unless your using the 200-400 f/4 VR which is the only Nikon VR lens to use VR with a tripod.

 

Robert

[steve_muntz]

My experience (OK, one time) with this lens is that you can shoot it at 400mm panning a subject with VR on at around 1/8 to 1/30 pretty easily handheld. I got pretty good results doing this but it was on a film body, so I didn't have a 1.5 crop factor which shouldn't matter much... I'll find the shot if you're interested. The results are as good as putting it on a leveled tripod, and not using VR.

[mats nilson photography]

I don't mean to be rude or anything, but it sounds as if you have bought a terribly insufficient tripod combination. With such a flimsy set, you may just as well leave VR on, I think... Those weight ratings should not be taken too literally. I have an Arca-Swiss B1g which is rated for 90 kg on top of a surveillance tripod that easily supports as much, yet there are times when I could wish for even better support when shooting with long lenses. I think you should experiment to find out what works and what doesn't.

[michael_spencer3]

David,

 

I have the 80-400VR which I use on a D100. I can confirm that you should turn off VR if you have the unit clamped down to the tripod. The results are just unpredicatable. I have had good success with VR and the panning head loose so that I can track moving objects (e.g. horse jumping a gate) without holding the camera/lens combo for hours. Less success with faster moving things like birds (autofocus falls behind).

 

I most recently observed while testing close up magnifications with an extension tube, that I was getting very noticible shake even with the VR off and the camera mounted on a heavy tripod. I tightened and retightened everything with only a small improvement. One suggestion is to place a shim between the bottom of the lens and the top/front of the lens' mounting foot. I didn't have anything handy, but it looks like it would help. There is about a one-half inch gap and if you stuff something in there you will reduce vibration.

 

I finally resorted to using the "mirror delay" feature of the D100. While there is no mirror lock up on the D100 you can set a delay of about 5 seconds or so between pressing the shutter button and actually releasing the shutter. This allows time for mirror slap to quiet down. This made the most improvement in my set up. I will always use this feature for still life photos; For moving objects I prefer hand held with VR on.