Camera ShAkE?

[jubbin2001]

Has anyone ever exerienced this? I was setting up alot of macro shots today, and in the view finder everything looked sharp as could be. Before hitting my remote I double checked the view finder, just to be sure it was still in focus. I hit the button, and bam blurry image. I never once came in contact with the camera or the tripod. I was away from it when I hit the button, almost the entire length of the wire for the remote. There was nothing moving on the floor, above me or below me. Everything was pretty still. When I would look back into the view finder, it would still be the same sharp image. I dunno, it's just frustrating. Could it be my tripod is the culperate? I know it's not the best, my brother gave it to me, just because he got one that was much better. Could it be happening due to the shutter causing the camera to vibrate on a junky tripod? I know I want to find a better one, but right now it's just not in the cards. I was just hoping to find a cause. Thanks!

 

[Ls3D]

The camera's viewfinder shows the full aperture and can be misleading. A DOF preview button may help if you are not stopped down too far. Post one of these blurry shots for better feedback.

-Shea

 

[Overread]

look up "mirror lockup" in your camera manual and if your camera supports that mode use it. with a remote release on a tripod it provides a very stable shooting point as the shake from the mirror moving up is lost.
Macro can really show up any movment in a shot - and even some very tiny creep in triopd heads that is never visable at other uses. Try to make sure that your lens and camera are well balanced over the tripod so as to limit any possible creep in the assembly. Wind is also another key contributing problem and even light gusts can cause blur

 

[UncleRico]

Has anyone ever exerienced this? I was setting up alot of macro shots today, and in the view finder everything looked sharp as could be. Before hitting my remote I double checked the view finder, just to be sure it was still in focus. I hit the button, and bam blurry image. I never once came in contact with the camera or the tripod. I was away from it when I hit the button, almost the entire length of the wire for the remote. There was nothing moving on the floor, above me or below me. Everything was pretty still. When I would look back into the view finder, it would still be the same sharp image. I dunno, it's just frustrating. Could it be my tripod is the culperate? I know it's not the best, my brother gave it to me, just because he got one that was much better. Could it be happening due to the shutter causing the camera to vibrate on a junky tripod? I know I want to find a better one, but right now it's just not in the cards. I was just hoping to find a cause. Thanks!

I'm a noob, but I just learned that if your lens has vibration reduction, you should turn it off when shooting on a tripod. That helped me.

Ryan

 

[jubbin2001]

Overread,
I have mirror lockup on my D80....though when I use it I have to turn off the camera to get it unlock. When I do that, it doesn't take any kind of an image. Apparently it's used for cleaning and that's it. I have been going through the book, and that is all that's mentioned on it. Anyone know of a way to incorporate what Overread is suggesting?

Ryan,
Yes I learned as well to take the vibration reduction off as well, thanks though. In this case I am using an older AF Vivitar 100mm Macro lens, and there is no VR on it. I do appreciate the input :mrgreen:.

 

[Overread]

hmm check under custom functions - there should be a separate mirror lock up feature not for cleaning which locks the mirror up on the first press of a shutter button - then you fire the shutter with a secod press (or it fires on its own if you used a timer) and then the mirror flips back down again.
As far as I know the other method just flips the mirror and won't activate the sensor anyway.

 

[OldClicker]

My Sony A350 doesn't have a mirror lock up, so I know what you are up against. First, hang a 10# dumbbell off the bottom of your center post on the tripod. (Also, the center post should be all the way down.) That will stabilize the legs. Now push down lightly on the front of your lens. If it moves, your head isn't solid enough. Look for ways to make it more solid. If you cannot get it to quit moving, you need to find something different. (Does it come off?) I have a Slik U 8000 that is unusable for macro shots. I did get it to hold still (just to prove to myself that this was the problem) by hanging a weight off the front of the lens. I would NOT recommend this solution.

Also be sure that the subject is perfectly still. I slight breeze will move a flower enough to make it a blur. Or, inside with a light box, be sure you table is solid and that the furnace fan isn't running.

You can also use a faster shutter speed, though I find that I want the aperture closed down more (resulting in a slower shutter speed) to get depth of field. Another way is to use a very fast flash pulse to simulate the short shutter speed while keeping the aperture closed down some.

TF

 

[jubbin2001]

This exerp was taken from another site I googled.

"Your D80 has a exposure delay mode to minimize camera shake instead of mirror lock up which is used only for sensor cleaning. With the delayed exp delay mode setting selected, your shutter triggers a fraction of a second (0.4s) after the mirror has swung up and the vibration has died down. You can access this function via menu, custom, exp delay mode."

So now back to the tank after switching it on :thumbup:.

Thanks again all!!

 

[xtort-]

I have had good luck using the self-timer mode for my 1/10 shots and slower since my camera won't take a remote shutter release. Click, step back, and 2 seconds later have a photo. This is really ghetto though, since my subject might change in those 2 seconds. Its all I have, so I do what I can with what I have.

 

[jubbin2001]

Here are 4 sample images taken with the exposure delay enabled. I am VERY pleased with the results, for taking about 5 min. to take them

Wow, I don't remember ever coming across that setting before....Thanks again all, you have really helped out alot!!

 

[Ls3D]

Awesome 5 minute shots! &... Awesome that you learned a new feature today thus enabling a few others to learn too.

-S

 

[jubbin2001]

Thanks for the compliments. Tomorrow I th ink I will get a little bit more in depth and try to really pull out some stops now that I have the vibration thing figured out. Again I would like to thank everyone for their input and compliments....figures I would have to try and start with one of the harder subjects to capture in a difficult format (macro). Heh, we all have to start somewhere I suppose :mrgreen:.