Tips for steadying the camera on long exposure shots?

[JClishe]

Yesterday I was in Louisville for business and I brought my camera bag with me. Last night I found a nice spot on the Indiana side of the Ohio River and took some cityscape shots of Louisville. Another photog showed up and we were shooting next to each other.

I have Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod legs, a Manfrotto 322RC2 joystick head, a manual shutter release, and was shooting in Live View to minimize shutter vibrations but I was heaving a heck of a time getting sharp shots at even 1 second exposure. The guy next to me was getting tack sharp shots at even 5 seconds. We were shooting on a concrete sidewalk in a park.

What am I missing? Could this be a lens issue? I was using my kit 28-135 at probably around 60mm or so (don't have the EXIF data handy) and we were probably at least a half mile away (shooting across the river). Later in the evening I took some shots of the park I was in, where I was within 50 ft of the subject, and didn't notice any motion blur.

I realize that when your subject is a half mile away, even the most minute of camera motion will ruin the photo, but it was frustrating picking up motion blue at 1 second while the guy next to me was getting sharp images at 5 seconds. My tripod feels heavy and stable, but should I try hanging a weight (or my camera bag) from it? I should also mention that I'm 6'4" and had my tripod extended all the way up. I didn't try lowering it.

 

[OrionsByte]

Did you turn off image stabilization? IS can actually introduce motion blur while on a tripod.

 

[tirediron]

Is this lens fitted with IS and if so, was it turned off? Using any sort of stabilization while the lens is mounted on a tripod can have exactly the opposite of the desired effect; the system can actually induce motion blur into the image. The other culprit, as mentioned could well be having your centre column extended fully. Even on the best tripods, that's not a great idea.

 

[JClishe]

Damn, I forgot all about IS. No, I didn't turn it off.

I didn't have the center column extended fully, there were still maybe 5 inches below the collar. But yeah, it was high. I'll start with IS next and see what happens. Thanks.

 

[joealcantar]

You may also try Mirror Lock-Up that way it does not cause a bounce.
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Shoot well, Joe