Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: armand on March 12, 2015, 10:14:36 am
-
What is reasonable to expect from a tripod relative to wind blowing around?
I thought my Gitzo 1541T was over what I really needed for a D750 with the bigger lenses being 24-120 F4 and 70-200 F4 but on a recent trip the wind was blowing quite hard and my camera looked as if I had Parkinson's with the 24-120.
I attached my backpack with some reduction but the only way to get sharp pictures was by leaving the VR on (shutter speeds were in the 1/20 to 1/40).
The reason I'm asking is because at that time I had the feeling that even a bigger tripod wouldn't have solved the problem, only reduce it at little. I could get a bigger tripod for when I expect high winds and I don't have to carry it for long distances (eg. Beach) if I knew they would be effective.
-
Shorten the legs.
-
use a heavier tripod- ( or hang some weight on it)
I have 3 tripods ( 1kg- 3 kg and 7kg) they all are good enough depending on the circumstances...
I do not believe in very expensive tripods-the cheaper ones will do for me.
I do believe in very well made heads. ( so no RRS tripod for me ( i use some Velbons/Manfrotto) but yes i like very much the RRS ballheads)
-
I have noticed that the effect of wind on my setup depends critically on which lens I am using. The shorter lenses with smaller hoods are less effected than, say, my 70-200 with the long lens hood. If the vibration is due mainly to the torque arm of the lens-hood combination, a heavier tripod may not be of great benefit. Even shortening the legs may not be a good solution, although getting closer to the ground often reduces the winds effects. Perhaps a really industrial strength head will help; I haven't tried that.
-
Shorten the legs.
Good idea and I usually use the shortest length I can away away with, particularly if the conditions are suboptimal, but was not applicable here. I was shooting from that tower (second picture) and inside was similar to the first photo I attached (slightly shorter walls) so shortening the legs wouldn't have helped. If anything the legs were partially shielded from the wind by the walls so it was mostly what nma said If the vibration is due mainly to the torque arm of the lens-hood combination
.
In all fairness it was quite windy but any ideas for future improvement would help. Because of the shutter speeds the VR worked and I got those shots (not really worth much looking at them now) but I might get in a situation where the shot would be much nicer.
-
One thing I did is to get a tripod collar for my 70-200/4. It changes the balance and makes the whole structure more stable. I think taking off lens hood is a good idea too, but it didn't occur to me at the time.
-
Tying the tripod to the ground is a good idea. I use a cord with a loop so I can fasten the apex of the tripod to something heavy on the ground, e.g. a big rock, a day pack, a stuff sack with some rocks in it, etc.
It is important to make sure that the weight is on the ground so that it doesn't swing and pendulum around in the wind and make matters worse. I have rarely found the little hook on the bottom of the centre tube (for a day pack?) to be very effective. A heavy weight tends to pull the tube down and if you hang a day pack or camera bag off it, they rarely touch the ground.
-
Tying the tripod to the ground is a good idea. I use a cord with a loop so I can fasten the apex of the tripod to something heavy on the ground, e.g. a big rock, a day pack, a stuff sack with some rocks in it, etc.
It is important to make sure that the weight is on the ground so that it doesn't swing and pendulum around in the wind and make matters worse. I have rarely found the little hook on the bottom of the centre tube (for a day pack?) to be very effective. A heavy weight tends to pull the tube down and if you hang a day pack or camera bag off it, they rarely touch the ground.
I do the same with the pack, just I made an extension to the handle with a 3/4" wide nylon strap and Nylok buckle and slider from the local fabric store for about $10. Packs down small in a corner of the bag and allows me to get the bag on the ground while hooked to the center column hook. I've used a couple of them to bind lightstands up to the tripod as well for transport. Quiet handy items.
Another is to splay the legs out further if your tripod has that ability for the legs at the yoke. Splay it far enough and it will scoot on the ground and not capable of falling over.
Oh, take off any wind sails like shoulder straps too!
SG
-
One thing I did is to get a tripod collar for my 70-200/4. It changes the balance and makes the whole structure more stable. I think taking off lens hood is a good idea too, but it didn't occur to me at the time.
Taking the hood off might have helped. The 24-120 F4 is not small but is quite chubby, no place for a tripod collar.
It is important to make sure that the weight is on the ground so that it doesn't swing and pendulum around in the wind and make matters worse
That was happening so I was stabilizing the backpack with my leg so it doesn't move. I used to carry a cord with me for this purpose but I didn't get to use it on the past so I didn't have it with me.
-
In addition to using a heavier tripod, perhaps with some weight attached, a wider leg spread on the tripod helps a lot too. A Gitzo Series 3 is the smallest tripod I use but it can still shake given enough wind. (It's actually vibration, not visible shaking). I think the RRS Series 3 is better in this regard. The Gitzo Series 5 is rock solid in nearly any condition, regardless of the lens used.
-
Yep, annoying. I have dealt with this some by holding a large windblock next to the camera and long lens, in cross-wind situations where the long lens is catching the wind. Short legs is good, but may not be an option. I happened to be shooting from the top of a parking deck, so short legs would have netted me a fine view of the concrete wall.
-
I've handled this problem much more simply. After I set the self timer, i just press down on the tripod head with a force much greater than what the weight of my pack would be. I get sharp pictures. And I've never seen any impact of my pulse or me moving on the images. Test it on a calm day with and without hands and see if you can see any difference in your files. I couldn't. I can't vouch for how well this works on really long exposures, but for what I normally do....down to maybe 3-4 seconds, it works.
Brad
-
What is reasonable to expect from a tripod relative to wind blowing around?
I thought my Gitzo 1541T was over what I really needed for a D750 with the bigger lenses being 24-120 F4 and 70-200 F4 but on a recent trip the wind was blowing quite hard and my camera looked as if I had Parkinson's with the 24-120.
I attached my backpack with some reduction but the only way to get sharp pictures was by leaving the VR on (shutter speeds were in the 1/20 to 1/40).
The reason I'm asking is because at that time I had the feeling that even a bigger tripod wouldn't have solved the problem, only reduce it at little. I could get a bigger tripod for when I expect high winds and I don't have to carry it for long distances (eg. Beach) if I knew they would be effective.
1. More mass (Tripod or hung weight or trap tripod down)
2. Shorten Legs
3. Mount directly to Apex no center column.
4. Block the wind if possible. I've used a 3 ft square Wescott reflector before because it is what I happened to have on hand.
5. Firm contact with the ground. Using spiked feet can help, especially in fields and other areas where the tripod isn't sitting on the ground.
6. If possible, alter your angle at the subject so you make the camera setup profile smaller.
I bought a D810 about 5 months ago and I have to admit that it is the 1st DSLR I'm really not axious about raising the ISO a little to gain shutter speed or aperture. While I almost always shoot at ISO 64 on a tripod, if I have to, I will bump it up a stop or 2 and sacrifice the DR to get the shot sharp. The ISO noise just isn't as big an issue as on my older bodies.
-
With speeds of 1/20 to 1/40th of a second, I would likely have dispensed with the tripod and trusted the image stabilizer. Of course I'd have shot extra frames (the old photo-j trick of shooting 3 pix on high speed advance often gets the second frame much sharper than the others -- not sure if it still applies with I.S.).
If I were shooting something that required the precision of a tripod (a stitched pano, for example), then I don't know anything beyond what you already did. High winds are tough.
-
With speeds of 1/20 to 1/40th of a second, I would likely have dispensed with the tripod and trusted the image stabilizer. Of course I'd have shot extra frames (the old photo-j trick of shooting 3 pix on high speed advance often gets the second frame much sharper than the others -- not sure if it still applies with I.S.).
With a Fuji yes, those speeds are doable. With the Nikon no, not even in good conditions. I need at least 1/FL with VR enabled.
-
And while we are at it this is what I was trying to photograph
-
Looks like plenty of light and no huge dynamic range. I would shoot hand-held at higher shutter speed and ISO then.
-
And while we are at it this is what I was trying to photograph
Reminds me of shooting in the Pali Pass on Oahu!
BTW, I've also used those SportBrella (http://www.sport-brella.com/sport-brella-xl) things in windy places. A friend has one that actuall goes to the ground and can be staked down. Takes 5 minutes to setup, but I've shot at the beach wrapped inside one.
(http://www.jabberingjessi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/DSC_0240.jpg)
-
With a Fuji yes, those speeds are doable. With the Nikon no, not even in good conditions. I need at least 1/FL with VR enabled.
My condolences! On my Nikons I can usually shoot hand held w/o VR at 1/FL, depending on the lens. Depending on the lens and conditions VR normally buys me 1-3 stops.
-
I also have the 1541T. I use this with an RRS BH25 head when I want something super light and compact.
I have actually used this with my 5DmkII with 70-200. Everything stated already is a must. However, I have also found one more trick.
I use an RRS bar and clamp from my panoramic rig on the ball head in order to shift the camera backwards. This lets me balance the weight over the center of the tripod. This has always made a huge difference for me.
The 1541 is surprisingly solid for its size compared to whats out there.
-
I also have the 1541T. I use this with an RRS BH25 head when I want something super light and compact.
I have actually used this with my 5DmkII with 70-200. Everything stated already is a must. However, I have also found one more trick.
I use an RRS bar and clamp from my panoramic rig on the ball head in order to shift the camera backwards. This lets me balance the weight over the center of the tripod. This has always made a huge difference for me.
The 1541 is surprisingly solid for its size compared to whats out there.
I was thinking about buying a pano rig from RRS anyway so I might try this one.
It's funny how relative things are. If I wanted something "super light and compact" I get the Sirui 025x (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/917559-REG/sirui_bsrt025x_t_025x_carbon_fiber_tripod.html)
-
Not clear what type of photography you are doing, but if you are not shooting action shots, then consider more stable heads. For landscape, still, and close-up photography I now use the Swiss-Arca C1 Cube geared-head, which is much more stable than my RRS ball heads. I never use anything else. For action shots I use a heavy gimbal or the larger RRS ball head.
-
In that venue, how about giving up on the tripod all together and use a sandbag on top of the wall instead?
If you need a tripod for whatever reason, I would advise the following:
- Keep 2 legs short and lay them on top of the wall, possibly with a low angle,
- Hang a pack from the hook (you need a hook of course), make sure the pack touches slightly the ground of the side wall to prevent it from generating additional oscillations.
On top of that, you may want to consider the following too:
- Check for critical sharpness on the spot and increase ISO to reach higher shutter speeds in case you can't get something tack sharp at base ISO,
- Think of using a wider aperture for higher shutter speed and use DoF stacking to regain the DoF you couldn't achieve in one shot.
Cheers,
Bernard
-
I was thinking about buying a pano rig from RRS anyway so I might try this one.
It's funny how relative things are. If I wanted something "super light and compact" I get the Sirui 025x (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/917559-REG/sirui_bsrt025x_t_025x_carbon_fiber_tripod.html)
Got that right. My light tripod is an RRS 34L at about 5lbs. Considering my previous tripod was almost 9lbs, it actually is light.
-
I've handled this problem much more simply. After I set the self timer, i just press down on the tripod head with a force much greater than what the weight of my pack would be. I get sharp pictures. And I've never seen any impact of my pulse or me moving on the images. Test it on a calm day with and without hands and see if you can see any difference in your files. I couldn't. I can't vouch for how well this works on really long exposures, but for what I normally do....down to maybe 3-4 seconds, it works.
Brad
I think Lloyd Chambers did some testing on this with good results with tripods of reasonable heft.
-
"Taking the hood off might have helped. The 24-120 F4 is not small but is quite chubby, no place for a tripod collar."
As well as using ballast hanging from the tripod another thing I've tried recently to add stability in windy situations is to mount the camera to the tripod head using the Really Right Stuff CB-10 with an FAS clamp for the body and the CB-YS: Long Lens Support (http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/Shop/Long-Lens-Support-Packages/CB-YS-Long-Lens-Support.html) to support the barrel of the lens. I've tried this with the 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. No sure if it adds much stability but it seems to help.
-
Thank you for all the suggestions, some might work for me and I hope others will benefit from this topic also.