Tok noen bilder i dag for å undersøke om jeg kunne se forskjell i skarphet på bilder tatt med vanlig lukker, og bilder tatt med “mirror up”. Jeg greide å se at det var forskjell, men den var på langt nær så voldsom som det jeg opplevde når jeg tok bilder av isklokkene i bekken her om dagen.
Jeg tok bilder med stativet i forskjellige posisjoner, helt utslått, sammenslått og lavt, beina langt ut osv. Det var en stilling på stativet som utmerket seg som dårlig, og det var med beina helt stekt ut og ut til sidene. Men det som gav mest vibrasjoner var når panoreringsskruen på hodet ikke var skikkelig strammet til.
Det er hele 5 skruer for regulering og festing av kamera som kan være kilde til vibrasjoner. Først den som kamera festes med. Denne kan være vanskelig å få strammet skikkelig, særlig når det er kaldt ute. Så er det de to armene som regulerer selve hodet. Men disse er lette å stramme til skikkelig siden de har lange armer. Skruen for å låse panorering kan tydeligvis være en liten luring. Om denne ikke er strammet skikkelig, så er det rom for at kamera kan vippe litt fram og tilbake. For å unngå dette så må jeg stramme den skikkelig til. Til slutt er det den lille skuen som låser midtsøylen fast, også her er det rom for litt slake om jeg har slurvet med å skru skikkelig til.
(Jeg har ikke et Acratech Ultimate Ballhead slik som på bildet her, men jeg vil gjerne ha……)
Jeg har søkt litt på ulike sider, og funnet ut at det er en og annen fotograf som melder om vibrasjoner ved bruk av nettopp stativet Manfrotto 190. Her er et par av utsagnene som jeg har funnet. Det fins selvsagt mange som taler disse tvert imot.
- “I have noticed slight vibration issues when shooting at 200mm +. The mirror slap on my 20D causes a vibration in the tripod which takes about 2 seconds to calm down.”
- “I bought a new 190 here and I’ve found that the thing vibrates like a tuning fork.”
På siden til Tom Hogan er det en sak som er en liten tankevekker. Her er et utdrag fra siden:
Here’s the usual sequence that most photographers go through in getting to a stable platform:
- First they try handholding. Eventually, they realize that their results aren’t as sharp as those of others.
- So the next step is to work on improving technique. Elbows get tucked, the camera is braced against stable objects, they stop holding their breath, etc. But that doesn’t solve every problem or work in every situation. And it certainly doesn’t always work for very long lenses.
- Next comes VR. After all, it’s designed to take equipment movement out of the shot. It does, but it’s not infallible, nor does it solve every problem, especially as you start trying to take two-second shots of waterfalls to get milky water action.
- Now we find our photographer at the store buying a tripod. It’s one of those low-cost tripods with braces between the legs (that’s gotta make it stable, right?) that weighs a couple of pounds and has nice looking aluminum legs (US$75). This solution seems to help with the middle focal lengths, at least. But eventually the bottom section of one of the legs gets a bit bent and doesn’t collapse back into the other sections easily. And with long or heavy lenses, the head “creeps” when the camera is pointed downward. The whole thing shakes in the wind, and you can’t get down to ground level for shots. In fact, the photographer finds that they’re spending way to much time fighting the tripod rather than taking pictures.
- Since it seemed the light legs had to be part of the problem, the next step is buy a heftier pod (US$125 min; US$200 spent so far). That usually turns out to be one of the classic Bogen legs (3021 is popular; these days also the 3001) with the two handle pan/tilt head. This solves one of the problems: the bottom leg section doesn’t get bent with use. And used correctly, it solves the basic stability problem, as the 4-pound weight and sturdy legs at least give the whole thing a solid base. But now the problem seems to be that our photographer is constantly fiddling with the head (pan/tilt heads were designed for video cameras, not still cameras). Getting the camera level becomes a chore. Getting a scene locked down doesn’t always work the first time, either (that head sag, again).
- So we start the procession of the heads (US$50, US$75, US$125, US$200, plus eventually some proprietary quick plates at US$25 or US$50 each; US$700 spent so far). The first attempt at a new head will usually be a “better” variant of what they had, or perhaps a very small, cheap ball head. Neither will fix the problems our user has, and the primary problem will still be getting the camera level quickly, so the next head is usually the “pistol grip” type, because it seems to be “faster.” Problem still not corrected (and verticals are now a bit of a problem), so we start the ball head parade. The first “decent” ball head will be one of the Manfrotto (Giotto) heads, perhaps with a built-in plate system of some sort. That starts to work better, but the photographer still finds that the camera moves a bit when they turn the knob to lock the ball. And some of the plate systems have just enough slop in them that the compromise the stability of the entire system (another problem is that few of them “grip” the camera bottom in ways so that they can’t be turned; they eventually work loose and end up marring the camera bottom’s finish). So we try another, larger ball. Still, our prototypical photographer doesn’t “go all the way” just yet because it seems ludicrous to spend US$350 on a head that mounts onto a set of US$125 legs, right?
- The legs are starting to make their shortcomings known. They don’t let you get down to ground level (or, if you’ve got the Bogen with the “trick” centerpost, the stability isn’t great in some positions). And the whole concoction is starting to get a bit on the heavy side (depending on the legs and head, perhaps as much as 7 pounds). So a set of Gitzo carbon fiber legs is next on the list (US$550; US$1250 spent so far). Upon acquisition of decent legs, it immediately becomes clear that the head is the sole remaining problem point, so…
- Our photographer breaks down and buys a Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Markins, or an Arca Swiss ball head (US$350 plus US$100 or more for plates; total spent: US$1700 or more). A few folk take a short detour here and buy something like the Linhof Profli II ball head (US$250). And they find that that head fixes every problem except one: the darned thing won’t stay firmly screwed onto the legs without using Locktite on it.
So, for more than the cost of one pro grade Nikkor (with filters and a new case to put it in) the photographer can finally see the quality of their lenses.
Or…you could just skip all the intermediary steps and buy the final solution first.
Nåvell….
Jeg får vel bare begynne å lete etter stativ og hode med det samme…..
