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Thread: Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

  1. #11

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    Re: ___Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Gentile
    I've heard of this before, but it seems like it would create a pendulum. No? I've never tried it for that reason.
    Bob,

    It's entirely possible that there could be a pendulum effect, no doubt. But, you would, of course, wait until the swinging stopped before clicking the shutter... just as you would not click the shutter when a breeze is blowing briskly. In other words, you would wait for the "opportune" moment before taking the picture!

    And, of course, if there's a brisk wind blowing constantly... yes, a pendulum motion would most likely result. Gale force winds... for sure!

    Give it a try and see for yourself whether this technique works or not!

    Cheers
    Life in the fast lane!

  2. #12
    Abuser of God's Sunlight
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    Re: ___Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Gentile
    I've heard of this before, but it seems like it would create a pendulum. No? I've never tried it for that reason.
    This is why an engineer would tell you it's a complicated subject. vibration damping is tricky. A weight will change the resonant frequency of the tripod ... which might be good or not. What you're really trying to do is dissipate the vibrations as quickly as possible. The theory involved is so complex that it's probably bettter to find a way to check for it and then try different things to see what works best.

    I do find that my heavy wood tripod seems to give sharper results more often than my flimsier metal one ... but who knows if this has anything to do with damping. It might just be because it's more stable in the wind.

  3. #13

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    Re: ___Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

    Quote Originally Posted by paulr
    This is why an engineer would tell you it's a complicated subject. vibration damping is tricky. A weight will change the resonant frequency of the tripod ... which might be good or not. What you're really trying to do is dissipate the vibrations as quickly as possible. The theory involved is so complex that it's probably bettter to find a way to check for it and then try different things to see what works best.
    Assuming that the tripod and all it's parts function as a single rigid body (which is basically highly improbable) - hanging extra mass off it increases the wavelength of any vibrations that can affect it (lower freq.) - this can be pretty effective. Another way of dispersing higher frequency vibrations is to set the legs to three different lengths - this CAN, in theory, prevent buildup of a single frequency, and in fact create some cancellations - but unless you do an impractical amount of math on this, it's a total crap shoot - and you run the risk of actually making things worse.

    What I'VE always thought would be kind of a neat idea is to bring along a 14-16 inch auger/screw and screw it into the ground - attach the other end via cable to the head and then tighten down a turnbuckle placed in the middle of the cable - with a nice, big gitzo - you could probably crank that thing down to a few hundred pounds of tension. I'd imagine this would be nearly as stable as shooting from a concrete caisson (column buried in the ground).

  4. #14

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    Re: Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

    of course - god help you if you wanted to change your camera position last minute...!

  5. #15

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    Re: ___Absorption of vibrations of a tripod..

    Quote Originally Posted by paulr
    "... I do find that my heavy wood tripod seems to give sharper results more often than my flimsier metal one..."
    Same here. My "flimsy metal one" is an old Marchioni Tiltall and my wooden one is a mongo surveyor's tripod. That bad boy will hold me steady in a gale force wind! After a cursory comparison, the Tiltall is used for 35mm exclusively.

    Quote Originally Posted by JW Dewdney
    "... What I'VE always thought would be kind of a neat idea is to bring along a 14-16 inch auger/screw and screw it into the ground - attach the other end via cable to the head and then tighten down a turnbuckle placed in the middle of the cable..."
    And tune it to concert pitch! Ha! If you can't shoot with it, you can PLAY it!

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