Lens Vibration: Stir but Don’t Shake

[Michael Erlewine]

One of the problems with getting increasing sharp lenses (and extending them) is a smaller version of what long-telephotos have – everything shakes!

I have a small studio on the second floor of our home. I am in the process of emptying out and selling my larger studio because it is too far away, about half a block. LOL. But getting me out of the house in winter and down there is very difficult, although it is a 40x40 foot building with two and a half floors and huge space and high ceilings. But that’s just me.

Anyway, the problem is that I live in an old-ish house and the floors are not steady. With finer and finer lenses and especially at higher magnification ratios and especially-especially if I magnify focus, the world shakes like a leaf on a tree, which is terrifying for a photographer doing still photos. Ouch!

What to do? It is so bad that, even if I am just standing quietly and not moving in the room, my breathing (or whatever) causes the subject to slightly shake – just being there! At first I could not believe it. Nothing was moving, including me (as best I could), yet still there were these nano-quakes going on! The bottom line is that this is not good for taking photos. Yes, I get somewhat decent phots, but somewhat decent is not what I have to get out of these lenses.

And of course, I tried building little buffered pads for me to stand on, hopefully isolating ME from the floor, but it seemed to me like instead of isolating, it only “features” me as the shake-dancer. LOL.

So, floor treatments (aside from rebuilding the entire room) with cement don’t work. Then I had a bit on an idea. The floor shakes, but the foundation of the building does not, or only minutely. What not hang a heavy shelf off the walls to hold my subjects. I did and it works great to isolate the subject. I used this for a while and it isolated the subject, but still left me, myself, and I as the culprit. Just out there standing in the room, even holding my breath, the vibrations found their way up the tripod (which is on the floor, of course) all the way to the camera and lens. And they shake!

I tried all kinds of ways to isolate the tripod feet, including the astronomical pads, many kinds of isolation pads, gooey-stuff, and on and on. No matter how I piled the isolation pads, there was still movement.

Next, I tried hanging a second shelf off the wall and put both the subject and tripod on a large board. That helped some, but mostly succeeded in transferring the camera shake from me touching it to focus to the subject being photographed. As they say, “Close, but no cigar,” well, closer.

My next attempt was to build a second shelf unit (again, off the wall), but isolated from the unit with the subject. So, in the middle of the night I built second set of two shelves, again them hanging off the wall, but not touching the floor. And on this I put a second board, one just for the tripod, but, as mentioned, separate from the subject.

By Golly, this works! The subject, which is hanging of the wall on a shelf does not move. The tripod shelf, also hanging off the wall on a board supported by dual shelves does move, except when I touch the rig to focus. I can move around on the floor now (and breath, which is healthy) and there almost no transfer of vibration.

The penalty, which is there anyway, is that with each touch of the focusing, there is an after-shake, as we might expect. I have to wait a few seconds for the whole thing to calm down and then take the photo.

I am already using the silent-shutter on the Nikon D850, so there is no mirror-slap, only the vibrations that stem from touching the focus barrel. However, if you are stacking 100 or so photos, that is a lot of wait-time, but that’s the price I pay for removing the shake.

So, now I can move around the floor and do the stuff I have to do without affecting the subject or the tripod/camera with added vibrations. I do find myself sitting down to photograph, since extending the tripod legs adds to the shake-component. Take this particular rig outside into the Michigan winds? Not likely!

Here is a quick photo taken with the Nikon D810 and the newish Nikon 8-15mm Zoom of the system. That’s a Nikon D850 sitting on a Novoflex focus rail with an rail knob that allows finer movement. On the D850 is the Schneder Macro Varon 85mm lens, with two PK-13 Extensions tubes (55mm total), and three K-3 rings as a hood. That sits on the Arca-Swiss Cube, sits on a Series 3 RRS tripod.

And the whole thing, as mentioned sits on a board held by two 20” steel shelves extending out from the walls. And the subject, an African daisy sits on two separate shelves that hold a thin board. Sorry about the mess, but that’s usual with me, stuff all around. There are also a couple of paper-wrapped bricks and two video sandbags on the wide board, just to see if they help.

Any suggestions on dampening the tripod/camera from when I touch to focus would be appreciated. That is where all the vibration comes now. I have a 3-second delay on the camera, after I decide it has calmed down enough to chance that.

This is a partial stack. Look at the area inside the blue ellipse. That’s about as good as this lens will do. I will do a large portion at some point. There ARE other lenses too that should not be shaken.

Why bother with all of this? Well, why bother anything? LOL.

[Alaun]

Is the shade mounted onto the tripod? That could cause some movement from circulating air.

[beryllium10]

Michael, another thought re sources of vibration.  You mention using the electronic shutter and 3-second delay, but are you actuating the shutter by cable release, by hand, or by self-timer?  A few years ago I had an opportunity to photograph the southern stars on a trip through central Australia, and discovered that simply having a cable release (MC-30) attached to the camera was enough to shake a high-magnification 30 second exposure.
 
I was using a complicated set-up with a 300 mm f/4 AFS lens on a D810 on top of a cheap star-tracker on top of a latitude wedge on top of a Gitzo tripod; not microphotography, but very vibration-prone like your arrangement.  There was no perceptible breeze, no-one else walking about, no nearby vehicle traffic, etc.  Initially I used the electronic first-curtain setting with a 3-second delay to start the exposure, which gave enough time to hang the cable release carefully from the tripod and walk a few steps away before the shutter opened.  I assumed this would be enough to keep the rig from shaking, but not so.  After trying everything else I could think of, I finally discovered that disconnecting the cable release and tripping the shutter with the exposure-sequence controls gave vibration-free exposures up to 30 seconds. 

Don't know if this is your problem, but may help others working at high magnification.   Cheers,  John

[Michael Erlewine]

Michael, another thought re sources of vibration.  You mention using the electronic shutter and 3-second delay, but are you actuating the shutter by cable release, by hand, or by self-timer?  A few years ago I had an opportunity to photograph the southern stars on a trip through central Australia, and discovered that simply having a cable release (MC-30) attached to the camera was enough to shake a high-magnification 30 second exposure.
 
I was using a complicated set-up with a 300 mm f/4 AFS lens on a D810 on top of a cheap star-tracker on top of a latitude wedge on top of a Gitzo tripod; not microphotography, but very vibration-prone like your arrangement.  There was no perceptible breeze, no-one else walking about, no nearby vehicle traffic, etc.  Initially I used the electronic first-curtain setting with a 3-second delay to start the exposure, which gave enough time to hang the cable release carefully from the tripod and walk a few steps away before the shutter opened.  I assumed this would be enough to keep the rig from shaking, but not so.  After trying everything else I could think of, I finally discovered that disconnecting the cable release and tripping the shutter with the exposure-sequence controls gave vibration-free exposures up to 30 seconds. 

Don't know if this is your problem, but may help others working at high magnification.   Cheers,  John

 I hear you, but I am shooting in Live-View with magnification turned on so I can see whatever vibration is there. My cable release is held so as not to contribute, but if I did, I could see anything that happens. I turn the focus, wait a couple seconds and then hit cable release on a 3-second delay. So that is not a problem. I could get a wireless remote and am considering doing that. But, as far as I can see, the only vibration now (unless a do something stupid) comes from the effort to move the focus forward a bit.

I could move to a heavier tripod and that might help some. Or I could move to using a motorized focus rail, but wonder whether their movement causes vibration. That is a possibility. Thanks for the suggestions. Folks, keep them coming.

[basker]

Michael,

I would like to know your opinion of the stock RRS feet? I am using some brass spikes that were intended for a subwoofer, but they have not been on long enough for me to know if that will help.

Sam

[basker]

Anyway, I was wondering if you could laminate a thin sheet of steel to your shelf and replace the tripod feet with magnets. The vibrations should settle faster than a tripod sitting on rubber bumpers.

[Seapy]

Michael, not quite sure why you are using a second shelf.

 I have a photography stage planned myself, 60 KG (130Lbs) of perfectly flat polished Westmoreland green slate, the densest, it was once a fireplace hearth, quarried barely two miles from here.  Four foot long and a foot wide, two and a half inches thick.   It will be attached end on to the wall with 5/8" bolts of my house wall with a (very) heavy bracket, it won't touch the floor.  I won't be using a tripod, I have a two foot long piece of inch and a half stainless steel bar which I will be clamping very firmly to the slate in the manner of an enlarger stand, camera can be screwed or clamped to the post and the post will slide up or down.  I doubt that will vibrate...

It's lying in the floor next to my bed, ready and waiting.

I have other projects in the pipeline so it may happen this year, or not.  Depends if you continue to arouse my enthusiasm for stacking at your current rate!   

[Michael Erlewine]

Michael, not quite sure why you are using a second shelf.

 I have a photography stage planned myself, 60 KG (130Lbs) of perfectly flat polished Westmoreland green slate, the densest, it was once a fireplace hearth, quarried barely two miles from here.  4 ft long and a foot wide, to be attached end on to the wall with 5/8" bolts to my house wall with a (very) heavy bracket.  I won't be using a tripod, I have a two foot long piece of inch and a half stainless steel bar which I will be clamping very firmly to the slate in the manner of an enlarger stand, camera can be screwed or clamped to the post and the post will slide up or down.  I doubt that will vibrate...

I have other projects in the pipeline so it may happen this year, or not.  Depends if you continue to arouse my enthusiasm for stacking at your current rate!   

I have explained it in the article. Trial and error proved to me that the two (subject and tripod) work best separated from one aother, but each hanging of the wall-structure. Putting a heavy slab in the second store of out house I do not believe will stop the vibrations I am looking at, which are very fine. I have stopped them via this method, aside from the vibrations from turning the focus barrel. That seems to be solved by delayed shutter, but it takes more time.

[Seapy]

If it works I won't knock it.  Sometime an off beat suggestion can trigger another idea.  My solutions a rarely conventional! LOL

I feel the two bonded together with mass should, if they do vibrate, they may be in harmony? but I think it's the camera release (and probably the operator) who are the villains here, As you have already suggested.

Good luck with it, I will follow with interest as always.

[armando_m]

If it vibrates after touching the focus ring then I'll think the tripod or the head allows that vibration

I have the same problem with my astrophotography, but once in focus I do not touch it again as oposed to the constant adjustment needed for your stacks

[Michael Erlewine]

Well, how’s this for amazing:

This morning I went to our basement and set up my system to see if there is camera shaking on cement. There was no shaking. I could turn the knob on the focus rail to advance it and it was all smooth. That was expected, but still interesting.

Then I went to the main floor and did the same in the kitchen and living room. Almost no shaking and what was there died out almost immediately. I told myself I may have to do more shooting around the house and not in my little studio.

And so, with a sigh, I marched back up the narrow stairs to my tiny studio, where all the shaking lives. And just for kicks, I placed the tripod on the bare floor, ignoring the floating panel suspended from the walls. And, to my ASTONISHMENT there was very little shaking that died out quickly, mostly my moving around. What’s going on here?

I then went to my floating panel and set up there and there was all the kinds of shaking I have been talking about. The only explanation I could figure was that perhaps some days the whole house shakes in the wind or... something.

And so, I tore out the floating panel and all the work I did on it. And I had just finished binding the panel to the supports with heavy bolts and wing-nuts. LOL.

So, as they say around here, go figure.

I may just pay more attention to shake and put some shutter delay on when I detect any shakiness.

I spent a day or so building it up and then tore it down in ten minutes. Thanks for all the help. At least, I am MUCH more aware of all this than I used to be.

Here is an image with the Nikon D850 and the Schneider Macro Varon 85mm ...with no shake.

[Seapy]

Hey, Michael, just talking about it can help find solutions.   

[arthurking83]

.....

And so, with a sigh, I marched back up the narrow stairs to my tiny studio, where all the shaking lives. And just for kicks, I placed the tripod on the bare floor, ignoring the floating panel suspended from the walls. And, to my ASTONISHMENT there was very little shaking that died out quickly, mostly my moving around. What’s going on here?

....

I think we've discussed this topic before.

The problem with your house(in fact not just your house) is the timber trusses used.
Timber flexes a lot. While it's strong it's not rigid.
This is why you get vibration when you move around. It's not really vibration, just the opposing flex in the trusses on one section as you walk on the other part of the floor.

Quick and easy solution would be to tile(floor tiles.. thicker, maybe 10mm or so) the floor of the studio. Tiled properly. They add a lot of rigidity.

My house is a cruddy old run down ramshackle dwelling. Timbers are old(but strong hardwood), not the newer engineered softwood laminates they use nowadays.
But it flexes like crazy. I can walk 3(odd) meters away in my kitchen and have the camera setup on a tripod in the rear most room, and I still get shakes from the camera.

I had the washing machine going one day to do the laundry, about 5-6m two rooms away from my rearmost room. The washing machine was on it's spin cycle, I couldn't feel the vibrations travelling throughout the entire rear floor of the house, but the camera clearly displayed it.

In my bathroom, I've had some very nice, expensive marble tiles laid over the same wooden floor(over a sheet of cement sheet first, as is usual practise). Living room is the same distance apart from laundry.

With the washing machine going and deliberately set unbalanced, I get vibrations in the living room(about 10-15m away), but basically zero in the bathroom(same distance).
That was worst case scenario tho ... the washing machine was deliberately set to wash only one garment to be as unbalanced as it could be set to work.
With a normal load in the wash, I don't get the vibrations in the living room tho.

So your two options for the studio would be.
Tile the floor with some good quality floor tiles. Note that wall times are cheaper, but thinner(usually about 3-6mm) floor tiles are 6-10mm thick.

The other building works that you could have someone do for you is to add metal supporting beams to the timber trusses in the floor/ceiling interface.
A lot of work tho that means either the floor of the studio needs to be removed, or the ceiling downstairs needs to be removed/replastered.

Best case situation for you would be both metal supporting the trusses and tiling the floor. Eliminate the flex in the trusses and floorboards.

There are other options for an overall improvement to the rigidity of the floor, but all based on the same principles.

Many years ago we used to have a very large shop(restaurant) premises, that was an old historic building(protected). We had to add metal supporting to the upstairs floor structure to accommodate the people we were expecting to fill the upstairs section.
The steel truss supports were very heavy, 6mm thick plates(about 15-20m long each) two pieces sandwiched each old timber trusses, and then bolted to the brick walls at either end. Each timber truss was substantial itself, and a series of columns along the middle of each truss.
Whilst it did cost about $10K for us back then, the metal costs were minimal compared to the labour and machinery cost component.
But once done, the difference in how much more rigid the upstairs floor was was amazing.
Apart from some small amounts of looseness in the very thick floor boards (approximately 125years old!), it went from a creaking nightmare to the rock solid feeling of the downstairs concrete floor.