On Tue, Aug 10, 2004 at 03:25:29PM -0400, Henry Posner wrote:There MUST be other possibilities. I've used lenses that long with no mirror lock-up on tripods and gotten razor-sharp images. Are you attaching the lens+body to the tripod via the lens' tripod collar or the camera tripod thread? Are you extending the tripod's center column - this is ALWAYS a compromise as use of the center column really compromises most tripods. Are you sure the blur you're seeing is motion and not a focus issue? Are you evaluating the original film - negs/slides or prints?
The mounting question I answered already (but not yet if you are reading your mail from oldest to newest). I'm using the mount on the tripod, not the camera. I'm pretty sure that gigantic lens would tear my little plastic camera body in half.
The center column is a no. I'd hate to tip my tripod over with my expensive lens on it. I use it all the time on a wide lens to bring the camera up higher, but not for a heavy telephoto. I've heard that for really sharp images I should not even extend any of the tripod legs, but for the shot I was making I needed all the sections extended to get up over the crotch of the tree.
I'm pretty sure its not a focus issue since I locked everything down and then just cycled through the apertures in Av mode to compare the shots.
The 300D is the Digital Rebel, so there is no film. :)
The things I've read on the internet, and the emails I've gotten from this question lead me to believe that my first action should be to
replace the head.
In a previous post you stated that you shot at the smallest aperture; f/45 or something. In 35mm, you will not get a sharp shot at f/45 with any lens, although long lenses are somewhat better than short ones. At f/45 the lens will be diffraction limited, and approaches pinhole performance. Try the lens on the tripod at f/8 or f/11 if shooting at 400mm.
As far as tripod stability is concerned, it is an individual thing that depends on the tripod construction, the mass and moment of inertia of the camera/lens assembly and, of course, wind and camera induced vibration. I have shots taken with a 400 and a 2x converter (other brand) that were sharp on medium weight (3 series) Gitzo, yet were unacceptable on a Gitzo 509 with no column and Foba head, and only half a section extended. This tripod is massive, and goes up to 11' under some circumstances. I've used it successfully with 8x10 cameras at full height, shooting with a 600mm lens.
I don't know the tripod you are talking about, and it might just plain be too light and rickety, but try shifting the weight by hanging your camera bag over the lens at various points, and shoot at no smaller than f/11. You will probably be able to get sharp shots. Also note that shutter speeds of 1/4sec to 1/15sec are probably the worst for camera induced shake.
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