VR and a tripod.

A

alltaken

Suspended / Banned
Messages
204
Name
Steven
Edit My Images
Yes
I've heard mention on here that the VR function on Nikon lenses should be switched off when using a tripod as it may do more harm than good.

Is there a real difference between it switched on and off on a tripod?

Reason I ask is that last night, I tried to take a picture of the moon with my 55-300mm and was quite disappointed with the results, especially as I've taken as good hand held with it (though that was when it was still light outside so higher shutter speed). I realised afterwards that I had left the VR on.

My camera doesn't do mirror lock up, so I had it on the self timer. This was the result (heavily cropped).


Moon by alltaken2012, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
You need to buy a trigger for one :thumbs: even with a 10 second delay there could still be vibration in the tripod after ten seconds depending on how it was set up :shurg: and yes always turn of IS/VR/OS when your on a tripod :thumbs:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
All forms of VR/IS/OS assume that there is motion by default, even when there is none and will try to compensate for it. This could be why your moon shot is blurred, but it is probably down to tripod wobble. Try taking a shot in live view (if you have it) zoomed in to the maximum and you will see how the tiniest touch to the camera shakes the whole image like mad. It can take a second or two for everything to settle down even after the lightest touch.
 
Okay, thanks for the advice everyone. I'll look into getting a remote trigger, so long as they don't cost the earth. :)
 
This is how they use 'Mirror Lock Up' on the D3100...

One genuinely useful characteristic is that, like the D7000, the D3100 holds the mirror up all the time in live view mode, and doesn't have to drop it down to reset the shutter and make the exposure. As a result, you can use live view as a proxy for mirror lockup to minimize vibration when shooting off a tripod, in concert with either the remote release or the self timer. Simply enter live view to flip the mirror up, then release the shutter a couple of seconds later when any vibrations have died away.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi Steven, I brought a remote trigger from eBay, cost under a fiver and was the best equipment I've brought and most important for taking landscapes. Didn't know about taking vr off when on tripod so hopefully this will help in future,
 
AFC said:
This is how they use 'Mirror Lock Up' on the D3100...

One genuinely useful characteristic is that, like the D7000, the D3100 holds the mirror up all the time in live view mode, and doesn't have to drop it down to reset the shutter and make the exposure. As a result, you can use live view as a proxy for mirror lockup to minimize vibration when shooting off a tripod, in concert with either the remote release or the self timer. Simply enter live view to flip the mirror up, then release the shutter a couple of seconds later when any vibrations have died away.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Hello Martin, I hadn't thought of LV, I'll certainly give that a try, thank you.

woody12 said:
Hi Steven, I brought a remote trigger from eBay, cost under a fiver and was the best equipment I've brought and most important for taking landscapes. Didn't know about taking vr off when on tripod so hopefully this will help in future,
Click to expand...

Thanks Woody, I'll pop off and have a look at ebay.

I knew photography would be an expensive hobby, but never realised how much. :D

Camera
Bag
Lens
Filter
Bigger Bag
Filter
Another lens
Even bigger bag.
Tripod etc etc
 
weybourne said:
Were these without a tripod?
Click to expand...

With tripod, and I've just realised that I've named them incorrectly. Will sort out now to avoid confusion.

Edited, sorted now.

Was surprised just how dramatic a detrimental affect turning vr on has when on a tripod.
 
Last edited:
I'm surprised also, being a noob i leave it on and to me it makes a big difference. Why does it have a detrimental effect when its on a tripod? Surely the reduction feature would just cease if there is no movement?
 
Shooting hand held there will always be some movement for the VR to deal with. On a tripod it tries to compensate for movement that isn't there so effectively moves itself.
 
Steven, dont know what your EXIF is for the moonshot, so could you elaborate ?

Remember the moon is constantly moving, so slow shutters speeds will not help at all. I've got my best moonies ( ooer matron ) by using 1/125th, 1/160th, or best of all, 1/180th, or 1/250th and perhaps an Ap of f8 / f11 using the lowest ISO possible without too much noise, so maybe ISO 100 or ISO 200, or 400 if you have a DSLR with good noise control

The moon's light is reflected sunlight, and many people say use daylight WB, but i shoot RAW so this doesnt bother me, so i shoot Auto WB, as i'll just fix any WB issues in ACR

The first shot was taken 2009 with an older Pentax K10D, an even older ( well older ) Tamron 1970's 70-350 zoom, Tripod, remote cable with 2s MLU. No VR on that 30 year old lens ! ISO 100, 1/180th, either f8 or f11, zero EV, centre weighted meter

updrm5iwp3.jpg


The next shot was last year when i used a Pentax k-7 ( hopeless with noise control ) and used an adapted astro scope to fit the K-7 ( called Prime astroscoping or Prime astrography )

This one i tried at ISO 200 so i got a slightly faster SS of 1/250th ( no bad thing ) but again f8, or f11, zero EV, tripod, remote 2s MLU, centre weighted meter

gdhs63mvyl.jpg






Not the best moon shots you'll ever see, as i dont practice enough, as my subject passions lie elsewhere
 
Last edited:
gad-westy said:
Did a little test shot earlier (yes, I'm bored!). Results below.
Click to expand...

Hello Graham, thanks for taking the time to do that. I'm shocked to see how much difference there is between the two.

VR off on the tripod in future. :D

Tonto said:
Steven, dont know what your EXIF is for the moonshot, so could you elaborate ?

Not the best moon shots you'll ever see, as i dont practice enough, as my subject passions lie elsewhere
Click to expand...

Hello Tonto, certainly much better than anything I've done. :)

300mm
F8
ISO 400
1/10 sec

As mentioned, I used the self timer to take the shot. The one posted above was the best of a bad lot. I did find that I had to under expose quite a bit to get the highlights down to a manageable level.
 
Steven, your shutter speed was hopelessly slow mate :cool: Were you taking shots on a semi cloudy night ? You really really need crystal clear skies for a great moonie.

What's noise control like on your 3100 ?

Wait for a pristine evening, then try again

In aperture priority set aperture to f8, ISO 100 and see what shutter speed you get. If its less than 1/125th, change to ISO 200, or 400 and keep going till you hit at least 1/125th but higher is better

Or, set ISO to Auto, use Shutter Priority and set speed to 1/180th, ( you can choose 1/125th or 1/160th and see which one comes out best ) and check which ISO speed the camera picks. If its reasonable for your camera, ( i dont know how the 3100 deals with higher ISO noise ) then go for it.

It can also help to hang a weight off the end of your lens. I have a DIY bean bag i made from spare material, and glued it together in the shape of a long tube, poured in some seeds to about 3/4 full only, as you need some spare room for draping over the lens. Also, try hanging a weight off the centre of the tripod under the ball head or pan head. Make sure the weight touches the ground so it doesnt swing about
 
Last edited:
Just to add some confusion, is it not the case that some lens are supposedly able to detect when they are on a tripod, so adjusting the VR accordingly? Example would be the Nikon 70-300 VR.
 
johnnypanic said:
Just to add some confusion, is it not the case that some lens are supposedly able to detect when they are on a tripod, so adjusting the VR accordingly? Example would be the Nikon 70-300 VR.
Click to expand...

Not sure about that. My 70-300 VR certainly needed VR switched off on a tripod. The only thing I'm not clear on is what happens if you switch VR to active mode and then use it on a tripod.
 
Active mode is for when you are on a moving platform.
 
AFAIK, you do not require Active mode for panning, the lens will recognise this when you are panning.

Could have sworn that I read somewhere that this lens would detect, when it is on a tripod, therefore disabling vr.

Suppose the best advice, is to switch off vr, when on a tripod and keep life as simply as possible.
 
when doing pan shots, always use normal mode!

active mode is ONLY in a moving and/or vibrating platform. (eg idle coach)

i too have read about VR is able to detect when it's on tripod......
 
Cheers for clearing that up chaps.

Fairly comprehensive article on the whole VR thing here. Seems it's a bit of a grey area:

Quote from article:

"I've been holding off on the tripod issue to the end of this article, partly because it's not as clear cut as Nikon seems to think it is. But by now you've probably turned VR off, anyway ;~). Part of the problem is that Nikon hasn't clearly labeled and distinguished their various VR system iterations. Technically, the VR II system on some of the modern lenses should detect when the camera is on a stable platform and not try to jump in and correct. But not all modern lenses have what most of us regard as the full VR II. The recently introduced 16-35mm, for example, comes long after the intro of VR II, but it does not appear to have tripod recognition. Thus, we have another rule before we get to the real rule"

Full article here:

http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm

Meant to add, my sample images above were a 70-200 VR1 which clearly doesn't have any means of detecting a stable platform.
 
Last edited:
Mine is the VRII. Next chance I get, I'll try the settings kindly suggested and take shots with the VR on and off.

Thanks all. :)
 
What if Steven had used a 2x TC with the 55-300mm, would you still recommend leaving VR off?
 
Bletch said:
What if Steven had used a 2x TC with the 55-300mm, would you still recommend leaving VR off?
Click to expand...

Would a 2x actually fit the 55-300? Regardless, I don't see that changing anything regarding VR other than VR possibly not working anyway.
 
Well, I'm not sure what would be an ideal test for this, but today I set up the 55-300 on the tripod and tried taking test shots of various things at 300mm with the VR on and off, and to be honest, I couldn't see any obvious difference between the shots.

Perhaps there would be a more obvious difference in low light / longer exposure situations? I'll try the moon again with the VR on and off when conditions are a bit more favourable.
 
im flabbergasted by that brick test. What about doing a similar one with hand holding though just to prove VR actually has a use?
 
nice one :) thanks for that. Im still amazed VR mucks up a shot on a tripod like that!

Im getting "image unavailable" place holders for those 2 but you can still click through and see them.
 
Had a bit of a blonde moment there :lol: Looking at the 2 pictures I wondered how we knew which one was with the vr on and which had the vr off :thinking:

What a plonker :bonk:
 
Conditions were a bit clearer tonight, so I took two pictures using the tripod at the same settings, one with VR off and the other with it turned on. I've tried to crop / adjust both as close to each other as possible.

Can't see a difference between the two, so I'm thinking my lens can detect the tripod?

VR OFF


VR OFF by alltaken2012, on Flickr

VR ON


VR ON by alltaken2012, on Flickr
 
Not a lot in those but if anything I'd possibly say the VR on one was actually slightly sharper. Both are very soft though.

Settings wise you look to be on the money, decent shutter speed, low iso, good choice of aperture etc...

Couple of things, what method are you using to focus? How stable is your tripod? Are you using the timer or a remote release? Mirror lock up?
 
gad-westy said:
Not a lot in those but if anything I'd possibly say the VR on one was actually slightly sharper. Both are very soft though.

Settings wise you look to be on the money, decent shutter speed, low iso, good choice of aperture etc...

Couple of things, what method are you using to focus? How stable is your tripod? Are you using the timer or a remote release? Mirror lock up?
Click to expand...

Hello, I used the single servo focus (auto) and the self timer (until I get a remote release). I also used live view mode so as to lock the mirror up, and the tripod seems to be stable enough.
 
Not a lot wrong there. Just to eliminate the possibility of camera shake all together you could repeat the shot but use iso 400 and 1/500 or iso 800 and 1/1000. You would want to turn VR off and it probably wouldn't matter much if it was handheld or on a tripod.

Does the lens generally perform ok at 300mm? Might be worth shooting another very distant subject and see how sharp that is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top