In article <324B3567.1699256F@cornell.edu>, gsp4@cornell.edu says...
>.KH. wrote:

>> Can someone confirm or deny this:
>>
>> I tried a friend's F601 + Sigma 70-300mm (at 300mm) + mounted on a SLIK
>> U8000 tripod. As he did not have a remote/cable release, I set the
>> camera to 5s timer. When the timer reaches '1', the shutter fires but
>> caused a slight but noticable vibration. I repeated this a few more
>> times and the vibration was still there! Was this due to the lens, a
>> design (flaw) in the body itself, the tripod or some other things which
>> I forgot to do?

>Does that model have a mirror lockup? For my canon I set a function to
>switch the timer to two second, and mirror lockup. Then when I use timer
>it flips the mirror up, waits two seconds, then opens the shutter.
>
>Usually it's the relatively heavy moving mass of the mirror which causes
>vibrations in the camera. Under normal timer, remote use, or button
>press, it flips the mirror up then opens the shutter quickly in
>sequence.
>
>I tried a U8000 with my 1000mm MTO lens this weekend, and found it not
>all that stable myself. I'll probably buy a used Bogen tripod with a
>ballhead. For the Sliks I tried it seems I could lightly touch the lens
>while the camera and lens were mounted to the tripod, and the whole
>scene would waver badly.

(HMMM, George, if you are looking for a Bogan with a ball-head, call
me...;-) Welcome to both of you to the wonderful world of bad tripods!;-)
Unfortunately, most tripods, regardless of however sturdy, are not well
damped (some of the cross-braced ones that look like they could support
a truck are the worst). (Fortunately, most of the vibration that HK noted
is caused by the mirror return, when its effect is nonexistent on
sharpness.) I find that a good test for tripod damping is to place a
finger lightly on top, and tap a leg lightly (and time the generally
[very!] long decay time for the vibration. Wooden tripods, monster tripods, and tripods with bad leg-top joints generally perform the best. Good
alternatives are hand-holding (!!, but the damping is better...), and bean
bags. Weighing down a buzzy tripod can also work.
Hope This Helps