I've started doing fashion at night with only available lamp light. My exposures have been mostly around the 1-2 seconds. I understand that carbon fiber and wood will absorb vibration better. What's the best option for a leg and ballhead combination. I've managed to hold the models still, now The Beast... Thank you

-- Jacek Malipan (skyfivephotography@technologist.com), October 06, 1999

Answers

The 3036, with its soft aluminum legs, will do an acceptable job for you. There is no need to go with wood or carbon. Just make sure you have the rubber feet extended on the bottom of the legs on the 3036. If you have the metal tips touching the ground, there will be a much worse harmonic set up in your tripod. With ANY tripod with this camera, it is best to hold the tripod down while shooting. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), October 11, 1999.

Dan: The 1/500 sec strobe should stop any motion from camera or subject, given you had a dimly lit subject. My experience with 1/500 sec shutter speed with no MLU proved that this is fast enough to counteract any shake either by mirror or shutter. Either your film is recording some of your non-strobe exposure, 1/30, (unlikely)or it is not a movement problem. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), October 17, 1999.

Shutter shake will only be a problem with the P67 and 67 II if one uses the 300-1000mm lenses. I didn't notice it for years because I didn't own these lenses. Six years ago I bought several telephotos and noticed some of my shots were soft when MLU was used. I bought a larger tripod and the problems went away. Yes, the shutter shake issue is overblown. But, it is still an issue. My experiment with shutter shake went like this. I put my P67 with 300mm on a three pound Bogan tripod with small ball head and center post up eight inches. The camera was at eye level. I locked up the mirror and fired at 1/8 sec with cable release. There was no wind but the slide was very soft. The equipment I used was way too light for the camera and lens but it proved that the shutter can influence sharpness. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), September 04, 2000.

Looking through various posts here and in MFD, it seems that the Bogen 3036 legs with a 3055 ballhead are a favourite combination in the price/sturdiness equasion. People seem to be very happy with the results. Will there really be a visible distinction in sharpness if I go Carbon or Wood. My enlargements would never exceed 30 by 40cm. Experienced users please help. Thank you.

-- Jacek Malipan (skyfivephotography@technologist.com), October 09, 1999.

I too have questions about what tripod/head combo to use with the 67 beast. I currently use a Bogen 3011 with a 3030 head. What do you recommend ? I was taking some headshots the other day, using strobes, with camera on X sync, camera was on its side ( for portrait shot )....I shot away NOT at all worrying about camera shake ( my strobes fire at about 1/500 ). I rather casually tripped the shutter w/no regard for pressing gently as I do with non-flash photography..but found that many frames were mushy from camera shake...at least I think its from shake....any hints ? Can you see the evidence of shake when NOT using MLU but using flashes firing at 1/500 ? the ambient light was far too dark to be picked up at 1/30 ( sync speed )

-- Dan (dcolucci@aol.com), October 14, 1999.

Dan, I have no experience with flash photography but regarding the tripod/ballhead choice I can recommend a combination which works well with the P67II. I use the Gitzo 1340 tripod (which is the slightly modified version of the 340) in combination with the new Gitzo 1377 center ball head and the Pentax quick release. The tripod has no center column which contributes significantly to its robustness. The new center ball head is heavy (850g) despite being made of magnesium and works very smoothly. Finally, the Pentax quick release is dedicated to the P67 and fits into the small hole on the body's bottom which circumvents any slipping of the camera. This quick release is a very sturdy heavy metal construction and quite expensive (almost as expensive as the ball head). According to my experience this combination absorbs camera induced vibration very well regardless of the exposure times being used. I have to add two reservations: I always use MLU and my longest focal legth is the 165mm. To conclude: For my kind of photography (nature) wind is a much more severe problem than camera vibration.

-- Joachim Inkmann (Joachim.Inkmann@uni-konstanz.de), October 15, 1999.

Try the mirror lock up if u have it.. should cure your problems.

-- Ron Roberts (shoot120@aol.com), October 27, 1999.

ok, here is another question re: best tripods for the 67 beast..I currently use a bogen 3011 w/ 3025 ( or is it 3029??) head with quick release. The small amount of cork in the tripod head has hardened with time and use...so, my thinking was to replace this with a thicker amount of cork to provide a little better cushioning/dampmning for the camera think its going to help ? havent tried it yet....

-- Dan (dcolucci@aol.com), November 01, 1999.

Has anyone used the Gitzo 1228 Tripod with the Arca Swiss B1g with the RRS Plate for the 67II? What's the Verdict on camera shake? Will this cure all my ills and last forever? It sure will cost enough. Just want to be sure it is a very excellent solution before I even think about plunking down the cash. Now I read the verdict on all the other combinations but I am curious about this one. Any comments?

-- Vincent G. Peacock (Vince) (vpeacock@optonline.net), September 04, 2000.

Vince, Gitzo recommends the 1228 for 35mm and light 6x6 cameras. This is probably not exactly what we have in mind when we handle our 67II. I would not buy any Gitzo (carbon or not) below the 13xx for the Pentax 67II. The Arca B1g is certainly big enough! But I think this head is an overkill for such a light tripod as the 1228. The standard B1 with the RRS QR should manage the job without problem.

By the way: after I had read another 'shutter shake' thread in the usenet I did some 'tests' with my Pentax 67II the last weekend. I thought it would be useful to separate the shake caused by the shutter opening from the shake caused by the shutter closure (when the picture is on the film). You can't separate the two movements with short exposure times. Therefore I set the camera on the tripod, moved the mirror up (as I always do) and released the camera on 'B'. What you see and hear is comparable to the shutter shake of a Leica M! There is really nothing which is worth worrying about. Try it for yourself. From my experience there is no such thing as a 'shutter shake' problem. Some guys hear the sound when the shutter closes and the mirror comes down and infer that there must be an enormous problem. Afterwards they spread their horror stories in the internet and everyone gets paranoid (including myself from time to time after reading such stories - although I never had to complain any results obtained with the Pentax 67II apart from those caused by my own faults).

From my point of view this shutter shake topic

-- Joachim Inkmann (Joachim.Inkmann@uni-konstanz.de), September 04, 2000.

Sorry, please ignore the last line.

-- Joachim Inkmann (Joachim.Inkmann@uni-konstanz.de), September 04, 2000.

Joachim. I've just tried releasing the shutter on B with the mirror locked up and you are dead right - the noise of the shutter opening is quieter tham my Canon AE1/T90 and I agree that the noise of the shutter closing is irrelevant to the image recorded on film.

-- Nigel Craig (ncraig@globalnet.co.uk), September 06, 2000.

Joachim-

Thanks for the timely advice. I got for 67IIs an Gitzo 1349 and an Arca Swiss B1 Ballhead with RRS Plate. I like this combo. I did some macro stuff with my 135mm and got outstanding results with E100VS and Provia 100F. I am real pleased about the outstanding information provided by this forum. I hope the fine support here continues. Thanks to all!!!

-- Vincent G. Peacock (Vince) (vpeacock@optonline.net), October 20, 2000.