Suppressing Floor Vibrations for Macro Photography

[Michael Erlewine]

Suppressing Floor Vibrations for Macro Photography

As to where I am at in suppressing room vibration from my wooden floors, I am learning. Here is a summary:

Placing a strong table in the center of the floor does not suppress vibration. I can do various things to this table to improve the situation. For example:

I can load the lower shelf with 130 lbs. of cement blocks and that helps, but not my back so much, hauling it in.

I can place Sorbothane Vibration Isolation pads under the four legs of the table and that helps

On the top of the table I can place some small under-inflated innertubes over which I place a ¾-inch board the size of the table top and that helps.

On the top of that board, under which are the under-inflated innertubes, I can place more Sorbothane Vibration Isolation pads on top of which I place a plant or flower to photograph and that helps

Yet better than all of that, instead of placing a table, I can cantilever a board, fixed vertically to the walls and timbers of the house rather than amplifying the shakiness of the floors.

I Cantilever a board sticks that out 36 inches from the wall and is open at the far end. This is much better than the first method.

And then to that cantilevered board I can place underinflated innertubes upon which I place another ¾-inch large board. And on that large board I can also place more Sorbothane Vibration Isolation pads, upon which I place the plant or flower.

If you have other ideas, please mention them. I have done a little more testing and doing anything on the floor is out, IMO. Even with 130 libs of concrete on the lower shelf of a table, and inner tubes under a large board on top, and Sorbothane Vibration Isolation pads on the legs. The cantilever approach, using the vertical walls is much better at supressing vibrations, so that's that, at least for me.

 

[John Black]

In our house, the HVAC system is in the attic (that's how they roll in Texas). It's a flipping nightmare... System comes on and the entire house resonates. My solution is leaf shutter lenses and lots of light via strobes (set up in softboxes). That works for table top product shots.

 

[Michael Erlewine]

Why leaf shutter lenses?

 

[darr]

Since you asked for suggestions, here’s mine:

Wall-mount the entire macro platform.
Instead of only cantilevering the board, you can create a full wall-mounted “micro table” that never touches the floor at all. Using lag-bolted shelf brackets secured into studs or joists will outperform any floor-based support. It functions like a still-life version of a copy stand—very stable and independent of footsteps.

Build a ground-level sunroom with a tile floor.
That’s what I did for my retirement studio. Forget Sorbothane pads, inner tubes, or 130 pounds of cement blocks—just go straight to pouring a concrete foundation. It’s the macro equivalent of saying, “Well, have you tried buying a new house?”

Wishing you the best of luck for a resolution.

 

[mristuccia]

I concur with the wall mount. That's the solution adopted for high-end turntables in presence of wooden floors (except for the highest-end ones equipped with hydraulic suspensions).
I don't do macro photography but I do have a turntable and that's what I adopt due to my very bouncy wooden floor. Thanks to the wall mount I can walk and dance on my wooden floor without making the needle jump or distort the sound.

 

[Michael Erlewine]

Yet better than all of that, instead of placing a table, I can cantilever a board, fixed vertically to the walls on one end and timbers of the house, rather than amplifying the shakiness of the wooden floors.

I Cantilevered a board that sticks out 36 inches from the wall and is open at the far end. This is much better than the first method.

And then, if I want, to that cantilevered board I can place underinflated innertubes upon which I place another ¾-inch large board. And on that large board I can also place more Sorbothane Vibration Isolation pads, upon which I place the plant or flower.

Instead, I think I will skip the last paragraph of the under-inflated inner tubes and the addition of Sorbothane vibration pads and just use the cantilevered board extending from the wall.

It is stable enough if I use a 3-second delay by the timer.

I don’t start out exhausting every possibility; I just end up that way. And on the way, it seems that I make all the mistakes I am liable for.

 

[cunim]

I tend to have more problems with the camera stand than the table. I don't know about your ProArt, but the big Fobas on concrete floors could set up a pretty good vibration if there is any lever arm on the camera mount or if the carrier is near the top of the pillar. They resonate with the low frequency vibrations from the floor and, the further the camera is from the pillar attachment, the more sensitive they are to everything else.

The ideal solution would include careful damping of the camera, and a small active platform (sitting on a solid table) for your subject. Expensive new, but you can sometimes find them at used lab equipment places for much less. Just make sure the vibration frequencies that you want to damp out match the tuning of the platform.

BT BenchTop Pneumatic Vibration Isolation Platform

www.newport.com

 

[John Black]

Why leaf shutter lenses?

High shutter speeds, effectively nullifying the vibrations. Generally, I shoot the product pix at 1/400. I'm using 4 strobes with a potential 400-600 watts per strobe, so lots of light on tap if needed.

 

[Michael Erlewine]

I get it, but in the studio with still life I want the longer shutter speeds. Using cantilever off of vertical walls seems to work just fine, given a 2-3 second timer.

 

[dougpeterson]

One note to add to this conversation: a lot of people just bundle anything "small" as being "macro" but the scale of magnification* matters a great deal to this conversation. Shooting a shoe might be in the ballpark of 1:10 magnification. Shooting a quarter might be in the ballpark of 1:1. Shooting a bug's eye might be in the ballpark of 10:1. These are each a full order of magnitude more demanding than the last when it comes to vibration.

More pedantically it's the at-subject-resolution, or "how big is each pixel on the subject" that matters here. That depends on the sensor size, magnification, and camera resolution; shooting something at 1:1 with a 6mp camera requires less scrutiny than shooting something at 1:1 with a 150mp camera.

So if you're looking at this thread going "what's the big deal" then you're not crazy – but you may have a more solid floor, be shooting less-small things, or using lower resolution cameras.

The smaller you go, the bigger the problems get .

 

[Michael Erlewine]

I hear that. I am not really a 1:1 photographer, more of a close-up photographer. I value the context as much as the subject. And I like for there to be no view or point of focus, but just everything being in focus or at least enough to for me to look around and find my own point of focus. I like that feedom. Here is one with the XCD 80m f/1.9

 

[cunim]

Here's an example at about 1:5, shot with continuous light so about 1 sec exposure on an IQ4. Moved, not stacked. Camera is on a smaller Foba. Knife is on one of those flimsy Foba shooting tables. At this magnification, long exposures are doable, without any special platforms. However, there are rules. Do not move (me) during exposure or you shake the floor. Keep the camera moment arms as short as possible or you shake the camera. Support the object in ways that reduce its susceptibility to induced movment. That last one is the hardest and is what you are doing with your platform. Sounds like you have it under control for strobe speeds.

 

[Michael Erlewine]

Well, I am done testing for floor vibrations. Here is what works almost perfectly: A cantilivered shelf, fixed to a verical wall of the house. On top of the metal braces a small board about 8 inches wide secured to the metal braces. On top of that small board are about six 1/2-inch Sorbothane Vibration Isolation Circular Pad 2.25" Diameter. On top of the pads is a 15-inch by 36-inch heavy composite board. This board is secured by six torque screws. screwed in but loose so the sorbothane can flex, expand and contract. With this setup, there are almost no vibrations, but I will use a 2-3 second times delay nevertheless. Problem workable.