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Shutter Vibration and choice of lenses

vjbelle

Well-known member
I know that has been discussed to death but thought this may be of some interest. I have both Zeiss and Leica lenses available for my A7r. I prefer the Leica lenses because of their weight.... the whole idea was to get the overall weight down for easy travel. However I found that my Zeiss lenses because of the added weight AT THE CAMERA provide additional dampening with beneficial results. I have yet to find any difference in vibration tests with a change of tripod - Gitzo 3 vs the little Traveler makes no difference. Attaching a heavy bag from the center column makes no difference. But there is a dramatic difference between the Zeiss lenses and the Leica lenses because of their weight/mass..... and because its at the camera it has a dampening effect that gives me a 2/3 to 1 stop advantage. So any added mass at the camera is beneficial which includes the Sony adapters and associated lenses. I recall Guy posting that he has had very little difficulty with his Zeiss 135 which weighs in at 2lbs. The added mass is very beneficial but I reckon that Guy still has to be very careful.....

Victor
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
Yes..... the same difference applies to both. However because landscape has such an advantage it means that if there is enough mass shutter speed choice could be moot. Portrait is a whole other story. If I use my Zeiss 100mm I can use 1/200 but if I use my Leica 90mm I have to use 1/320 or 1/400 to get the same results. The 50mm lenses really amazed me. The Leica 50mm Summicron needed 1/320 in Portrait to get vibration free and that was right on the edge. The Zeiss was easily vibration free at 1/200 because of the added mass. All of this helps to some extent. It helps me with my major rule that 'if you want it in focus then get it in focus'.

Victor
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Based on all the play I have seen in Guy's metabones adapters, I am of the opinion that what is really needed is a good tight-fitting adapter or additional mass, such as a small sandbag, draped over the lens, or the camera should the lens have a tripod foot.
-bob
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Agree Bob you need good adapters that fit tight to form a bond. The Novaflex is far better than the Metabones. I did shoot Woodys Leica 280 R lens with a Metabones R adapter that I use on my 19 which no issues on it but the 280 was fine but with the 2x teleconverter I needed more additional support or sandbag. Just was not getting good results even bumping the ISO up and shutter speed . Its like a truck on one end and bicycle on the other just no balance or support to create the balance.
 

cunim

Well-known member
Victor, I have not tried anything heavier in tele than the 90 cron that we both use. Thanks for putting a number on the effects of portrait on exposure requirements. Need to keep that in mind when I shoot the 90 in portrait.

What is strange is that the same thing does not seem to apply at normal focal lengths. My 50 cron R/Novoflex is quite subject to vibration, and weighs a whole lot more than the 55FE (which is not).

If this is a simple mass damping effect, the heavier the lens the less the vibration should be. If it is a resonance, you would expect there to be peaks and valleys in sensitivity as lens mass rises. I wonder.

Like you, I have not found tripod mass to make any difference - as long as the mounting is reasonably good.
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
Yes.... I was really surprised at how sensitive the A7r was with my 50 cron. Amazing!! Almost more sensitive than the 90mm.

Well.... my solutions for now are to either use the Zeiss glass which is more forgiving or don't shoot at any shutter speed between 1s and 1/320 with the Leica glass.

The next iteration of this body will be better....:thumbup:

Victor
 

philber

Member
Victor, I shoot both Zeiss and Leica, and, so far, on a handheld basis, I have failed to see the difference or even hardship that you experience. This morning, I bracketed 3 shots on my tripod, from 1/4s to 2 sec (Gitzo 0541 tripod, matching ballhead), with a Leica Summicron 75AA in portrait mode. I was in your "danger zone", but the dreaded shake did not rear its ugly head. I thought from the previous thread, that it struck at higher shutter speeds. But right now, either I am blind and not seeing shake when it is there, even at 100%, or there could be camera variability, depending on how tight the final assembly is.
 
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