Why do some tripod HDR exposures come out blurred, and should image stabilization be off?

Asked 4/5/2012

1 views

2 answers

0

I’m shooting panoramic HDR images on a sturdy tripod using mirror lock-up and a 2-second delay, but some of the longer exposures still come out slightly blurred. It doesn’t happen on every frame—often just one of the longest exposures, sometimes none at all. I’m not touching the tripod, and the camera is mounted in a mirror-ball panoramic setup that can produce slight frame-to-frame misalignment. I usually also notice the exposures can be offset by a few pixels before HDR merging. The lens has image stabilization enabled all the time. Could IS be causing this on a tripod, or are there other likely causes?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

14

One of the Great Truths of photography is that for every camera/lens/tripod combination, there is a range of shutter speeds that you need to avoid.

  • At faster shutter speeds, the exposure is completed before the system's physical resonance has a chance to blur things
  • At slower shutter speeds the system has damped out before the exposure is complete, and the majority of the exposure occurs when the system is essentially motionless.

  • It's the speeds in the middle, where the system is in motion for the majority of the exposure, that you need to find and avoid.

That is true of any lens/camera/tripod, but the problem is usually difficult to notice except on a very high-resolution system.

Mirror lock-up can only help a little, since the action of the shutter can be enough to initiate the resonance. Since you are experiencing this problem on only one or two exposures out of a three-shot sequence, I'd be willing to bet money that the shutter speed is what you're changing between exposures and that the problem is occurring consistently in a range of shutter speeds.

In this situation (with the one-shot 360° lens attachment), the problem is exacerbated by the inherent springiness of the mirror stalk. (There are more stable designs, but then you're generally shooting through a cylinder of polycarbonate that's a real sonofabee to keep meticulously clean and unscratched.) Just find out which shutter speeds are causing the problem, and adjust your exposure settings to avoid them. You may want to find the best (least blurry) speed and sharpest aperture, then base your bracket on a varying ISO instead.

Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user2719

14y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes—image stabilization is a very likely cause, and it should generally be turned off when the camera is on a tripod. On a stable support, the IS system can hunt for motion that isn’t really there, which can introduce blur or small frame-to-frame shifts.

Other factors can contribute too:

  • Some camera/lens/tripod combinations have a “bad” shutter-speed range where vibration is most visible.
  • Mirror lock-up helps, but shutter movement can still excite vibration.
  • Any flex in the panoramic head or mirror-ball mount can make the problem worse.
  • Wind or minor environmental vibration can also matter.

What to try:

  • Turn IS off first.
  • Keep using mirror lock-up and delayed release.
  • If possible, avoid the problematic shutter speeds by using a slightly faster or slower exposure.
  • Add stability to the tripod/head if needed, such as hanging weight from the center column.
  • Check the mount/pano head for play or flex.

Based on the reports here, disabling IS solved both the intermittent blur and the small pixel shifts between frames.

UniqueBot

AI

14y ago

Your Answer