The old Pentax67 has a shutter shake problem when used with lightweight tripods. How haevy a tripod do you need to solve this problem. Has the problem been solved on the Pentax67II at 1/2 - 1/30s shutter speeds.

-- Chris Georgiopoulos (jaygeorge@bigpond.com), October 22, 1999

Answers

The fast answer is around ten pounds. But, to give some details about this, it depends upon which lens you are using. For 35mm to 90mm the Bogan 3001 is OK. For 35mm to 200mm the Gitzo 320 is OK. For 35mm to 400mm the Bogan 3036 works well. The 3036 will work with the 600mm if the speeds are either 1/2 sec to 30 sec or faster than 1/125. For the other speeds with the 600 and 3036, two tripods are necessary. From what I've heard, the 67II still has the shake. A friend with the 67II bought a 3036 for his. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), October 22, 1999.

Chris, the mirror slamming back into place is not a problem because the shutter has already closed. The shutter is the culprit on the MLU cameras. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), October 31, 1999.

I also have a P67II and yes, it shakes. I took a bunch of photos that I expected to be tack sharp and was very disappointed because they weren't. Why? Because I was using the 200mm f/4 on a Bogen/Manfrotto..hmm I don't know the model but it is similar to that S (small) tripod, a bit larger. The problem isn't the tripod (in my case), but the wind. A little breeze is enough to ruin a picture, and my suggestion is to hold the camera down while squeezing the cable release.

-- Marcelo P. Lima (marcelo@parallaxis.net), October 25, 1999.

I have an older MLU P67 and use it on a Gitzo 346 Interpro Studex with an Arca Swiss Monoball and RRS QR. I think the combo weighs around 8 or 9 lbs. I use the MLU all the time and try to avoid 1/15 and 1/8 whenever possible. I have the newer 200 f4 and sometimes combine it with the Pentax 1.4 rear converter. With Fuji RVP the results are excellent. The 200 +1.4 gives me sharper chromes with more contrast than I used to get from the 300 f4 (although in fairness, I've sold many images for covers from the 300). With a camera as big as the P67, a light tripod is inadequate and wind can be a problem (sometimes I even hang the camera bag which might be another 12 to 15 lbs., from the tripod to deaden vibrations just a bit more). You might try that.

Cheers, Charles

-- Charles Shoffner (chasmn@aol.com), October 28, 1999.

Thanks to everyone for there helpful answers to my question. My experience is that with the Bogen 3001 and 3038 ball head using the 165mm lens the shakes are there at 1/2 - 1/30s (very soft images) when viewd with an 8X lupe even with MLU and weighing down the tripod with my bag (3-4 Kg). With the 105mm lens I could just see a little softening at 1/15 and 1/8 second speeds with my camera bag waying down the tripod again. Anyhow it looks like I will end up getting the Gitzo 320 or 340 as I think this will help a lot. I have noticed that when the mirror comes back down it shakes the whole camera and I wonder if this is the problem rather than the big shutter.

-- Chris Georgiopoulos (jaygeorge@bigpond.com), October 31, 1999.

I have the P67II and use a Bogen 3036 with my 45,90 and 300 lenses. Any time I shoot below 1/125, I lock up the mirror. I have many shots at 1/15 that are sharp. I also lay my hand on the camera as I squeeze off a shot. I think that is better than using the timer or a cable. I shoot very still landscapes using AE (matrix) and the eye-piece sun shade (before locking the mirror).

-- Tom Goodrick (tgoodrick@earthlink.net), October 31, 1999.

Hi Chris

I don't believe that the Pentax 67II shutter does cause any shakes, try this test, lock the mirror up and fire the camera at B, you shouldn't really hear or feel the shutter open, this is a big difference between the 67II and the original 67. When shooting with such a big camera there are a whole host of reasons why you can get softness.

Tapas

-- Tapas Maiti (t.maiti@easynet.co.uk), November 01, 1999.

I keep hearing about the 1/30 speed being tricky and to be avoided, and recently 1/8 and 1/15 in the same vein. Are there really some tricky speeds or is it just the usual problems? I use slow speeds and haven't really seen any differences between those shutters.

-- Jacek Malipan (skyfivephotography@technologist.com), November 01, 1999.

Hi everyone

I am now beginning to believe that this shutter shake issue is now taking a life of its own. Before I started using the net, when I saw unsharpness in my prints, I assumed I was doing something wrong, when I heard about the shutter shake issue, suddenly every bit of unsharpness in prints became the fault of the shutter. I do, occasionally, mess up on pictures taken by a hasselblad but I never blamed the camera for unsharpness. I analysed slides I took in the himalayas (using a mere Gitzo 220), most pictures were tack sharp but some weren't. On reflection most of these problems related to vibration on the road, rushing, wind etc. Conclusion - a big camera needs a very strong head (more than a heavy tripod e.g. the gitzo low profile head) but you can get camera shake with any camera in the wind etc but because the mirror return of the pentax is so load we tend to assume it has a problem and we perpetuate the problem through the web.

Tapas

-- Tapas Maiti (t.maiti@easynet.co.uk), November 04, 1999.

Its been a while since I asked the initial question but just to report that I recently purchased a Gitzo 1340 here in Australia which I use with my Bogen3038/Manfrotto268 head and the sharpness from 1/30 - 1/2 secs has improved out of sight. I did my test with my 165mm F2.8 lens. At 1/15 and at 1/8 I did notice that by puting my hand on the prism and pushing down lightly the sharpness improved even further but I had to look real hard to notice with an 8x lupe. I think that its a good idea to weigh the tripod down whenever possible and will do so in the future.

-- Chris Georgiopoulos (jaygeorge@bigpond.com), January 31, 2000.