Tripod mount for EF 75-300mm to reduce shake?

[kiba89]

Hi all

I have a canon rebel dslr with the kit 75-300mm lens. I have been using it to shoot photos and video of my wife and I windsurfing, but when shooting video have noticed a lot of vibration from the wind.

I am already using a tripod, but I'm looking for other ways to reduce shake, and was considering getting a tripod ring mount to try to help this, but the trouble is this lens doesn't seem made to take a tripod mount ring.

Does anyone have advice for me? Are there mount rings that would work for this lens? Is that even worth it? Are there other ways I can reduce shake that you'd recommend?

[stevet1]

kiba89,

One option you could look at is the Manfrotto 293 lens support system.

I used one when using heavier lenses that didn't have a lens collar.

B&H sells them.

Manfrotto 293 Telephoto Lens Support with Quick Release

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/554350-REG/Manfrotto_293_293_Telephoto_Lens_Support.html/?ap=...

Know that they are heavy, and the extra set of knobs can be a little frustrating when trying to fine-tune your photo composition using a heavy lens.

There's also a gap at the far end of the mount that you might want to fill with some styrofoam or something.The plate where your camera mounts is slightly higher than where the end of your lens rests.

They are nice in the sense that the center of gravity is now over the middle of your lens instead of your camera. There's less stress on your camera/lens mount.

Steve Thomas

[ebiggs1]

"...  mine is huge relative to stills cams."

I doubt you shoot with heavier gear than I do.  It is a matter of selecting the right tripod.

This Manfrotto 3046 with 501 head will extend over my head and will remain rock steady. My lightweight carry around tripod is the Manfrotto 055XPROB Black Aluminum. Good tripods are not cheap but that 3046 has lasted me for a very long, years and years, time. That helps knowing you only have to buy it once.

[AtticusLake]

Yeah, I doubt I'm shooting with heavier gear than you.  But I might be shooting on softer ground, or with stronger wind.  When you're on peat, in a gale, extending anything you can avoid is a no-go.  Again, it's just simple physics, no reflection on the tripod.

[ebiggs1]

"If you are not in the $200+ range you probably got a wobble tripod."

Checking Prices lately I may have to increase that $200+ number.  I see the 055 is around $300.

[ebiggs1]

"... I might be shooting on softer ground, or with stronger wind."

Look, the bottom line is everything made by the hand of man has its limitation. Doesn't matter whether its your camera, your car, your lawnmower, or your tripod, whatever, it has limits to what it can do. If you try hard enough you will find and you can reach those limits.

Where I live it is "windy" all the time. The wind is blowing 20-25 mph as we speak today. Guests hit 30-35 mph.  Common here especially this time of the year. I am not sue I know what a gale is. I was caught in hurricane Ivan one time and found out quickly I didn't like that so I don't do that. I was not and if subjected to the same situation again I would not be using a tripod. That is because that reached my limits, not the tripods.

The bad thing is a good tripod is expensive. More expensive than I thought since it has been years since I bought mine. The good thing is it is usually a one time, lifetime, purchase. That makes it more palatable. 

You claim you can't use the center column post. Why would you buy a tripod that was only partly useable? Does that make sense? Or, does the part that is usable do the job for you?

[AtticusLake]

I'm sorry if I've touched a nerve here -- which it seems I have. I wasn't intending to criticise anyone's gear, or how anyone uses their gear. Of course a centre column can be very useful, particularly on firm ground, or in sheltered conditions.

But the poster was asking about shooting windsurfing, which sounds like outdoors and windy. And he was clearly asking about reducing "vibration from the wind". So I was simply expressing my opinion that *anything* that comes between the camera and the ground is going to make it harder to keep the camera steady. Any way you can get the camera closer to the ground -- both in terms of distance, and in terms of number of components -- is going to help. Again, this seems to me like simple physics, not a reflection on anyone's gear.

Probably my outlook is coloured by the type of shooting I do. Where I regularly shoot (Cairngorm heights) the wind is often gusting 60 to 80 mph; that's generally too much for me, and I try to go out when it's calmer than that. (The Beaufort scale defines a gale as 39–46 mph.)

As for why I bought my tripod (Manfrotto 190 XPROB CF), I bought it because it's a great tripod. With the centre column down, the camera is rock solid, mounted just above the leg joints. And the centre column rigs out horizontal for low macro shots, a feature I have actually used.

I have since got a tripod with a bowl mount instead of a centre column, and nowadays that's the one I use all the time. But even with the 190, I don't consider it to be "only partly useable" just because it has a feature I don't use. I have a Canon C70, which has a vertical shooting mode I never use, but I don't think of it as "only partly useable".

Look, you -- like everyone -- should use your gear in whatever way works for you. Right now I'm sitting in front of a home studio setup that's mostly lashed together with clothes airers, shower curtain rods, and gaffer tape (and 3 tripods and 4 light stands) -- it's not pretty, but it works, and that's all that matters. But when I'm shooting windsurfing at Loch Insh in the next few weeks, which I hope to do, standing on the boggy ground around the shore, I will not be raising my centre column, even if I have one.