Canon EOS R7 Unbearable Video Shake On Tripod

[coastline]

My EOS R7 with the 18-150 kit lens is having major issues relating to the video footage it produces. I primarily shoot videos of trains and railroading environments. In the footage I record, when the train goes by there is a horrific shake that goes throughout the entire image. Sometimes it's jello, others not. My first thought was this could be related to my (now old) tripod, the Davis & Sanford 7518B, and upgraded it to the Manfrotto 546BK-1 with MVH502A head. For the 546BK-1 I have the rubber feet on, not the spikes and everything is tightened adequately. The 546BK-1 also weighs 12.5 lbs so the weight of the tripod is likely not a concern to the problem. To my surprise, the upgrade barely helped and almost every single video I record has the shaking. I also tried the EOS R7 on my photo tripod the Manfrotto Element MII and that ended up having the worst shaking out of the three tripods I tried.

I have also tried updating the firmware on the camera, changing the way I have it mounted to the plate (normal vs. sideways), and trying the various video quality settings, all IBIS and Stabilization have been disabled along with the Auto-Leveling yet to no avail with the same results.

Compared to my old video camera, the Sony AX53 Camcorder the difference is monumental. Footage shot at the same locations will be great on the AX53 (a little shake but nothing stabilization in editing can't fix) while the R7 will be a violently shaking unwatchable mess. Same tripods, same spots, drastically different results. I accept that there will always be an amount of shaking in a video of a train going by, but not to the amount that the video is unwatchable and has to be deleted.

Any help would be appreciated for the issue I have occurring,
Thanks.

[Waddizzle]

Hmm.  Try disabling AF, like I suggested.

Does this happen when the camera is unattended?  No one is touching it?  There is a known issue that produces results that are almost similar to your issue.  It happens during video recording with a wide angle lens, and then someone tries to turn the zoom ring.

[coastline]

Waddizzle,

The issue persists on Manual Focused video.

The camera is unattended at the times I am recording video and I walk more than 20 feet away usually well before the train goes by. I do not zoom while recording. 

[FloridaDrafter]

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@coastline wrote:

I don't always feel the vibration in the ground when it goes by. I've been using single point AF, which I believe is called 1-point on the R7 and one point is active. 

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Just a thought, but take note of the sound frequency of the trains engines and if they are in sync (droning), if possible. You should be able to feel this in your chest. The ground will not be the only conductor of vibrations and may be very poor depending on the frequency, so you won't feel it. The sound may be making your equipment vibrate. I mess around with sound using synthesizers 🙂

Newton

[coastline]

I also tested my Nikon Z5 which is a mirrorless of a similar enough form factor on the same video tripod today shooting 4k 30fps video with all stabilization disabled. Compared to the R7 footage at the same location and angle and it's a night and day difference. The Z5's footage has a much, much less subtle shake more similar to the old camcorders. 

[finnmphoto]

That's some good thinking. But wouldn't the sound frequency have also affected the users older camera as well?

[Waddizzle]

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@finnmphoto wrote:

I wonder if the sensor on the R7 may not be fully locked nor fixed even if the IBIS is disabled.. A camcorders sensor is almost always going to be fixed with the body behind it. 
Interesting topic.

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This question is exactly why I suggested that you disable AF and Image Stabilization.  Once disabled, the only thing that could make the camera/image shake should be mechanical vibrations.

BTW, have you tried a different RF lens, yet?

[FloridaDrafter]

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@finnmphoto wrote:

That's some good thinking. But wouldn't the sound frequency have also affected the users older camera as well?

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I would think so, but these are pretty new sensors to Canon cameras (IBIS). I understand that the OP is turning it off, and basically understand how it works in Canon cameras, but I've never read how they "park" the sensor when IBIS is switched off.

Newton

[coastline]

Waddizzle, 

I've had image stabilization disabled since the start, I did one test with it enabled and it was still evident in the footage. 

As mentioned in my comment yesterday, I also tried it on Manual focus and it made no difference. 

I tried it today with an the RF 18-45 and its also still the same. I'm starting to think 'finnmphoto' 's comment is right and the sensor isn't fixed into place with IBIS disabled.