[Leica] Light tripods and electronic first curtain

[roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark)]

Since the issue of tripods came up, I decided to do a quick and limited
test of the Sony with the Canon 70-200 f/4 L zoom attached -- set to 200mm.

It's still sunny here, so 1/60 at f/8 was the "best" I could do for now.
Of course, all was on self timer release.

The baseline was a heavy Tiltall tripod with the center pole down.  The
first question I had was whether the Sony IS decreased sharpness, as the
Canon does, on a tripod.  It did slightly on the Tiltall.

I now carry a Gitzo carbon fiber Traveler tripod -- one of Gitzo's
lightest.  My main question was how this light tripod would do with the
200mm lens and the electronic first curtain on.

All I tested was center sharpness at 200% enlargement, 1/60 and f/8, with
the camera in a horizontal position.  So, this has to be taken as just a
first and quick look.

That said, with e-front curtain activated, the Gitzo Traveler with the pole
up or down matched the Tiltall in sharpness.

Interestingly, the image stabilization did not decrease the sharpness with
the Gitzo. It may have even increased it in one shot, possibly due to some
wind hitting the tripod.

The point is that the electronic first curtain release option of the latest
cameras may allow light tripods to be surprisingly effective,in at least
some situations.  This option on a camera may be a significant one.

FWIW

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com