Holy mother of mirror-slap!

[Phantomas]

I really like my D700 and use it (rarely) predominantly with MF glass (1.2/50 and 1.4/35). But lately I'm being increasingly freaked out by the earth-shattering mirror slap. It actually knocks the lenses out of focus possition! Nothing terrible enough to get me out of focus results, but it does happen. Yesterday I put the camera on the table, fired a few shots and watched the focus ring jump a small mm with every mirror slap. On both lenses. The lenses do not have wobly focus rings, they feel very solid, but the mirror slap is so violent that it sends them jumping.
Anyone else have a similar experience? This is really with MF lenses only, haven't noticed anything like that with AF. It's not a problem either, just an observation.

 

[Brian Puccio]

When I used a 5D and decided to go MF as opposed to AF, I'd still be holding the focusing ring when I hit the shutter.

 

[Phantomas]

Yep, that's what I do as well. It's an unpleasant feeling the feedback felt from the shutter/mirror down to the focus ring.

 

[Rob-F]

This may be where cameras with APS-c size sensors have an advantage. The mirror is smaller, and less mass means less mirror slap. My D200 is very smooth, with low vibration. It's pretty quiet, too. My D300 has an action I might describe as "firm" or "solid," and a little louder; but still much smoother than say, an F3. I get fairly sharp hand-held shots at 1/10 second.

 

[besk]

I just purchased a used film camera Nikon N70 and am very, very pleased with the vibration and sound of the shutter and mirror. In fact, the vibration seems roughly equal to a just CLA'd Leica 111f . The sound is pretty low also. NIkon has come a long way with mirror vibration. Are you sure your new Nkion is working correctly?

 

[Jamie123]

Does the D700 have stronger mirrorslap than the Canon 5DII? I don't really notice this problem with my 5DII. But maybe that's because I used to use a Hasselblad 🙂

 

[Phantomas]

Are you sure your new Nkion is working correctly?

I think so. I just took another D700 at work and mounted a 58mm NOCT on it. Vibration was there but the ring didn't "jump". Admittedly my 50 moves a little more than 35 too (on 35 I can just feel as if it was moving). It might be that the 50 is just a little too smooth, doesn't have sufficient traction. The movement is tiny and doesn't affect the results, but it's there.

 

[italy74]

I noticed that D700 is noisier when mounted the 105 F/2.5: the mirror slap is much louder and has even a different sound, no idea why.

 

[gavinlg]

My 5d certainly doesn't move the focus ring on lenses. It has no mirror slap in comparison to my pentax 6x7 haha. If you're putting the d700 on a solid surface and allowing a timer to set off the shutter it's not absorbing any shock off the mirror because it's on a solid surface. Your hands will absorb any shock there is, so it's kinda like shooting a brick wall to check your lens rather than just using it.

 

[not_in_good_order]

I am definitely not seeing anything like that with my D700. I just tried with my 24 2.8 ais, 50 2 ai, and 105 2.5 ais just as a quick sample. I can't explain what may be causing your issue...

 

[Luna]

It is just you.

 

[Phantomas]

If you're putting the d700 on a solid surface and allowing a timer to set off the shutter it's not absorbing any shock off the mirror because it's on a solid surface. Your hands will absorb any shock there is, so it's kinda like shooting a brick wall to check your lens rather than just using it.

Yeah, I thought about it and you might be right. I'm not too much into testing my equipment, the reason I did it is because I did definitelly feel strong slap feedback into the lens.

 

[Phantomas]

Hmmm, so how would you describe the mirror action, other than slap? (And no, not just this camera).

 

[gavinlg]

If you're used to rf's it may seem a little heavy in shutter/mirror action but I can handhold my 5d to about 1/10th with good results @ 35mm - only a little bit less useable than an RF. Go see if you can shoot a 24-35mm nikkor prime at under 1/30th with sharp results handheld. if you can, it's all good.

Even my pentax 6x7 which literally jerks in my hands when releasing the shutter can be used down to about 1/30th with good results handheld.

 

[BillBingham2]

Might want to have it looked at. A year ago I had to replace one shock absorber that was broken. I actually replaced both as I was in there, but you might have one break that is a dud and the other is trying to do the work of two.

B2 (;->

 

[jonmanjiro]

It's not the mirror action. It's the action of the camera stopping down the lens aperture. You should be able to feel the same vibration by using the DOF preview button.

I've noticed it with older MF Nikkors. A friend's Ai 28/2 was really bad. All my recent serial number MF Nikkors work fine though.

 

[Keith]

I think Jon is definitely on the right track here.

I've discovered with my Oly SLR's pressing the stop down button on the lens before taking a shot makes a huge difference to the reaction felt through the camera.

If flip the mirror up manualy on the OM-1, press the stop down button in and fire the shutter there's about the same amount of reaction I get from my M2 through the camera!

 

[jonmanjiro]

The tell tale sign was that Phantomas doesn't experience the vibration with his AF lenses, wherear mirror vibration is indepenent of the lens 🙂

There's a surefire way to check 😉

* remove the lens from the D700
* fire the shutter several times while observing the amount of mirror vibration (which is very little with the D700 because its very well dampened)
* put the lens back on the D700
* stop the lens down to f16 or f22
* depress the DOF preview button several times quickly while observing the vibration (my guess is that the vibration varies from lens to lens due to wear in the aperture action, or the lever on the back of the lens that gets pressed by the camera is bent out of shape)
* then fire the shutter several times normally and guestimate how much vibration is caused by the mirror and how much vibration is caused by the aperture action.

i'm willing to bet a beer that this will show the aperture action is the main cause 🙂

 

[jonmanjiro]

So.... what was the verdict Phantomas ?