IS is suppose to be turned off....

[SP-LPB]

MODERATOR NOTE: THIS MESSAGER WAS SPLIT FROM ANOTHER TOPIC

While it's frustrating since I know my shots could've been better...I'm glad I didn't realize I didn't have IS while shooting, b/c I was a lot more relaxed.

IS is suppose to be turned off while shooting in good light, right? I don't have it in my 70-200 so I'm just saying what others say. You guys are the pros and you know better :D . Anyone still shooting with a 10D, I know that Phil is.

[Derf]

.....IS is suppose to be turned off while shooting in good light, right? ......

IS is the photographers call....if your shooting 200th of a second with
400MM, you want it on..... if you are slowing your shutter speed to get
prop blur...you want it on. If your shooting 1600th of a second. there
should be no need. IS stops motion blur that occurs with a slow shutter
speed. That is all. I would love IS because I sometimes shoot 200th of
a second or slower with 480MM... You NEED to be on top of your game or
you will have a 100% failure rate....

Feet apart and flat on a very hard surface, NO WIND, Gently pull the
trigger so light that it scares you when the shot fires off...and take 8 of
the same shot in rapid fire....#7 is usually the best for me!

Here is a quickie from yesterday


***All shots are at 480MM equivalent with a 300mm tamaron piece of ****
70-300 f4-5.6 macro made for film that cost about $140*** and I will use
this until I bring a bat next time I go shooting with moose! Then we will
start talking some slow shutter-speeds!!!!

1000ths of a second (****ty shot of props almost completely stopped)


250th of a second (Nice for a prop blur....lets you feel some action)


50th of a second!!!! (SPEED)


While this may not seem to impressive, I was standing on top of my truck
with a poor stance and wind blowing me and my lens all over the place,
the wind was also moving the truck. this was one of my typical #7 of 8
shots!!! IS would have made it seem like I was shooting the middle shot
and I would have pulled that off with about an 80% accuracy rate instead
of 1 out of 8 shots!!! IS is huge if you need it during the day. If you are
stopping the fan of a jet engine....you do not need it and should mail it to
me right away!

[Derf]

Oh, you would want IS for the bottom two...you really need it for the last
shot unless the conditions are perfect and you are rock steady...and it still
will take a few shots to get it right. I practice ALOT.

good practice is shoot way over the top so 90percent of the shots are bad!
THAT IS HOW YOU LEARN. Stand on the side of the road and shoot cars -
50mm at 10th of a second and get slower as you get better!

You only get better if you push your limits.... start completly failing, then
you can start shooting handheld at night with a smile


sorry to go off topic guys :roll:

[T-Bird76]

There's no reason to ever turn IS off. I leave it on all the time.

[PhilDernerJr]

I leave it on all the time, too. I just adjust the setting from 1 to 2 depending on the direction that I'm panning. If you have the feature, I don't see any reason to not use it.

[Derf]

I do not have IS but was told by a pro that anytime you are using a shutter speed of more than 1 second, you should have it off. I do lots of tripod night stuff and would never personally leave it on for that type of work. But you need to understand that I do not know what is proper or not, I just would not want to put that much usage on the lens in those cases. I also was told that you will get sharper images with it off, but that is of course with a very high shutter speed where motion is not an issue at all. Please take this info as a suggestion an not law as I have not reasearched all the info because I do not have IS and do not need to know all the in's and out's.

[PhilDernerJr]

Ok, good point. I forgot about that, as I rarely do tripod work.

When using a tripod, or somewhere that the camera is ABSOLUTELY STILL, I will turn off the IS.

Faster than a second? That's a little out of hand. No offense to him or her, but your pro friend probably not shooting airplanes moving 150mph.

[moose135]

I do lots of tripod night stuff and would never personally leave it on for that type of work.

From what I've read, you should not have IS turned on when using a tripod. The Canon manuals recommend you turn it off. Poked around the web a little and found this:

http://www.dlcphotography.net/TripodAndIS.htm

Here is the explanation from Chuck Westfall (Canon USA):

"The IS mechanism operates by correcting shake. When there is no shake, or when the level of shake is below the threshold of the system's detection capability, use of the IS feature may actually *add* unwanted blur to the photograph, therefore you should shut it off in this situation. Remember that the IS lens group is normally locked into place. When the IS function is active, the IS lens group is unlocked so it can be moved by the electromagnetic coil surrounding the elements. When there's not enough motion for the IS system to detect, the result can sometimes be a sort of electronic 'feedback loop,' somewhat analogous to the ringing noise of an audio feedback loop we're all familiar with. As a result, the IS lens group might move while the lens is on a tripod, unless the IS function is switched off and the IS lens group is locked into place."

This effects the 100-400mm L-IS but not the newer 70-200mm L-IS as that has a "tripod-detection" mode.

[Derf]

Well, The reason I was told over a second is because if you do not have
the mirror lockup enabled, you will infact have some movement even on a
tripod....after a second, a good tripod should give you a cleaner shot than
the IS harmonic hum.

This is second hand but I do trust the source I have with this info....