IS Function - Leave on or turn off at higher shutter speeds?

[mjordan]

I'm ordering the 70-200 2.8L IS lens (to replace my 70-200 4.0L) and will be using it both indoors and outside at an upcoming dog show I'm shooting at. I've never used an IS lens before and was wondering if it made a difference if the IS is on when shooting at shutter speeds above 1/250 or so? I'm hoping to have plenty of light during the outdoor activities and be able to shoot at higher speeds.

The indoor will actually be under a big tent, although I've not found out if it's an open sided tent or more like a big circus tent. I'm hoping for an open sided so more light will get in and I don't have to shoot at the slow shutter speeds I normally shoot at when I'm shooting at indoor events like this. But this is why I'm getting the IS lens. I know IS won't help give me faster shutter speeds, but it will (I hope) help with the slower speeds when I'm taking static and slow moving shots.

Thanks for any info.

Mike

[UniSonBBS]

I guess the IS feature turns it self on and off when its on. It decides when its needed? I may be wrong. But I have the 75-300 IS USM one and I never turn it off. Gives me that added security of knowing my handhelds have a lot better chance of being ok. The only time I really like my IS on tripod is when I use my 2x Teleconverter. Thats just way too much zoom... :P But I can even handhold it at 960mm :x Thats just crazy.

[2Hog]

I didn't know you could put a 2x teleconverter on a 75-300 IS lens. I just got my 10d and a 75-300 IS lens. Could you explain? What kind of teleconverter do you use? As you said - a 2x teleconverter on a 75-300 would be something else. Man, I would be in hog heaven.

I traded up from a G3 and I am still learning. Thanks 2hog

[slejhamer]

Hi Mike - long time no see.

I vaguely recall a web post from Chuck Westfall (Canon's technical guru) in which he said that IS will not add any benefit if your shutter speed is 2x the focal length. That said, it probably won't hurt.

Note that if you are shooting the pooches while they are prancing on the runway, make sure you use the correct IS mode. (I believe your new lens has two modes - one for still subjects, the other for when you are panning. If you use the wrong mode, the subjects might appear to jump around in the viewfinder as the IS function jiggles things around. I found this out the hard way with my 28-135 IS lens, which has only the general IS mode.)

Hope that helps. I look forward to seeing your shots. :)

Regards,

[WSpruance]

I have the 28-135 IS lens and the manual states that you should not use the IS mode when you are shooting off of a tripod. Also - if you use a 2x converter don't you loose auto focus?

One thought on the dog show- What kind of lights will they be using? If you shoot in RAW no problem. If not RAW you might want to change your white balance.

I haven't gone to the dogs yet - but it's beginning to feel close.

[mjordan]

Hi Mitch! I'm a regular reader on the forum but I don't post all that much. Too many people that know more than me. LOL!

I'll keep that in mind about the right IS mode. I should get it tomorrow and luckily I have a few days to play with it before we head to St. Louis for the show. I'll either use it or my 24-70 during the week, so I'll have a chance to try it out in a lot of different conditions. I've been doing a lot of Dragon Boat racing as well as the dogs, Mitch. Having the only pictures of a semi-controversial crash the last big race got me well known amoung the 18 or so teams there. So I'm hoping this will grow into more as well.

The lighting indoors is going to be a large tent (80x100') and it's suppose to have the sides rolled up. They will have a number of large lights of some kind inside. The rolled up sides is going to really help and be much better than a lot of the barns and arenas I normally shoot in when it's indoors.

I also shoot in raw unless I'm really tight for space or the pictures are not that important and I don't want to go through the convert process. Space shouldn't be a problem, I just got a 40 gig Image Tank G2 to dump my CF cards to while I'm working. I'll then dump them to a laptop with a CD burner so I can create backups each night. The Image Tank was less than one 1 gig card and I would have had to buy several before I would have felt I had enough.

Thanks for the comments about keeping the IS on. I've heard this from other people as well, so I'll give that a try. I'll evaluate my images after the first day of shooting and see if there is any reason to turn it off.

Mike

[Guillermo Freige]

I have the 28-135, and the 75-300 IS, and there is no problem in leaving the IS on in high shutter shots (except for battery usage). Both lenses have only 1 IS mode (no pan mode) and has problems with tripod shots, but they were the first Canon IS lenses. Newer lenses have 2 IS modes, and no problem with tripods, so you can leave the IS on in all situations. As far as I know IS doesn't disable itself when high speed shutter are used ( at least in my lenses )

[henkbos]

Be sure to heck your manual. I have the 300f/4L IS with 2 modes and the manual states that the IS should be off when using a tripod.

[defordphoto]

The 70-200L f2.8 IS is one of the new generation IS lenses that turns itself off when it's on a tripod, so no worries there.

I have the 28-135IS, the 100-400L IS and the 70-200L f2.8 IS and I only have it on when it's needed. The thing to remember is that the IS are moving parts and subject to wear and tear. Why have it on if you're shooting at 1/1000? To me, it's both a waste of battery power and un-needed wear and tear on the gyro(s) to have it on all the time.

When I bought the 70-200 I considered not even getting the IS because I don't use it all that often, but it sure is sweet to have when you need it.

[mjordan]

That's a good point, Jim. My main reason for the question is because I'm going to be shooting for a week where I'll be moving inside and then outside a lot. I expect that there will be plenty of light outside (if it's not real cloudy) but not so great indoors. Since I'll be moving in and out and moving around pretty fast all day, I didn't want to have to worry about if the IS was on or off. Under normal conditions when I'm shooting out in the sun only, I'd leave it off to save on battery consumption. I hadn't considered the moving parts. Good thing I got the 3 year warranty with it.

Thanks Jim,

Mike

[defordphoto]

Then get some extra batteries and leave it on. Otherwise you'll probably forget in the rush.

I bought two sets of these batteries: http://www.amondotech.com/product.asp?0=270&1=281&3=54 and have been very impressed, so far. They hold a great charge and (as you see) are super cheap. I paid Paypal on a Sunday afternoon. The batteries were shipped by 9:30am on Monday and I got them a couple of days later (they are on west coast and so am I). I was very impressed with these folks and will probably purchase a couple more sets. The only thing is that the batteries do not come with covers.

And yes, I have the 3-year Mack on all my IS's too.

Oh! And Hi neighbor! I'm in Vancouver.

[mjordan]

I bought 6 or 7 batteries from somewhere for real cheap as well. I figured even if they don't last as long as the other, more expensive ones, for what they cost it won't be a great loss. So I have about 10 batteries to go between my 10D and the D30 which my wife is using. I have her in jpeg mode so she doesn't go through the battery as fast as I do. And I have 2 chargers and AC, so shouldn't run out of battery juice each day.

And we've talked before. You took the great pictures with the 100-400 (didn't it break before you went to Idaho?). It was because of your pictures that I've put it on my list for maybe next spring for the Rose Festival Dragon Boat races.

Mike

[defordphoto]

Ahh yeah. Okay. Geeze. I talk to sooo many people... Anyway yeah, it broke before I went to Idaho, so I got the 70-200L 2.8 IS!! :D

Just got the big boy back today and it's working sweet! If anything exciting pops up, let me know and maybe we can all get together. My wife is shooting the D60 too, so maybe we can make it a Canon-foursome!

Feel free and email me anytime: jim@rfmsports.com

[mjordan]

I saw your other post that you got the 100-400 back. That's good they got it fixed. I just got my 70-200 2.8L IS today. UPS didn't bring it till 5pm after delivering some other stuff I ordered at the same, the day before. I was beginning to wonder if it had gotten lost. We leave Tues evening for our trip to St. Louis and I wanted to play with it some this weekend to get a feel for it. I took some quick shots with it out my back door and they were good and sharp down to 1/30th at 2.8 (with very narrow depth of field of course) but I noticed fuzzies at 1/20th at 2.8.

I found it not as heavy as I was afraid it might be, but I can tell it's going to be even heavier after shooting with it all day. I need to run over to Walla Walla tomorrow to drop off one of our dogs at my folks and I hopet he kite boarders are out at Hood River so I can give it a try on them.

I'd love to get together for something. Even though my wife doesn't know a lot about the D30, she does pretty good with it. She needs to keep in mind back lighting so the subjects aren't in shadow, but not bad considering she pretty much learned from listening to me... not that she would admit to that. ;D

I'm going to be putting a number of new things to the test in the next couple of weeks. I've only had the 10D for a less than 3 months. I've had the 24-70 about a month. I just got the 70-200 2.8L. I've only had the Epson 2200 about a month and half and I juts got the 40 gig Image Tank G2 rather than a bunch more 1 gig CF cards. Trying stuff out on a 2 week road trip should tell me a lot about them.

After we get back (and recover) we'll have to see what's going on and try to get together.

Mike