IS questions?

[superdiver]

OK, so I have been reading about IS for a while on this board and I seem to be getting mixed signals.

1)I read that its not good for action shots. Yet I see great photos of birds in flight and shots of sports action with it that are just amazing!

2)I read that panning doesnt work well with IS, am I understanding that right?

3)Is IS worth the money? From the pictures I see I would say, heck yeah!, But should I chaulk that up to supperior ability of the photgrapher?

[crn3371]

The reason that IS isn't recommended for action shots is that one of the main benefits of IS is that it lets you shoot at a slower shutter speed. Slow shutter speed is usually the opposite of what you're after to capture moving subjects. Some IS lenses have a mode that disables stabilization in one plane, enabling you to pan. Stabilization gives you 2-3 stops, great for static, low light shots. The best of both worlds is a fast lens w/stabilization, but you're talking serious money.

[GyRob]

i use IS even when shooting at 1/4000sec on my telephotos - its there i paid for it and it helps steady the image in the viewfinder .
now i dont know for sure if not having it on at these shutter speed's would make any diffrence perhaps not .
Rob

[Jon]

OK, so I have been reading about IS for a while on this board and I seem to be getting mixed signals.

1)I read that its not good for action shots. Yet I see great photos of birds in flight and shots of sports action with it that are just amazing!
It won't stop subject motion. BUT, and this becomes increasingly important with long lenses, it'll let you hand-hold your lens at a slower speed. For instance, you want 1/250 or slower to get a nice "prop blur" at an air show - frozen props on a plane in flight look so phoney. But you're using a 400 mm lens on a 20D. Safe hand-hold speed in that case, without IS, is around 1/750. IS gives you 2 stops - to about 1/180. Or you need 1/250 to stop a football player, but to use your 70-200 at 200 on your 20D you should be at 1/320. With IS, your only concern, for all practical purposes, is the degree of subject motion you want. And what a lot of people forget is that there's no magical shutter speed where your rock-steady hand-holding becomes abysmal. It's a gradual continuum. IS will continue to give you that 2-3 stop advantage up into the "steady" zone you thought you were in (take a picture at the low end, and the high end of your hand-holdable range and compare them; usually the low-end shot will be just that little, barely perceptible, bit less crisp).

2)I read that panning doesnt work well with IS, am I understanding that right?With the "original" IS, it was on or off. Most newer IS lenses include a "Panning" switch, which reconfigures it to ignore motion in the direction of panning.

3)Is IS worth the money? From the pictures I see I would say, heck yeah!, But should I chaulk that up to supperior ability of the photgrapher?For me, it's worth it. Given a choice between an IS lens and an equivalent non-IS lens, I'll get the IS version every time. It may not make a difference in every shot, but it really helps around the "edges".

[Ronald S. Jr.]

1) With standard 1-mode IS, no, it won't help, because you want to freeze action.

2)That's BS. IS mode 2 works great for panning.

3)Absolutely, if you can afford it. Nice to have, even if you don't always use it.

[superdiver]

Great answers, thats what I wanted...thanks...

[CyberDyneSystems]

Also,. check the EF FAQ thread.. some of the mysteries of IS are explained there.

As an investment,. it is well worth it for many applications.

I use IS on my Canon long lenses pretty much 100% of the time,. and coming from a lighter just as capable "main lens" sans IS,. (the Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX HSM) I can tell you the single most significant difference between these lenses (vs. the Canon 500mm) is Image Stabilazation.

If the Canon did not have IS,. I would have stuck with the Sigma and saved $3,000.00 and be done with it. IS is THE reason the Canon is a more productive lens.

On a long lens (300mm or more) IS is a life saver.

[GyRob]

Also,. check the EF FAQ thread.. some of the mysteries of IS are explained there.

As an investment,. it is well worth it for many applications.

I use IS on my Canon long lenses pretty much 100% of the time,. and coming from a lighter just as capable "main lens" sans IS,. (the Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX HSM) I can tell you the single most significant difference between these lenses (vs. the Canon 500mm) is Image Stabilazation.

If the Canon did not have IS,. I would have stuck with the Sigma and saved $3,000.00 and be done with it. IS is THE reason the Canon is a more productive lens.

On a long lens (300mm or more) IS is a life saver.
And seeing as it was you that made me buy the 500f4isL instead of the Sigma i have to agree conpletly :)
Rob

[superdiver]

So how would a lens like this (100-400mm or 500mm IS L) work for soccer or baseball or indoor basketball? It would seem too big for me to have indoors if I have court side acces right?

[Jim B 01930]

I think you would find the100-400 L IS to be too much lens to use from courtside. I tried it at a golf tournament and found myself moving back far from the ropes many times especially at the tee boxes and greens.

OTOH, the 100 - 400 L IS does a nice job stopping action and panning. I got this shot (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=178678) from the deck of a moving boat with lots of engine vibration coming through the deck on a pitching sea about sixty feet from the subject. As if that weren't enough of challenge, those suckers move fast.

[ed rader]

OK, so I have been reading about IS for a while on this board and I seem to be getting mixed signals.

1)I read that its not good for action shots. Yet I see great photos of birds in flight and shots of sports action with it that are just amazing!

2)I read that panning doesnt work well with IS, am I understanding that right?

3)Is IS worth the money? From the pictures I see I would say, heck yeah!, But should I chaulk that up to supperior ability of the photgrapher?

IS is great for those of us who don't like tripods or monopods and it may even aid when taking macro shots.

i say may because the only lens i've ever used with extension tubes is my 24-105L and only a couple of times.

today i took ten handheld shots of a yellow jacket in my back yard with a 36mm extension tube and my 24-105L and this was the best shot. the lens was almost fully extended too, (99mm).

ed rader

http://www.fototime.com/93BB5BEF82312DD/orig.jpg

[vjack]

IS allows me to use the 100-400 at 400mm handheld in situations where I would not be able to achieve fast enough shutter speed to prevent camera shake. While having it on a lens of this range is well worthwhile IMO, I've never understood the rationale of putting it on lenses at the < 100mm range. However, I shoot mostly outdoors during daylight hours. I can't recall a single situation where I wasn't able to achieve the necessary shutter speed at this range by bumping the ISO to 400 or 800.

If I shot more indoors and refused to use a flash for some reason, I suspect I'd be a big fan of IS on short lenses.

[SkipD]

So how would a lens like this (100-400mm or 500mm IS L) work for soccer or baseball or indoor basketball? It would seem too big for me to have indoors if I have court side acces right?I think you might find the 100-400 a bit slow for indoor basketball. IS won't do a thing to stop action on the court. You need faster shutter speeds, and the relatively slow max aperture of that lens would limit that. Outdoors, with more lighting, it's a fantastic lens and I want one very much.

[superdiver]

Thats what I was thinking about indoors as well.

Thaks for the comments, keep them coming...

[superdiver]

OTOH, the 100 - 400 L IS does a nice job stopping action and panning. I got this shot (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=178678) from the deck of a moving boat with lots of engine vibration coming through the deck on a pitching sea about sixty feet from the subject. As if that weren't enough of challenge, those suckers move fast.


WOW, that is an AMAZING shot!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Indoor courtside a 70-200mm f/2,8 IS would be better :)