Correct use of Canon IS lens

[cmosman]

Hello forum,

Is the any such thing as the correct use of the IS ability of the Canon 17-85 IS lens?

I suppose what I should be asking is when to turn IS off.:confused:

Thanks in advance for any help.

[liza]

When you're shooting motion or at high shutter speeds.

[ed rader]

Hello forum,

Is the any such thing as the correct use of the IS ability of the Canon 17-85 IS lens?

I suppose what I should be asking is when to turn IS off.:confused:

Thanks in advance for any help.


the only time i turn IS off is by accident :D .

if you use some of the older IS lenses on a tripod you'll want to turn IS off. the newer IS units shut down automatically.

ed rader

[august23]

It use is to give you slower shutter speeds at larger aperatures without causing HANDSHAKE. It will do nothing for you to stop action in a picture. To do that, the 2.8 aperture combined with a faster shutter will give you desirable results. IS does nothing for this.

[Tee Why]

If you need to shoot at a slower shutter speed than you can hold the camera/lens still without camera shake is the time to use it.

In mode 2, it can be used while panning to prevent up and down movement shakes.

If you use it all the time, it won't help you if the shutter speed is fast enough and will eat up the battery power.

[cmosman]

Thank you for all your replies.

So really it sounds like leave IS on except tripod use and when light allows a fast enough shutter speed.

Many thanks :)

[Collin85]

Personally, I rarely have it off.

It use is to give you slower shutter speeds at larger aperatures without causing HANDSHAKE. It will do nothing for you to stop action in a picture. To do that, the 2.8 aperture combined with a faster shutter will give you desirable results. IS does nothing for this.

Aperture isn't necessarily so relevant. Wide-open or stopped down, the point is it allows you to shoot at a slower shutter speed than you otherwise could without getting image blur caused by hand shake.

As for f/2.8, his 17-85 doesn't open up that wide.

[Pixel9ine]

This might sound odd, but on my 17-85, IS stays OFF most of the time.

As long as my shuter speeds are above the "1/focal length" rule, I have IS turned off.

In situations were I need it, I'll turn it on -take the shot- and turn it off again.

[Skip Souza]

Even when shooting at gawd awful high shutter speeds say 1/2000 second I still leave it on. Doing so helps me attain a steadier "sight picture".
No offense Ed, but I always turn mine off when mounted on a tripod. It makes me feel important like I am in control :-)

[Lester Wareham]

This might sound odd, but on my 17-85, IS stays OFF most of the time.

As long as my shuter speeds are above the "1/focal length" rule, I have IS turned off.

In situations were I need it, I'll turn it on -take the shot- and turn it off again.

There should be some benefit to IS for a few stops (2-3) above the handhold 'rule'. The rule is just a guide to getting reasonable sharpness but there is still more sharpness to be had up to the optical limit of the lens.

As has been noted older IS units should be turned off when on a tripod, newer ones don't seem to have a problem with this. For very long telephotos there is enough vibration even on a sturdy 'pod it is worth leaving IS on.

You should experiment with IS use with a monopod. With a 300/4 IS I found Mode 1 did not help except at very low speeds with a monopod, but mode 2 gained about a stop with a monopod. A modern IS unit like the 24-105/4 IS seemed happy about tripod or monopod.

Another way you can use IS incorrectly is fire the shutter before the IS has had time to settle. This is normally 0.5-1 second depending on the model.

Apparently the new 70-200/4 IS has a 4-stop advantage if left for 4 seconds to settle from memory.

I am slightly credulous about this 4-stop value as the 24-105 only gave 2 stops for good sharpness despite being advertised as higher. More advantage could be gained for much softer images.

[Roy Mathers]

I am slightly credulous about this 4-stop value as the 24-105 only gave 2 stops for good sharpness despite being advertised as higher. More advantage could be gained for much softer images.

Do you mean incredulous?

[kram]

I wasnt sure if my new 24-105 is intelligent enough to shut down on a tripod, so, I turned it off.

Otherwise, its on by default at any shutter speed.

[Lester Wareham]

Do you mean incredulous?

Sort of, what I actually said was slightly credulous

This means I partly accept it, knowing I would be being gullible to not also know there are tacit caveats involved such as the sharpness criteria used.

Unfortunately my professional background means I tend to talk in subtexts. :rolleyes: :D

[Collin85]

I wasnt sure if my new 24-105 is intelligent enough to shut down on a tripod, so, I turned it off.

Otherwise, its on by default at any shutter speed.

OT, but you've got some stellar landscape shots in your gallery, Kram. Makes me feel like going on an island getaway holiday. :)

[Lester Wareham]

I wasnt sure if my new 24-105 is intelligent enough to shut down on a tripod, so, I turned it off.

Otherwise, its on by default at any shutter speed.

My one seems to be OK on a tripod.

[kram]

OT, but you've got some stellar landscape shots in your gallery, Kram. Makes me feel like going onto an island getaway holiday. :)

Thanks Collin. The only disadvantage with my interest is that I tend to get bored when I am not travelling to such exotic places. Esp. sitting in a place like Hongkong, I am trying to force myself to get more into candids and street shots.

[kram]

My one seems to be OK on a tripod.

Will probably just leave it on going forward. I am not getting into another test with this lens ;)

[Roy Mathers]

Sort of, what I actually said was

This means I partly accept it, knowing I would be being gullible to not also know there are tacit caveats involved such as the sharpness criteria used.

Unfortunately my professional background means I tend to talk in subtexts. :rolleyes: :D


Sorry - understood!

[JNunn]

I leave IS on all of the time except on a tripod. The only IS lens I have at the moment is the 100-400L. AFAIK there's no benefit to turning it off and on (other than for use on a tripod) and then only if you don't have the latest IS.

[overclock]

I have seen it hypothesized that having IS on for a subject in motion can actually ruin the shot because of the time it takes the IS to engage the subject can move and the lens would at that time be OOF. It is only a hyposthesis and has not been proven to a theory status at this time.

I have IS off for any subject in motion type pictures as the IS seems not to like a lot of motion from my personal observation. [puts on flame suit]

[The Hardcard]

As far as I understand it, IS has nothing to do with focus. IS activity does not lock focus. If you are getting OOF shots, it is for other reasons.

I disagree with turning off IS for motion. It is true that IS does nothing to limit motion blur. However, if you are shooting motion handheld, your shot is affected by subject motion AND camera shake. No matter how fast your subject is moving, IS can reduce the effect of camera shake.

IS is on for all handheld shots for me.

[Lester Wareham]

I have seen it hypothesized that having IS on for a subject in motion can actually ruin the shot because of the time it takes the IS to engage the subject can move and the lens would at that time be OOF. It is only a hyposthesis and has not been proven to a theory status at this time.

I have IS off for any subject in motion type pictures as the IS seems not to like a lot of motion from my personal observation. [puts on flame suit]

The IS system is completly unaware of the subject, it motion or if it is in focus.

All the IS system does is correct for angular movements in two axis using solid state gyros as sensors.

What you might be experiencing is the IS system being confussed if you are panning the camera. Most of the telephoto lenses have a Mode 2 for panning and Mode 1 for non-panning.

I notice my 24-105 does not have a mode control. I don't know if that means it can't cope with panning or it auto detects panning, I suspect the latter although I have not had a chance to check for that.

[cmosman]

Its good to see that and 'on' or 'off' question has had such a response.

I think mine will now be left on with the exception of tripod use.