told to leave IS always on

[reemas]

i was told by a local camera shop to always leave the IS on my 17-85 lens on. except when i use a tripod.

is this good? even for faster shutter speeds he said to leave it on.

[mbze430]

it dries the battery faster, but yes. you can leave it on, except when it's on a tripod or anything that is solid.

[ScottE]

Or when you are panning an action shot if not in pan mode.

Scott

[reemas]

there is a pan mode?

i just thought leaving it on at higher shutter speeds might take away from image quality, but im guessing im wrong?

[defordphoto]

Not on that lens. I only turn on my IS if I need it. It's a moving part and should only be on when you need it. Otherwise, leave it off.

[Tom W]

Like Jim says. And yes, it does operate off the camera's battery. Drain is small when it is standing by, but when you depress the shutter halfway, it kicks in and pulls some power off the battery. If you aren't approaching your personal limits in terms of shutter speed and camera shake, you really don't need it turned on.

[RodneyCyr]

As noted in another post in this thread, the IS seems to be inactive unless the camera shutter button is partially depressed.

I find that the effect of the IS on the viewfinder image to be distracting. This might be an argument for switching IS off when shooting at high shutter speeds (or with flash.)

[ScottE]

there is a pan mode?

i just thought leaving it on at higher shutter speeds might take away from image quality, but im guessing im wrong?

There is no pan mode in older models like the 70-300 and 28-135, but newer models have a pan mode. It was introduced on the 300/4 IS and continued on the later telephoto IS lenses. I'm not sure about models like the 17-85.

If you don't have the pan mode, the lens will try to stabilize while you pan, resulting in the image jumping around in the viewfinder. If you have the pan mode, the image just stabilizes in the vertical plane, letting the horizontal plane move with the camera.

Scott