Another IS question

[Chris G]

Will IS help me get a sharper image when I'm doing a panning shot? I was at the ALMS races this weekend and was having trouble getting sharp images when I was trying to pan as the cars were going by. I was using my 100-300. I didn't use a focal length over about 200 (to hard to hand hold). And, I tried not to shoot wide open. Also, I did not have a mono pod and I think that would have help me a lot. Any ideas?

Thanks

[etaf]

can you remember what shutter speed you had, all IS will do is provide the bility to have a lower shutter speed handheld.
In fact some versions of IS cannot be used on a monopod/tripod

[Chris G]

can you remember what shutter speed you had, all IS will do is provide the bility to have a lower shutter speed handheld.
In fact some versions of IS cannot be used on a monopod/tripod


I was trying to keep the shutter more than the focal length of the lense. I think the slowest I was using between 400-500.

[etaf]

that should gove you a sharp image - however, factors like panning, focus, DoF all cominto play - can you post example

[gasrocks]

Panning (for effect) should employ low shutter speeds: 1/30, 1/15 etc Many of the IS lenses have a switch just for helping you get better panning shots (one position = steady, the other = you are going to pan.) IS does help a lot in panning.

[Chris G]

that should gove you a sharp image - however, factors like panning, focus, DoF all cominto play - can you post example


I'm at work right now. I can post some pics when I get home.

[Chris G]

Here is a link to one of the photos with the problem.

http://911cg.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=Limerock&id=IMG_0107_1

After looking at the picture and my camera settings, I think part of the problem was I didn't have the lense stopped down enough. I would think 5.6 and 6.3 doesn't give you a lot of DOF. Right?

[SkipD]

Chris, it appears to me that you were not properly focussed on the point where the car was. If I am guessing right, you probably were using normal auto focus and auto exposure. If so, you probably captured focus when the car was at some other place than where the exposure was actually made (in other words, focussing occurred a short time before the exposure). Your panning, in and of itself, looks fine.

Here's the way I would have done this shot, but you have to remember that I come from the old school where everything was manual. I would have pre-focussed - in manual focus mode - on the track where the cars you were planning to shoot WOULD BE when you wanted to capture them. I also would have established my exposure settings and locked them in via manual mode. Then, I would have panned the shot.

I would probably have picked a somewhat slower shutter speed to produce an image that "looks like" speed. There isn't much panning blur of the background/foreground objects to show the speed. In picking a slower shutter speed, you would have a smaller (higher number) aperture and a greater depth of field. This wouldn't solve the cause of the focus problem, but it would aid in making a sharper image of the subject even if you weren't perfectly focussed.

To answer your question at the opening of this thread - IS would be of little benefit on shots like this. IS mode 2 could help avoid up-down blur while you are panning left-right, but I doubt there would be any improvement to your images by using IS. The main advantage of IS is for still shots where you need to have slower shutter speeds than you could normally hold steady enough.

[tim]

Panning is hard, I was told by a professional motorsport photographer that it took him a long time (from memory, many months, or even a couple of years) to get his technique right so he could do it consistently.

IS mode 2 on a lens that's equipped with it will help with panos, which only comes on the newer IS lenses.

[Chris G]

Thanks, will try that stuff next time.

[uumode]

On certain telephoto lens there is an IS panning mode I believe
(but there definately is an IS tripod mode)

I have a 17-85mm IS and it only has a standard IS so will not help in panning, and it has to be switched off if used on a tripod.

[uumode]

I didn't realise Sigma also did a similar feature
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000C1I3O/002-9742502-7683238?v=glance

"Mode 2, detects the vertical camera shake, and overcomes blurring. It is especially effective with moving subjects such as motor sports etc."

[sony23]

I have been practicing panning for a good fews weeks now with a 70-200 L IS lens, and what I have found is mode 2 doesn't really work for me but mode 1 IS does, it stops camera shake in all directions, I turned off IS and was not happy with the results.

Camera settings for the pictures below were

Canon 20d
Canon ef 70-200 L IS
handheld
Mode 1 IS
tv Mode
160 shutter speed
iso 200
Manual WB
cf 4.1
single center point focus
hope that helps

http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/no9.jpg



http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/cater.jpg


http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/good8.jpg


http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/nice2.jpg



http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/pan2.jpg

[lensmen]

Sony23

i loved these shots.

You must have trained very very hard to get them right. The cars are very sharp..... trademark of the L & IS