Turn off IS when bracing?

I seldom bother with setting up a tripod. For instance, last night I steadied the camera against a window sash to shoot the eclipsed moon. Afterward, it occurred to me that bracing against a stable object approximates the effect of using a tripod, and turning off image stabilization might have given a clearer result.

Do you turn off IS when using a solid object instead of a tripod to hold the camera still?

As you are still holding the camera, you will still be imparting some vibration in to the system, so I would have IS/OS/VC on in this situation. I would be using a remote release and mirror lock or LV (wish i had remembered that last night myself) shooting off a tripod before turning off the stabilisation.

Alan

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=Mzcgyk62cHU

there are only 4 lenses that require turning off IS (see page 2). Later lenses are supposed to be smart enough to figure out if they are stationary.


that said, I think systems like this can be fooled, and i think there are situations where you can get worse results when using it than when it is off.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17724884
there are only 4 lenses that require turning off IS (see page 2).

Given that this is my entire gear list:

CAMERAS
Own:
Canon IXUS 80 IS ... 7/10
Canon G15 ... 8.5/10

. . . does it follow, then, that I never need to use IS at all?

OhLook wrote in post #17724905
Given that this is my entire gear list:

CAMERAS
Own:
Canon IXUS 80 IS ... 7/10
Canon G15 ... 8.5/10

. . . does it follow, then, that I never need to use IS at all?

i think you are misunderstanding that article. The list of 4 lenses are the ones that are not smart enough to sit on a tripod with IS on and not get screwed up … all other lenses (and presumably cameras) are smart enough to sit on a tripod with IS on and produce a good image.


but again, I think systems like this can be fooled. Other's will probably disagree, but I have braced against a rail with IS on and occasionally had weird results.

can you even turn IS off on either of your cameras?

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17724919
i think you are misunderstanding that article. . . .
can you even turn IS off on either of your cameras?

I construed the first part of the article to mean that the impetus for developing IS in the first place was the shake caused by trying to hold big, heavy, long lenses. Accordingly (my inference here), a lightweight camera that doesn't take attached lenses shouldn't need IS.

I can turn off IS on the G15, at least. On the smaller one, I'd have to check. I don't use that camera much anymore.

long shutter speeds, and even light weight long lenses benefit from IS too.

Weight isn't the problem so much as focal length, on the contrary, a light camera is more easily influenced by the smallest twitches in your muscles while a heavy camera has more mass to smooth motion out with. A classic example is the A7r which had a fairly strong shutter in a small mirrorless body, which often resulted in less than perfectly sharp images unless you strapped a brick to it.

You also shouldn't overestimate being able to brace a camera as still as a tripod, in fact, with many lower-end tripods you'll see the image shake in liveview just by putting your hand on the camera, unless by "brace" you mean balance it on something and use a timer. As long as your hand is touching the camera, IS should be turned on.

Search function is broken right now, but there was a post a year or two ago that showed a shot of the ISS taken from a not so good tripod. The shutter slap alone made a crazy cork screw out of the space station with IS not on.

Agree with everything you said KP. While I do think there are times it might mess up, I think it is so rare to be a non issue.

I've used my "older" 100-400 IS L lens on a tripod a fair number of times with the IS on. I've done this to cut down shake visible in the viewfinder. Something to watch, though, is if you don't keep the shutter button half-pressed, after a few seconds the IS will deactive and the lens internal will "slump", not good for getting a good shot!

Hand on camera - IS on.

Hand off camera, tripod rock steady - IS off.

this is not the picture of the ISS i mentioned above but is almost identical in its result.

https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=15265663

No.

IS stays on for me, even when on a monopod. I Only turn IS off if I am locked down solid like on a tripod.