Testing IS of a lens?

I did a quick search, but didn't find much. I was wondering if there was a way to test the image stabilization of a lens. I have had problems with my T1i and 70-300 IS USM since I had purchased them. Both have made trips to Canon and the lens was replaced the last trip it made. I have only recently been getting good results with the lens in the 250-300mm range by keeping the shutter speeds above 1/400 sec. I have read that 1/focal length rule doesn't really apply to lenses with IS, but this seems the only way I can get results with good detail. Most pictures I take at 1/320 sec. or longer are soft or lack detail. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

It could be the lens, but it also could just be your shooting style. How you hold your camera with a long lens makes a world of difference. You should hold the camera with your right hand with the left hand cradling the underside of the lens and your left elbow tucked in to your chest. You also need to give the IS a second or two to kick in. When looking through your viewfinder and zoomed out you should see your image jumping around a bit, but settle down once you half press the shutter and engage the IS.

the 1 over rule does apply. more so with a crop. if you're taking pictures of a moving subject then IS doesn't matter

The rule of thumb is 1/focal length for FF. Adjust for crop accordingly.

Hi Rod - sorry to hear about the aggravation you're experiencing. I don't own that lens so cannont comment directly. I would check the following though:

1. Are you possibly using a low quality filter on the lens that's degrading the image? If used in bright light, poor coatings or none at all will cause image degrading reflections.
2. Are your images properly exposed? Both over and underexposed images can appear to be soft. In both instances contrast can be low along with edge definition and apparent sharpness of the subjects.
3. Are you using your center AF point and laying it right on the object?
4. What aperture are you using? This is probably a lesser liklihood, but I wonder if it's a DOF issue.
5. Have you run the test on a tripod with the IS turned OFF just to see if its' a lens issue?

I believe your 70-300 has 3 stop IS. The handheld rule would indicate you should shoot at 1/480 when at 300mm. 3 stops of IS would take you down all the way to 1/60. If you can't get a crisp shot at 1/320 then its either your shooting style or your lens. A couple of example shots would help. If you're shooting wide open and viewing at 100% it just might be that you have an unrealistic expectation regarding sharpness.

Are you looking at print images Rod or zooming in 100%+ on a large monitor? Please supply some samples.

To be quite honest I was suspect of my technique, but after having some issues my equipment I was looking for some input.

sapearl:
I do not have any filters on the lens, using custom setting with sharpness at 4 and contrast +1, center AF point and have been trying to keep the aperature between 7.1 & 9 (found and read that this lens performs best in that range). Have not tried a test using a tripod.

I have attached some pics. I try not to pixel peek, but want to get the best results possible. The original full image was resized and the second was cropped and resized.

Thanks for any help and advice.

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Second pic

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third pic

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The first (that's a lot of cropping!) and second look fine to me. The third is the only suspect one, and it could simply have been excessive movement/shake for that shot, IS not up to speed, or the animal moving (the tree should look sharp if this is the cause).

I agree that the first two look quite sharp - can't find anything wrong with them. For the shot with the squirrel, you may have dropped your focus point to the broken bark at the bottom center of the shot, which is a matter of technique.....somethin​g we have all done at one time or another.

Thanks for the input and I will work on my technique. I know there is a long road ahead of me as far as learning, but was still a bit curious about the equipment.

Maybe looking for an excuse for my first L glass...

"L" glass does not guarantee perfect keepers for every shot - trust me on that - sometimes we move too fast, get to excited, aren't quite ready, weren't paying attention for that best opportunity, and ..... we sort of blow it. But nobody died so it's all good. Keep at it and I'm sure you'll do fine .

PhrozeN_FisH wrote in post #10170926
Thanks for the input and I will work on my technique. I know there is a long road ahead of me as far as learning, but was still a bit curious about the equipment.

Maybe looking for an excuse for my first L glass...