Best IS lens for Canon

AndyWest

AndyWest

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Ok, I have had a swap round with my lenses, sold a few / bought a few! One thing i do not have anymore is IS on any of my lenses. I have just taken a few pics of my nephew with my outstanding 85mm f1.8 and they are ALL blurry when you zoom in. This seems to be a regular thing with me. I just can't hold the camera still enough. The only way i can get pin sharp images is by using a tripod which is no good sometimes so i need IS on a walk about lens.

I had recently purchased a used but mint Tamron 17-50 f2.8 which is very very nice but again no IS. This i feel would be the lens to replace as it's the only zoom i own.

What would be a good replacement for my 40D with very good IS? Budget would be about £600-£700.

Many thanks
 
If you pushed your budget a bit you could get a new Canon 17-55mm 2.8 IS which is highly regarded I believe. You could probably get it for around £600 used but I'm not sure.
 
I think you know the answer to that question Andy ;) Kerso will do you one for under £700.
 
MattF said:
If you pushed your budget a bit you could get a new Canon 17-55mm 2.8 IS which is highly regarded I believe. You could probably get it for around £600 used but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

That would make most sense wouldn't it! I had better have a look at some samples!
 
Dave Stone said:
How about a 24-105 F4 L
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Yes, that has been on the old shopping list. Shame it's not 17mm at he wide end but the general range is very good plus it is 'L' glass!!
 
Just ordered a Tamron 17-50mm with VC (their version of IS) apparently being posted this week
Will report back once I have given it a go
 
Another suggestion is to assess how you fire the shutter button. You should try to release it with the least pressure possible. I used to use too much force to press my shutter button in the past and this is bound to move the camera exactly at the moment when the picture is taken.

See point three here:

http://www.moosepeterson.com/techtips/longlens.html

Also with which shutter speeds were you getting blurry results? Please be aware that with an f/2.8 IS lens your shutter speed will halve as compared to your 85 f/1.8 at f/2.0.

With IS and good technique you can get sharp shots up to 1/15th of a second, but not if your subject is moving around.
 
looked at another way, perhaps you could work on the technique and go for something like the 24-70 f2.8l, potentially loosing the 50 and the 17-50 in the process.

"Blurry" can also easily be "out of focus" with uber-fast lenses like the 85mm 1.8.
 
I was shooting at between 1/40th and 1/125th sec at f1.8 Would IS make them pin sharp at that speed?

I do tent to shake a bit when doing hand held. I can see the image wobble about in the view finder. I'm guessing out doors in the sun everything would be ok but indoors it's difficult even when i'm sitting with my arms resting on my legs.
 
Even with "good" technique you should be aiming for 1/(equiv.length) as a rough guide, which would be 1/(85x1.6=136) min, without IS of course. But at 85/1.8, the DoF is VERY narrow so focus might be as much your problem.

I'd re-try some shots with more light, a higher ISO, and f/2.8 aiming for shutter of 1/250th.

IS does certainly help with shakey hands - immensly. That said I've ditched the IS and gone for raw glass speed personally, but that's because I like very diffused backgrounds and can't afford both!
 
The 17-55mm f/2.8 IS is a belter, definitely, and as crisp and sharp as an L.
I tend not to use my 24-105mm f/4 IS indoors - that extra stop of slowness does make quite a difference. Remember IS won't help stabilise a moving nephew, though :LOL:
 
I have been playing with the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 and this image came out ok actually. I'm quite pleased. I think i need to concentrate on getting the camera held properly in the 1st place. A monopod when out and about may be a useful tool!!

Yes the Tamron is a belter! I was going to sell it but i'm not sure now!!

This was hand held!
 
I think that before deciding on the solution you need to be certain of the problem. Is it definitely camera shake, or is it subject movement, or misfocus, or a combination?

IS will help with camera shake and the slower max aperture might increase DOF, but it will do nothing for your shutter speeds and thus subject movement might become a real issue. A much cheaper solution to issues of shake would be a tripod or monopod, but if the problem is with subject movement then that won't help at all. An alternative angle of attack might be a nice 430EX or 580EX. Either will cost far less than a lens and will allow you to address issues of shake, blur and DOF/focus. If you do pick a new lens then I think anything sloer than f/2.8 will cause more problems than it fixes.

The completely free option would be to up your ISO. What are you shooting at currently for these kind of shots? I would have no problem shooting a 40D at 1600 ISO if it would mean blur free shots, or even 3200 if need be. Noise is easier to fix than blur.
 
tdodd said:
I think that before deciding on the solution you need to be certain of the problem. Is it definitely camera shake, or is it subject movement, or misfocus, or a combination?

IS will help with camera shake and the slower max aperture might increase DOF, but it will do nothing for your shutter speeds and thus subject movement might become a real issue. A much cheaper solution to issues of shake would be a tripod or monopod, but if the problem is with subject movement then that won't help at all. An alternative angle of attack might be a nice 430EX or 580EX. Either will cost far less than a lens and will allow you to address issues of shake, blur and DOF/focus. If you do pick a new lens then I think anything sloer than f/2.8 will cause more problems than it fixes.

The completely free option would be to up your ISO. What are you shooting at currently for these kind of shots? I would have no problem shooting a 40D at 1600 ISO if it would mean blur free shots, or even 3200 if need be. Noise is easier to fix than blur.
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I think you are SO right! I had a play and really thought about how i hold the camera and i must say i got better shots. I only ever use ISO 100 which is not good in doors. It's just something i either forget about or don't want to use as it increases noise.

One thing i have decided to do is to sort ME out 1st before spending hundreads of beer tokens on a new lens. I love my Tamron and i'd hate to part with it and get a much more expensive lens without much improvement in the image!

I have a nice Red snapper tripod and i have no issues using that but when out and about sometimes i don't want to lug it around. A monopod would be a better and usable option. I do have one but it's a cheap bit of tat so i'll look out for a better one.

Many thanks
 
100 ISO is a bit low for indoors :)

I had a look for a 1600 ISO example without flash but didn't find anything suitable. However, here is a shot with my 40D at 400 ISO, just using natural window light in a pub. This has only had a WB adjustment and crop. Sharpening and NR are at Lightroom defaults....

20080518_125226_4312_LR.jpg



100% crop. Noise is an entirely non-issue at 400 ISO and can easily be handled if need be at higher ISOs...

20080518_125226_4312_LR-2.jpg



EDIT : I found a shot with my 40D at 800 ISO, no flash. This has been processed through Neat Image to reduce noise....

20080829_142650_7885_LR-2.jpg
 
Thanx for posting that, makes me feel alot better. I will have to add ISO to the 'things to think about before taking the shot' section in my small and underused brain! :d

Seriosly, thanks very much, you have saved me about £600!!!! (y)
 
AndyWest said:
I have been playing with the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 and this image came out ok actually. I'm quite pleased. I think i need to concentrate on getting the camera held properly in the 1st place. A monopod when out and about may be a useful tool!!

Yes the Tamron is a belter! I was going to sell it but i'm not sure now!!

This was hand held!
Click to expand...

Hi Andy had a look at the exif data for this shot and you shot this at 44mm with a shutter speed of 1/30 at 100 ISO. It looks sharp although it is hard to be sure from a downsized image.

First of all if you managed to get a properly sharp shot at 1/30 that is actually quite impressive; even after lots of practise I'm not confident that any of my shots will be sharp at 1/30! So you definitely have got it in you...

And chiming in with what others have said: when you took this shot and you noticed the camera chose a 1/30 shutter speed, you could simply have upped the ISO to 200 and got a shutter speed of 1/60; up it to ISO 400 and you would have gotten a shutter speed of 1/125 etc. Every time you do this you have a better chance of getting a sharp shot and as demonstrated above noise is not such a big issue on the latest generation of cameras (well even the ones before that...).

Also to get a critically sharp shot with the 85 f/1.8 at f/1.8 you really need to nail the focus perfectly. If you or the subject moves even a little bit forward or backward, the focal plane will move and your shot will not be critically sharp. As suggested above, try upping the ISO and stopping down to f/2.8 or even f/4.0

I take a lot of pictures in low light with small depth of field and if I'm using autofocus, I work with the centre focus point only because on most cameras this is the most accurate.

A final tip is to focus on the eyes if you're shooting a portrait. Most people will perceive a portrait shot to be sharp if the eyes are in focus.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
 
maarten.dhaese said:
Hi Andy had a look at the exif data for this shot and you shot this at 44mm with a shutter speed of 1/30 at 100 ISO. It looks sharp although it is hard to be sure from a downsized image.

First of all if you managed to get a properly sharp shot at 1/30 that is actually quite impressive; even after lots of practise I'm not confident that any of my shots will be sharp at 1/30! So you definitely have got it in you...

And chiming in with what others have said: when you took this shot and you noticed the camera chose a 1/30 shutter speed, you could simply have upped the ISO to 200 and got a shutter speed of 1/60; up it to ISO 400 and you would have gotten a shutter speed of 1/125 etc. Every time you do this you have a better chance of getting a sharp shot and as demonstrated above noise is not such a big issue on the latest generation of cameras (well even the ones before that...).

Also to get a critically sharp shot with the 85 f/1.8 at f/1.8 you really need to nail the focus perfectly. If you or the subject moves even a little bit forward or backward, the focal plane will move and your shot will not be critically sharp. As suggested above, try upping the ISO and stopping down to f/2.8 or even f/4.0

I take a lot of pictures in low light with small depth of field and if I'm using autofocus, I work with the centre focus point only because on most cameras this is the most accurate.

A final tip is to focus on the eyes if you're shooting a portrait. Most people will perceive a portrait shot to be sharp if the eyes are in focus.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the words! I really will have to start using the ISO!!!

I do use the center focus point 90% of the time as it is most accurate.

I'll have another go tomorrow and up the ISO and see if things are better.

Thanks very much.
 
You also need to be moving the focus point around to use the one that is right on the persons closet eye, as stated by others already, when using fast lenses.

I tend to approach it like,

1. Turn on camera, set to Av mode
2. Set the F stop to what I'll be using, which TBH is usually wide open in my case
3. Point camera randomly and observe the shutter speed in the ambient light - adjust ISO accordingly based on "rule-of-thumb" plus a bit.

On the 5D the AF point is controlled with the little wheel by the shutter, I guess yours is probably the same, so when "aiming" you can whiz it around as needed. Although for portraits 90% of the time the right-most blob or one of them next to it is right (turn the camera upright and that becomes the top point). Park it on the eye and job done, with a bit of luck that is!

HTHJ
 
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