Beginner IS on a tripod is it causing me more problems than solving one

den

den

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Dennis
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Hi,heres the story ,the begining of this week was my first sessions with the kingfisher and having now got a 300mm f4 is i thought i would get the benefit of having image IS,first of all i set up my hide in a river and try and get a even base ,not easy as the bed is soft ,after that i set up the tripod with a manfrotto 393 head to my desired postion ,at the beginging of the week my shutter speeds were 1/200/320 of a sec i could have gone higher but having got plenty of sharp shots last year with the 400mm 5.6 non is with the same speed without is i thought i would have no problem ,shots taken and when checking i noticed my hit rate was not good ,i put it down to bad luck and shutter speed could be better etc, i i went back the following day and upped the iso to give me shutter speeds of 1/640 to 1/1000 sec which in my opinion is plenty for a sitting kingfisher all with IS switched on at 300mm ,having checked my pics i was still not happy and i certainly know i should and can get better ,i even stopped down a couple of times when light allowed to give me faster shutter speeds,i have checked previous images taken with camera and lens and i see no issues so i am putting it down to having the IS switched on while on the tripod ,i will go back and and get shots without is switched to compare ,i have done a google search and i get mixed comments but i thought i would ask to see if anyone else had any experience with a IS lens on a tripod .Any thoughts would be apreciated .Thanks
 
judging by what i have read i also would take that view ,but it apears to me that having it switched on as not helped at all,i am not one to blame the tools,but my past experience with the Kingfishers 1/1000 of a sec normaly would be a dream to shoot at but looking at some i got at 1000 of a sec it makes me wonder how much IS as contributed to me getting soft pics ,tripod movement user error is also a factor but i believe that having it switched on as really not helped at all ,i will switch it off next time put settings as previous shots and compare .
 
Steve Smith said:
Agreed. IS is to counter camera movement, not subject movement.


Steve.
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Hi Steve , I did know that and once the bird is on the perch it can stay very still for a long time ,thats why i believed that using the IS would help,i just didnt realise how much IS can work against you an a tripod ......i hope i can get the chance today to test it without the IS on the tripod today all coments apreciated
 
leave the shutter speed at 1/1000 sec and turn the IS off.

http://www.photozone.de/reviews/172-canon-ef-300mm-f4-usm-l-is-test-report--review
The lens incorporates a first-generation Image Stabilizer (IS) with a claimed gain of 2 f-stops for hand held photography. In the field I was able to confirm this statement. Due to the weight of the lens it may even be a little more than that.
Unlike the consumer variants the IS system has 2 modes - the normal one for static shooting (horizontal + vertical stabilization) and a panning mode (horizontal OR vertical stabilization - the panning direction is automatically detected). Unlike the 2nd generation IS used in later designs the variant of the 300mm f/4 L IS has no tripod detection so IS needs to be switched off here in order to avoid interference effects. On an unstable tripod or monopod the IS can remain active - it just has to detect some kind of motion.
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Thanks for the link Peter ,ignorance can be bliss sometimes ,i presume on a steady tripod in low light it apears that a steady hand and tripod is better than IS were no movement is detected
 
den said:
Thanks...
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No problems, the Canon 300F4 IS lens is a belter and you should be getting great results with it.

I'd agree with Gramps, even on some of the new IS models where the lens can supposedly detect a tripod mounting, I'd still switch it off just to make sure it wasn't interfering (save some battery power if nothing else :) )
 
Ok, out of curiosity, does this "NO-IS for Tripod" rule apply to all lenses or just this one?
 
Damn, I've been living my photography life under a lie. I've never touched the IS button on my lenses and I've been taking 200 sec shots with IS ON :(
Now to wait for the night t o fall and take some shots with IS OFF to try to figure out the difference it makes!
 
It's all to do with fuzzy logic, I'd try and explain it to you but I'm no quantum theorist and don't understand:)
 
IMHO, it depends - if you are using a "gimbal" you will some get camera movement - I always try a few shots both ways and also find the heavier the lens the more I leave VR or IS switched on - when used on a tripod with a moving, (not locked down), Gimbal
 
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