Turning off IS when on a tripod

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Basically as in the title. Do you do it?

I never have as I've seen many posts on here saying newer lenses turn the IS off themselves?

Just had a flick through the manuals for my lenses 17-55 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 and both manuals say nothing about it shutting off itself.

Should I be doing it myself?
 
Yes. I've only one lens with IS and the results from accidentally leaving it on were very noticeable.
 
Certainly has to be turned off manually on my 70-200 f2.8.

I do leave it on panning mode when on the monopod.
 
I think the new version of the 70-200 mm f/2.8 USM L IS has 'tripod detection' so can be left on.

There's a list somewhere of which lenses have tripod detection and which don't. I just turn it off regardless.
 
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Early versions of IS (eg 100-400L) are prone to a feedback loop which causes the IS mech to drift slowly when stationary which can cause blurring at long shutter speeds. Newer lenses have improved electronics that prevent this. I'm not sure I trust it though!

The rule I work to is not strictly tripod or no tripod, it is - hands on camera, IS on; hands off camera, IS off.
 
I guess when it's active it's always trying to correct movement, so when the lens is absolutely still it confuses the mechanism so it's unsettling around sensing for the next movement to adjust to.
 
I always leave IS on if my hands are going to be touching the camera when I take the shot. The only time it ever gets turned off is if it's on a tripod and I'm using a remote release.
 
Graham00 said:
I guess when it's active it's always trying to correct movement, so when the lens is absolutely still it confuses the mechanism so it's unsettling around sensing for the next movement to adjust to.
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I think that's true. Tripod sensing is a bit like pulling up to the traffic lights and just dipping the clutch, as opposed to putting the car in neutral with the handbrake on.

I used to have a 100-400L, with one of the oldest IS mechs. Put it on a tripod in live view and the image drifts about slowly all over the place. Only a few current lenses still have this version of IS, such as the 300L IS too.

Now I have a 70-200L 4 with the latest 4-stops of tripod sensing IS. But if you put it on a tripod with live view on max magnification, you can still see the image moving slightly. Only very slightly, almost imperceptively, but when you switch it off, it's dead still.

Canon says that in the tripod sensing mode the IS will still react and correct mirror slap, but then the handbook says turn it off during exposures on B. Canon seems to be saying that you're better leaving it on for lowish shutter speeds like 1/15sec to maybe 1sec, but actually turn off for really long exposures when a bit of mirror slap makes no odds. Wish they'd make their minds up!
 
Ive never turned it off on my lenses, and I do a lot of night photography with a tripod. Everything looks sharp to me, might try some experiments wothout, see if there is any difference.

:shrug:
 
For lenses with tripod sensing I.S. you should leave the I.S. switched on when using on a tripod - these lenses have a secondary I.S. mode which will help with Mirror slap, shutter and tripod vibrations.

Note:this applies to all I.S. lenses developed since the year 2000. Earlier lenses like the 100-400 has a first generation I.S. system which should be turned off when on a tripod.
 
For those that are interested here is a couple of Quotes on the subject:

According to the digital picture review of the 300/2.8 "The IS version on this lens is tripod-sensing. The Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens knows that a tripod is being used when vibrations go below a certain level. Keep IS turned on when mounting this lens on a tripod to take advantage of the secondary IS mode - reducing mirror slap, shutter and tripod vibrations."


This is also supported by Canon's Chuck Westfall who states that using I.S.on a tripod is actually beneficial for the tripod sensing lenses "In 2000 Canon released the next generation IS professional lenses. These lenses feature a "tripod-detection" mode which means that there is no problem using IS on a tripod. Even more than that - IS will correct vibrations caused by the mirror operations of the camera".
 
Roy C said:
For lenses with tripod sensing I.S. you should leave the I.S. switched on when using on a tripod - these lenses have a secondary I.S. mode which will help with Mirror slap, shutter and tripod vibrations.

Note:this applies to all I.S. lenses developed since the year 2000. Earlier lenses like the 100-400 has a first generation I.S. system which should be turned off when on a tripod.
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Roy C said:
For those that are interested here is a couple of Quotes on the subject:

According to the digital picture review of the 300/2.8 "The IS version on this lens is tripod-sensing. The Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens knows that a tripod is being used when vibrations go below a certain level. Keep IS turned on when mounting this lens on a tripod to take advantage of the secondary IS mode - reducing mirror slap, shutter and tripod vibrations."


This is also supported by Canon's Chuck Westfall who states that using I.S.on a tripod is actually beneficial for the tripod sensing lenses "In 2000 Canon released the next generation IS professional lenses. These lenses feature a "tripod-detection" mode which means that there is no problem using IS on a tripod. Even more than that - IS will correct vibrations caused by the mirror operations of the camera".
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Fair comment. But it doesn't explain why my lens handbook says switch off the IS when using Bulb, when mirror slap is insignificant. And more to the point, it doesn't explain the very slight movement of the image that is visible when IS activated when on a tripod. See post #11.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Fair comment. But it doesn't explain why my lens handbook says switch off the IS when using Bulb, when mirror slap is insignificant. And more to the point, it doesn't explain the very slight image movement that is visible when IS is left activated on a tripod. See post #11.
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Not sure what lens you are referring to, never shot in bulb in my life but from what I can make of it you would be just wasting battery by leaving the I.S. on for long exposures.

I do know that with my 300/2.8 (+ tc's) I always leave the I.S. on (mode 2) when on a tripod and I have never noticed any movement. I am more than happy with the results I get with the I.S. left on. The I.S. mode you set can have a bearing though, if on a tripod you should/must be on the panning mode.

With Bird photography a lot a people also recommend turning I.S. of for birds in flight shots - I have run loads of test shots with both I.S. off and I.S on and am convinced that I.S. is best left on, my you this could varying from lens to lens as the speed of AF and the I.S. kicking in could also have a bearing.
 
Roy C said:
Not sure what lens you are referring to, never shot in bulb in my life but from what I can make of it you would be just wasting battery by leaving the I.S. on for long exposures.

I do know that with my 300/2.8 (+ tc's) I always leave the I.S. on (mode 2) when on a tripod and I have never noticed any movement. I am more than happy with the results I get with the I.S. left on. The I.S. mode you set can have a bearing though, if on a tripod you should/must be on the panning mode.

With Bird photography a lot a people also recommend turning I.S. of for birds in flight shots - I have run loads of test shots with both I.S. off and I.S on and am convinced that I.S. is best left on, my you this could varying from lens to lens as the speed of AF and the I.S. kicking in could also have a bearing.
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The lens I'm referring to is the 70-200L 4 IS, as mentioned above - latest 4-stops version of IS.

If you put the 300 on your 7D in live view and zoom in on 10x magnification, with IS on you will see the image move. Very very slightly, but move. If you take pictures with an exposure of two or three seconds, the one with IS off will be sharpest - you can even see it on max magnification on the LCD replay, if you look very very carefully. It's there.

It's a tiny difference, but we're talking L grade lenses here, and an 18mp sensor. This is presumably why Canon says turn off IS for Bulb exposures (ie a few seconds and longer) when the image degradation caused by the IS outweighs the benefits of a reduction in mirror slap at faster speeds.

Mirror slap can be a real problem with a tripod that is not very solid or the camera is badly balanced and the vibration is not well damped. Tripod use is worse for this than hand-holding, particularly is the camera is up on the centre colum which doesn't damp the vibration and so it can go on for ages. Then again, there is no mirror slap when on live view, so it's all a bit of a moveable feast with no hard and fast rules.

Canon doesn't seem to make any distinction between IS modes 1 and 2 as far as this aspect is concerned.
 
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That may be so Richard, like I say I have never used bulb in my life. I was just trying to address the widely held belief that when on a tripod I.S. must be turned off regardless - this is just not true and according to Canon themselves leaving I.S. can be a distinct advantage especially when using long lenses where every little vibration could be critical. BTW I often use live view at 5x often with a remote release and have never seen any movement but I am not taking long exposures (with birds and long lenses you are, of course looking for the fastest shutter speed you can get).
 
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I have a Nikkor 80-400 VR (and the VR is of the old type). If I forget to turn it off when using a tripod there is a definite clunk noise as the lens re-focuses. Sometimes the point of sharpest focus drops a bit then. This can cause problems when the object I am trying to photograph is quite small. (This doesn't occur with my other VR lens which has a more modern type of image stabilisation). However the 80-400 "clunk" is a good enough warning that the image stabilisation should always be turned off when using a tripod.
 
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