vibration reduction?

Neilmac50

Neilmac50

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Neil
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I have a Nikon D3s along with Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses and plan on trying some HD videoing.My question is does it make any difference switching off the vibration reduction system whilst filming? My gut instinct is that it could interfere with filming whilst turned on.Thanks in advance for any replies.Neil
 
I took my first HD video at the weekend on a Canon 550D with kit IS lens and I have to say Im' impressed with the quality and I dont imagine I've got the steadiest hands. My instinct says that if its on a tripod or otherwise stable then its not required - if its hand held then its got to help.

But then I know pretty much nothing about anything so could be completely wrong :D
 
I think IS is useful when shooting handheld, I'm told it can give a funny motion when panning so best switched off on tripod
 
Definitely VR on. I'm always impressed when I use VR on my 70-300 VR, makes a massive difference. Got loads of shake free videos thanks to it - and thats olding it at arms length... (y)
 
Thank you for your replies,I can understand when using a tripod and filming a static subject that VR is a good thing,I just wondered if it interfered whilst following a moving object so thanks for the experiences.Cheers, Neil
 
Is it a good thing? Yes, most certainly! However, make sure you are in the appropriate VR mode depending on application (rather than repeat the differences, just read the lens manual)

The Canon lenses used on Broadcast cameras are quite interesting (*), they have a little LED bar graph on the side showing how much work the IS (VR) is doing - even on a static Ped there's still quite a lot of compensation going-on whenever they pan or tilt...


(*) ok its interesting to a sad bloke like me :LOL:
 
As others have said. Turn it off if you are using a tripod and turn it on if you are doing hand held. If you have it turned on and use a tripod, the image will wonder around a little as the VR tries to compensate for movement that isn't there. Best thing to do is just play about with it yourself and you'll soon work out what works best for you :)
 
Richard Peters said:
As others have said. Turn it off if you are using a tripod and turn it on if you are doing hand held. If you have it turned on and use a tripod, the image will wonder around a little as the VR tries to compensate for movement that isn't there.
Click to expand...

Wrong - remember, he's shooting Video not Stills - so will probably be doing continous light Panning and Tilting to keep the subject framed correctly. Anything that helps keep that damped (a fluid head is also necessary) will help, especially the longer you zoom. Also, you are at a fraction of the camera's full resolution, so the slight blurring caused by VR/IS hunting you can see when pixel-peeping on a photo is irrelevant.
 
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The downside to be aware of is that if you are using the internal mic (and possibly a mic mounted on the body - not sure yet, I haven't tried it) it will pick up the noise of the IS system, which can be annoying.
 
Thats a good point that the video is only using a small fraction of the resolution of the lens and capabilities of the sensor.I will be using a rode stereo video mic to hopefully reduce noise from the camera but I'm not overly confident it will do so,so I'm also going to use a zoom H4n mic mounted away from the camera and using final cut studio for editing and syncing sound tracks.
 
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