I tried to search for this in past posts and found nothing. I know that I should turn off IS with a tripod, but with a monopod shouldn't it be left on for side to side movment?
Matt Philbin wrote:
I tried to search for this in past posts and found nothing. I know that I should turn off IS with a tripod, but with a monopod shouldn't it be left on for side to side movment?
Only the first generation of IS lenses needed to be turned off on a tripod. Unless you have a very old one, you can leave it on all the time. You manual should say this exact thing. If it does not sense movement, it does not turn on. I just leave mine on all the time with all lenses that have it, works like a charm.
As for side-to-side on a monopod, yes, you can use setting 2. But that is just for panning only and I find that even slight up and down movements with the monopod, which happens in field sports all the time, mode 1 is best. Pure panning (motorsports for example) can use setting 2.
rednas wrote:
don't forget that in mode 2 the IS "allows" you to move from side to side and will only compensate up en down movement, not the other way around.
Agh! You are right! I said it wrong, thanks for the correction. You know, I never use Mode 2 so gonna give it a try.
rednas wrote:
don't forget that in mode 2 the IS "allows" you to move from side to side and will only compensate up en down movement, not the other way around.
I'm pretty sure mode 2 just turns off one axis, it doesn't care which one it is. Thats why it works if you are panning vertically.
Shane Canfield wrote:
Agh! You are right! I said it wrong, thanks for the correction. You know, I never use Mode 2 so gonna give it a try. no problem
dirb9 wrote:
I'm pretty sure mode 2 just turns off one axis, it doesn't care which one it is. Thats why it works if you are panning vertically.
okay, might be true BUT that doesn't change much for my point, if you put the lens on a monopod and pan from side to side it will only compensate for up and down movement which is also compensated by the use of the monopod.
I do realise there always is some up and down movement when working on a monopod..
Something recently confirmed by Canon USA's Chuck Westfall is that IS mode 2 disables the vibration correction in the direction of the detected panning motion. (e.g. if you are panning horizontally then it will not correct horizontal motion). However, if you pan diagonally then there is some component of the deliberate panning motion both horizontally and vertically and you could end up with no stabilisation at all. This fact is not clearly described in any of the IS lens manuals that I have read.
There are now four generations of IS but there are only three tripod behaviours:
One causes instability and hence image blur if used on a tripod or any other rock steady support. The 100-400 IS is in this category.
The next avoids this instability by automatically disabling IS when it detects that the lens must be on a tripod because there is too little vibration. The 70-200 f/2.8 IS is in this category.
The next, and best, continues to stabilise even when mounted on a tripod, so that even vibration due to mirror bounce can be corrected. The 300mm f/2.8 IS and other IS super teles are in this category, but I'm pretty sure that the newer 70-200 f/4 IS is not.
Note that this is not an age related thing - there is plenty of chronological overlap between the different IS generations and IS behaviours. New copies of old lenses still use the old IS just as when the lens was first released, and even new IS lens models do not have the tripod operability of the super tele lenses.
In terms of IS it is generally safe to assume that using a monopod is exactly like using hand-held with a somewhat steadier pair of hands. There is enough vibration to still benefit from using IS. Choose the IS mode according to the IS type and the amount of panning you do.
Alan321 wrote:
dirb9 is correct, as was rednas in his last post.
Something recently confirmed by Canon USA's Chuck Westfall is that IS mode 2 disables the vibration correction in the direction of the detected panning motion. (e.g. if you are panning horizontally then it will not correct horizontal motion). However, if you pan diagonally then there is some component of the deliberate panning motion both horizontally and vertically and you could end up with no stabilisation at all. This fact is not clearly described in any of the IS lens manuals that I have read.
The next, and best, continues to stabilise even when mounted on a tripod, so that even vibration due to mirror bounce can be corrected. The 300mm f/2.8 IS and other IS super teles are in this category, but I'm pretty sure that the newer 70-200 f/4 IS is not.
Well the first point I did not know! I'm going to find the manual...have not looked at that for a lense in ages. Weird.
This last point I really have never heard before...are you sure? How do you know that? Seems to me that the manual says it turns off...and I don;t remember ever seeing or hearing any IS while in this situation....will have to pull things out and test it!
Shane, when I said that first fact was not clearly described in any of the manuals I should have said it was not described at all in those manuals, so don't bother digging out the manual. I'm unsure exactly where I saw the info from Chuck but I think it was at www.openphotographyforum.com. It has some useful stuff at that forum - including some participation by Chuck - but it's not nearly as busy as this forum.
Yes, I am sure about the last point, but of course I could be wrong I'll try to find the reference(s), but I think it just might have been Chuck again. It pops up from time to time.
I shoot mostly sports. I have IS off 99.99% of the time, even when panning. In fact, I wish I could have bought a new 400/f2.8 lens without IS and spent that money elsewhere.
"The EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens shuts off its stabilizer automatically when the degree of motion falls below a certain threshold, as would be the case under most circumstances when using a tripod. This is a better arrangement than the early IS lenses like the EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 of 1995 or the EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS, where the IS system would actually increase blur when using a tripod. But it is not as sophisticated as the IS system in our super-telephoto lenses like the EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM, which can detect and compensate for mirror slap at slow shutter speeds even when the lens is mounted on a tripod. "
In another article in the series by Chuck, I found that he recommends that the IS of the 100-400 IS be switched off when used on a monopod in case the monopod is steady enough to cause the same problems that arise from using IS of that lens on a tripod. In effect, it would be OK if you wobble but not if you don't.
It depends on which generation of IS the lens has. The new 70-200mm f/4L IS USM (3rd Generation of IS) has two IS switches, one for vertical movement and one for horizontal movement. If you are panning you turn one IS off and the lens automatically selects either vertical, or horizontal IS, depending on what camera movement it detects. In other words, it allows either vertical, or horizontal panning. The older versions required you to turn off IS for panning.
I would think that the IS would come in handy w/monopod to compensate for any movement, either vertical, or horizontal, but again it would depend on the age of the lens and the kind of IS it has.
Scott Sewell wrote:
I shoot mostly sports. I have IS off 99.99% of the time, even when panning. In fact, I wish I could have bought a new 400/f2.8 lens without IS and spent that money elsewhere.
