IS or VR - How much you use with 500mm or 600mm?

Nature photography friends <br>

 

I'm trying to figure out if it's worthwhile for me to gather money

and get the IS lens.

<br><br>

 

Two questions <br>

1) How many of the IS 500/4 or IS 600/4 (both canon) owners shoot

hand held or with monopod? <br>

2) howmany of you turn on IS when you shoot on a solid tripod (say

Gitzo G1548).

<br><br>

Little background <br>

I'm trying to figure out overall how much percentage of extra images

I'll get if I

buy IS. I'm also curious that if people will turn off IS when you

have strong support because

IS may reduce the image quality.

<br><br>

I have no doubt that IS/VR is extremely useful when you shoot

hand held or on a monopod. It's very usefull when shooting from

car window with no tripod head. I have no doubt that I'll just

go and buy Canon 500/4 IS lens if I had 5000 dollars sitting in my

bank :). Can I have some honest opinions? Thanks in advance.

 

<br><br>

Here's one image taken from car window using window as support, ISO

400

Sigma 500mm 1/160 shutter speed.. <br><br>

<img src="http://www.color-

pictures.com/images/birds/bluebirds/1000_1652_BlueJay_m.jpg"><br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.color-pictures.com" target="w-2">www.color-

pictures.com</a>

Well that picture looks pretty sharp enough to me!

I've not got into IS/VR, but so many pros have that logic sugqests it must be working, and without degrading the image quality one bit. In fact you hear of folks stacking teleconverters now so the lens and TC quality must be top-notch. For me it sounded fantastic at first, but then I thought that being able to use slow speeds would be OK but the subject would have to be dead still or you'd get subject blur, so maybe you'd never want to go that slow anyway so why spend the extra cash?

But with them now working properly when tripod-mounted I think they really would be useful, just allowing you to relax and not worry so much about bracing on the lens barrel, holding your breath etc. when on a 600 or 800mm at around 1/125th-1/250th, and even more so when doubling up to 1200mm or so.

I'm a cameraman and only stills in down-time so I can never justify spending so much on stills gear, but if I could I would definitely go for a 300mm IS, 600mm IS and 1.4 and 2x TCs. Only a couple of months to Christmas!

 

Steve

I don't think you'll be able to deduce a percentage of extra keepers, but I think you'll find Pölking's article, <a href="http://www.poelking.com/wbuch/scharf/index_e.htm">Sharp Photographs</a>, enlightening.

IS will NOT reduce image quality on a tripod on these lenses. In fact it is likely to enhance it unless your long lens technique is perfect, there is no breeze, shutter speed is very high, etc.

I looked at a few of the charts on that Sharp Photographs link and don't quite understand how a cable release makes for blurred results. It's a critical piece of gear for me in low light, slower shutter situations and I use it specifically to achieve sharp results. -Greg-

I use 600/4 IS, obviously never handheld or on monopod, but rather on Wimberley head, always unlocked. (By the way, G1348 IMHO is much more usable than G1548.)

 

IS is always on for static shots (I tend to turn it off for bird flight shots with exposures shorter than 1/500, for faster tracking).

 

For static shots, IS makes substantial statistical difference in sharpness and retained detail even at fairly short exposures.

 

> IS may reduce the image quality

 

Not with 600/4 or 500/4. These are third-generation IS lenses and they can autosense when lens shake is below a threshold, in this case IS shifts into mode to compensate for mirror slap. However as I said in practice you are most likely going to be using 600/4 floating on unlocked Wimberley head so having IS makes a noticeable difference.

Hi Jemini, I have a 500mm f/4 IS and leave the IS on pretty much all the time, tripod or not. I find it very helpful myself. Good luck!

Greg - Pölking does say a little something about it under the heading "Cable trigger or manually ?" I have found that keeping my hands on the camera/lens can help in wind, but that's an exceptional case. Otherwise, I tend to agree with you.

I have only handheld my 500 f/4 a few times and only for a short time. I have my IS on all the time, even when on the 1348 tripod. I can't give you exact numbers on how many keepers I get because of the IS that I wouldn't otherwise have, but I have been able to shoot at some pretty low shutter speeds and obtain surprisingly sharp images. I have to attribute at least a good part of that to IS technology.

I wasn't aware that there was a Nikon lens out with VR at the 500mm or 600mm focal length. For what's worth, I have the 80-400mm VR lens and would be very hesitant to buy a long lens without VR after using that.

 

 

Kent in SD

Thanks guys for the answers <br>

First of all I want to clarify one thing. I know IS will improve the sharpness when there's slightest vibration of the lens. I was mentioning when the lens itself is dead on the tripod or there's enough shutter speed. If the shutter speed is 1/1000 and using a G1548, would you turn it on? If you compare the images IS turned on and off, which one will be better? <br>

Anyway all the answers help me a lot. John, that link is very useful. <br>

WIth D70, and Sigma 500mm, I use auto ISO on with minimum shutter speed to be 1/125. That means ISO will go up only if the shutter speed comes below 1/125. When I use tripod I can bring it down to 1/30 or so. I know the problems with higher ISO images, but it seems I'm getting sharp images. I was trying to figure out if a camera with higher ISO performance or IS will be more useful. Here's a shot with 1/125 from car and ISO kicked to 720. Thanks again <br>

<img src="http://www.color-pictures.com/tests/1000_3488_Deer_m.jpg">

I also use a 500/4 IS, having used the 500/4.5 and 600/4 in the past. The IS is a blessing. To me even more important than the AF.

 

Normally I always keep it switched on, even with very short shutterspeeds. The only times I have switched it off was in the cold with a very low battery, to save energy. I can't see any differences between images with IS switched on or off.

 

Handholding the 500/4 IS is not really possible. I have tried it for fun a few times and was surprised by the results. But it is just too heavy. I always use the Gitzo G1505 and Arca Swiss B1.

 

Regards,

Hans<div></div>

Cracking shot Hans. That 500/600mm IS plus EF2xII combo is really hot these days! Must be great to have a reliable 1000-1200mm setup on hand, esp. for small birds. I use the FD 800 plus 1.4x, but am rarely confident with it.

 

Best wishes,

Steve

It seems all the people who has the IS never turn that off!!. Sounds like I have to spend more money :). <br><br>

Is there anybody who has compared the shots on a solid tripod with and without IS? Possibly high shutter speed? Thanks again

Jemini,

 

I have found the IS feature to be the best advance in optics in many years. In my manual focus days, I had been using a 500mm f4.5 lens. When photographing nature, I was often in low light, trying to photograph at 1/60th of a second. The smallest vibrations from wind, camera shake, etc., could make the image soft. The IS feautre increases the number of "keepers" significantly because it minimizes some of the vibration problems with long lenses. The photographer must still have good "long lens technique", but the IS feature will help.

 

I generally have the IS feature on even when on a tripod. I will turn it off for moving subjects. It is also very useful when photographing from a car with a bean bag, or when lying in the prone position on the ground.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Kevin Ferris

Yes Jemini, Fritz Polking did side-by-side tests with and without IS and at various speeds. Check the link in the earlier post above.

 

Steve

The trend seems very clear from previous responses, but I'll add to it: I have the 500/4 IS and I use IS 100% of the time, even with flight shots at shutter speeds > 1/1000 sec.

Thanks again. I had a look into the chart and it seems without IS has the edge. I know 90% of the time with IS will be sharper because it's almost impossible to lock the lens to be 'dead'. But if you can do using the heaviest tripod and head and if the shutter speed is high enough or if you are using MLU, then without IS may be little sharper. <br>

Anyway the difference is not like I was thinking. THat may be the reason most of the users keep IS on all the time. <br>

Have a nice time.. Heard Nikon may be releasing 300/2.8 VR soon. I know I won't be able to afford it. But some day....

Hi Jemini, One last point: Even with the 500mm IS "hunkered down" on a good tripod, a stiff wind can move things. Let's say you're setting up your rig and a bald eagle flies by before you have a chance to get out your remote release and thus have to press the shutter button without mirror-lock enabled - again, IS will help. All things being equal, it's definitely better to have it than not, I think. Good luck!

<p> <i> </i> </p>

<p> From <a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/500vs600.shtml">http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/500vs600.shtml</a>: </p>

<p> "Some people ask ? is IS really necessary when one is using a tripod? The answer is a resounding yes. A 500mm or 600mm lens has 10X and 12X magnification respectively. Even the resting of ones hands on a tripod mounted lens this long causes vibration, and if there's a wind blowing then that's another contributor to camera shake. It needs to be borne in mind that when shooting wildlife, at least, one is usually working in low light levels, early and late in the day, which means sometimes shooting at 1/60th or even slower. I have done this successfully with the 500mm and 600mm IS lenses but not so successfully with earlier long non-IS telephotos."</p>

<p> HTH.</p>

 

 

<p>Happy shooting,<br>

Yakim.</p>

Thanks a lot guys. I had the impression that unless I'm hand holding the camera I don't need IS. Now I think it gives much more...

I've to look around for the options. Right now my total cost for the equipments are 3000(1000 dollar D70 and 2000 dollar lens to reach 500mm with excellent quality. I've find more money to get 500mm IS or at least Nikon 200-400mm VR. Anyway this helped a lot...