Canon IS telephoto lenses

I've been using a Canon 500mm/f4 IS lens for a couple of months now

and have just returned from an unforgettable trip to Florida.

 

The instruction manual states that the IS should be switched off when

the lens is on a tripod. However I've heard that many photographers

leave it switched on. Shutter speeds in places like Florida tend to

be around 500th of a second and above. Does the IS have any effect

when shooting at these speeds on a tripod?

 

I would try to contact Canon, but in the UK it's a waste of time as

you can never get through to the right department. The last time I

contacted them it took them over a week to get back to me, then they

couldn't resolve my problem!

I would check out Art Morris's site.

There is a thread on this somewhere but if there is wind affecting the setup or vibrations such as a boardwalk with people, leave IS on and it

will do its little miracle thing. However if there is no movement the image will "drift" as the IS goes searching for motion. Shut off the IS at that point. You will eventually learn when to and not to have IS on while the lens/camera is tripod mounted.

I believe Arthur Morris has stated that the owner's manual is in error, especially since Canon claims the new big glass IS lenses feature improved IS that works on a subtly moving pod.

I leave the IS on all the time with my 500 on a tripod or window pod and it does its thing wondrously. The only time it gave me a problem and drifted was when I tried to use it "hands off" using the cable release. But I believe that you will get sharper pictures holding the camera with IS on than you will using the cable release with IS off.

Is this also true for the 100-400IS or just the new telephotos?

I believe Jeff got it right in his post. Image stabilized lenses including 100-400 and prior were suppose to have the image stabilization turned off when on a tripod. This was because the I.S. mechanism trying to work actually caused vibrations on a tripod when there may be none to correct.

 

There are currently three types of stabilized lenses:

 

I.S. single mode on/off only, applies to the 75-300, and 28-135

 

I.S. dual mode, applies to the 300 f/4, and 100-400

 

I.S. dual mode+tripod sensing, applies to the recent super telephotos.

 

Only the last category of recently introduced super telephotos are suppose to have I.S. left on when used with a tripod. Somebody apparently forgot to tell this to the typist creating the instructions.

FWIW, the IS on my 300/4 IS works fine on a tripod IF the tripod is being used more as a monopod than as a totally still tripod--in this case, the IS seems quite capable of sensing and correcting the more subtle but frequent movements imparted by the photographer handling the camara/lens. If, on the other hand, one is using the tripod as an utterly still platform, then the IS is not needed and should be turned off, both to conserve power as well as to prevent it from possibly "hunting" whenever it feels a slight, stray movement.

Brian; I used a 100 - 400 IS zoom ata well known seal colony, here in the UK. I kept the IS on for many of the shots - about 15 rolls. I carefully checked them after processing and could see no difference between the IS and non IS pictures. Secondly, I checked them against a number of trannies taken at the same site, in 1998, using a 300mm f2.8L prime. Again, I could not tell the difference between the shots under an 8 x loupe.

Bearing in mind what has been said above and also this addition, I would leave it on when on low shutter speeds, but perhaps not worry on faster speeds.

I have had the 100-400 IS for a while and got hold of the 600 IS recently. I am sure the original publicity for these lenses said the IS system now worked on a tripod and was surprised to see it say to switch it off in the instruction book.

 

Whatever, it works very well on a tripod. You can see the image go steady as soon as you touch the button and I've never seen anything of this shift effect. It is wonderful and I now use the 2x extender nearly all the time instead of the 1.4x that I used on the none IS 600m.