IS modes?? For sports action

[tim_adams]

Here are a couple of shots I took yesterday at Elkhart Lake at a

vintage sports car race. I was using my 70-200 f/2.8L IS for the

first time. I used mode 2 for panning most of the time. From reading

the manual it is my understanding that mode 1 should be for subjects

that are stationary, but you just can't hold the camera steady. Mode

2 should be for moving subjects. I ask because not everything came

out in focus. When panning a racecar or anything you don't always

pan in a perfect horizontal line. Am I right to assume that mode 2

would still be used for this 99% of the time?<div></div>

[tim_adams]

Here is the 2nd shot.<div></div>

[isaac sibson]

Mode 2 is definately what you want to use, and it is effective for any direction pan, be it horizontal, vertical or diagonal. It will detect the panning motion (presumably by averaging a number of samples from the gyros over a time period) and counter shake perpendicular to this. In contrast, if you attempted to use mode 1 for this, the IS itself would blur the image (and I've had this happen), since it attempts to correct your panning motion.

 

For any sort of action or sports or wildlife, mode 2 should be regarded as standard (and is effective for static subjects also), and you should use mode 1 when you have time to switch to it and switch back. The benefit of mode 1 is that it gives a more stable viewfinder image.

 

On nikon's newer VR lens, their own 70-200 F2.8 AF-S VR, you will find a dual-mode system near identical to canon's, although with a rather confusing terminology. "Normal" mode is similar to canon mode 2, and used in the majority of situations, while their oddly named "Active" mode is for use where larger vibrations have to be corrected, such as when on a boat or helicopter, and the lens will not differentiate panning motions from camera shake (ie very similar to mode 1).

 

On the note of the presumed averaging algorithm for mode 2 IS, the length of time over which samples are averaged will dictate how tight a curve you can pan in and still get effective IS action perpendicular to your motion.

[c_terry]

I don't know what to tell you, as i don't have any IS lenses, but the first picture was one of my favorite cars there this weekend, and thats a pretty good action shot if you ask me ! (I happened to meet Tim yesterday at the track).

[John Crowe]

I find your 2 samples to be generally effective photographs. I too used to try a lot of panning shots at slow speeds to achieve a high degree of background and tire blur, but too often found the vehicles to be too "soft". I was rarely pleased enough with the sharpness of the vehicle or driver's helmet to continue. Now I go for the highest shutter speed possible to "freeze" the subject while panning. I must admit though that if you keep practising your motion to keep it smooth, and find the ideal shutter speed, that a panned image with a blurred background is more effective! To some extent the subject will be perceived as being sharper than it really is because the eye/brain is comparing it to the blurred background. Your shots are fairly effective in this manner. I do not think you are seeing any failure in the IS system.

[John Crowe]

My first impression of these 2 samples was that they were well done but lacking in something. Looking at them again I think the cars lack that little edge in sharpness because of the extremely even lighting. I have taken MANY photographs in bright overcast that I thought were okay until I compared them directly to photos from the next day under full sun! The cars do have perceptable shadows so you have very bright conditions but there are no highlights on the cars metal or the driver's helmet. These little bright spots and the higher contrast levels would, I believe, make these images quite stunning. Keep up the good work and pray for more sun. I have shot car and motorcycle races on and off for 20 years, and the weather only co-operates 50% of the time. I got very lucky this weekend at the opening race to the Parts Canada Superbike Championship in Shannonville, Ontario. Have a great racing season!

[tim_adams]

Thanks for the comments. Now another question. Which mode for shooting an airplane that is not moving, but is warming its engine up and you want prop blur, using a monopod? I assume mode 1 would be ok here since the airplane is static right?

[tim_adams]

As for blurring the background, I usually always try this. I just don't like the looks of a car going over 100mph that looks like it is standing still. The only time I don't is with drag racing when I'm on the starting line. As you can see in this photo I pretty much stopped everything. I like to get the wrinkle of the back tires as they hit the throttle or in this pic. the exhaust dumping out of the headers. Someone who shoots there all the time said he basically follows the rule F8 for decent depth of field and the fastest shutter speed you can get at F8

[John Crowe]

Look back a little in this forum. Last week or so a very proficient airplane photographer went into this whole propeller thing in great depth. You may want to contact him directly since he is using IS lenses as well. Good luck!

[steve_dunn2]

<cite>Which mode for shooting an airplane that is not moving, but is warming its engine up and you want prop blur, using a monopod? I assume mode 1 would be ok here since the airplane is static right?</cite>

 

<p>Exactly. If you are trying to follow subject motion with the lens, you want mode 2; if you are trying to hold the lens still, use mode 1.</p>

 

<p>If you're in mode 2 and the lens doesn't detect panning, it apparently switches to mode 1 automatically (until this past week, my only IS lens was the 28-135, which lacks mode 2; I haven't had enough opportunities to play with mode 2 on my 300/4L IS USM yet). This is a similar idea to the AI focus setting in mid-grade bodies - it starts out in one-shot AF mode, then switches to AI servo if it detects subject motion. But it takes a little bit of time to detect that, and in the meantime you're in the wrong mode. So while you <em>could</em> just leave the lens in mode 2 and rely on it to switch to mode 1 when you're not panning, you're better off having it in mode 1 if you know in advance you won't be panning, so you know you're in the right mode.</p>

[isaac sibson]

It's not entirely mode 1, but it takes 0.2 seconds of consistent movement for mode 2 to register a pan. If that's not found, it stabilises in all directions. Full stabilisation is resumed in 2-3 seconds after a panning motion is stopped.

[steve_dunn2]

<p>Isaac - thanks for the info. Good to know how it works.</p>