To IS or not to IS

sharpcroft · 25 Apr 2013

Just got myself a Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS MKII (im selling my old Sigma non-IS version if you are interested by the way) and the question is, is there any point in using the IS when im doing my normal thing which is shooting football on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday evening?

At above what shutter speed does the IS become non-effective or does it help all the time especially when shooting at the 200 end?

If it is useable for football, which mode? 1 or 2?

Cheers

Darren :thinking:

Gr8Shot · 25 Apr 2013

simple solution really shoot with it switched on and off and compare the output.

sharpcroft · 25 Apr 2013

Gr8Shot said:
simple solution really shoot with it switched on and off and compare the output.

Problem is, first use in anger will be this Saturday and i cannot afford to b*lls it up as its our last game of the season, anybody actually tried this?

footman · 25 Apr 2013

I've been shooting the youth team of my local league side on and off this season for the first time.
I've used a 70-200 F4 IS on my 7D and a 300 F2.8 with a 1.4x extender on the 1D. Because most of the shots are taken of fast moving bodies I've shot wide open with as high an ISO as I dared to go.
This gives me a high enough shutter speed not to worry about IS, AF is now much faster as a result and there is no risk of selecting the wrong IS mode.

modchild · 25 Apr 2013

I find the IS really helps the slower shutter speed you use. If you're shooting sport with a fast SS you should be able to shoot without IS no problem. If you were happy with the outcome from the Sigma without OS/IS there should be no reason the Canon will be any worse, more likely you'll find it better though.

You could try one half with IS and one half without to see which is better but I seriously doubt you'd see a lot of difference.

DizMatt · 25 Apr 2013

okay, what shutter speeds were you previously shooting at?
if it's below 1/200 or so then yes, it'll reduce camera shake, if it's above 1/200s or so, then it shouldn't do too much I think.
so if you look back at your previous photos...?

hollis_f · 26 Apr 2013

DizMatt said:
okay, what shutter speeds were you previously shooting at?
if it's below 1/200 or so then yes, it'll reduce camera shake, if it's above 1/200s or so, then it shouldn't do too much I think.
so if you look back at your previous photos...?

Agreed, except that, depending on how good you are at shooting handheld, you may want to use 1/500 or more as the dividing speed.

Photogaz · 27 Apr 2013

There's no harm in having it on so just keep it on. The only reason to turn it off is for tripods or panning shots. Although the latter will need the other mode rather than off.