Question about the "IS" for Canon lens

I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

Alain

On Apr 2, 7:10 pm, "Alain's Studio" wrote:
I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

Alain

You can shoot at a lower speed because it corrects for the
camera shake when hand holding the camera, it won't do anything to
make a moving object seem to be not moving, for that you need a faster
shutter speed so a faster lens would be a good idea.


Eric

Alain's Studio wrote:
I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

IS is to subdue camera shake for still subjects, but also for assisting
during panning of moving subjects, (on lenses with a "mode 2", which subdues
camera movement in only one direction for steadier panning), such as birds
in flight, or a moving athelete.

--
Images (Plus Snaps & Grabs) by Mark² at:
www.pbase.com/markuson

Alain's Studio wrote:
I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

Alain

From using Minolta AS, what it does is mostly remove camera shake as
one of the ways an image can blur.
My take is that it's more useful on longer lenses, as camera shake can
be quite evident, even on shutter speeds that can freeze action.
I would suggest that in low light it is a better idea to get fast glass,
as the faster shutter speeds possible also freeze action much better.

Alain's Studio wrote:
I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right?

Right; that's it exactly.

I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

Or maybe both. It depends on the focal lengths you're going to use and
what shutter speed you need to adequately freeze the *subject*.

I get musicians at shutter speeds of 1/60, 1/30, 1/15 all the time -- at
the lower speeds I get a fair amount of hand blur, but that's generally
acceptable. And I get a fair number of total failures due to subject
motion at the lower speeds, but I eventually get the photo I want, by
keeping trying until I catch their head holding still in the pose I'm
going for.

So, with a 200mm lens, being able to hand-hold at 1/60 is darned useful,
so IS would be useful. But having that lens be f/2.8 is *also* darned
useful, yes. Luckily the good Canon 70-200 is both :-).

(I'm shooting Nikon gear, more primes than zooms, and I don't have the
Nikon 70-200/2.8 VR, though it's on the list for the next time I win the
lottery. But it would be useful for musicians in performance, definitely.)

In article ,
"Alain's Studio" wrote:

I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

Alain

The IS does do a great job with reducing motion blur. I used a 70-300mm
DO IS handheld to take pictures of Berlin performing outdoors from the
middle of a packed crowd. I've even used it sitting down at night to
take 1/3 second exposures. Not only does it help avoid blur, it speeds
up AF significantly too.

IS does have it's limitations. As you've mentioned, it can't do
anything about the subject's motion blur. It also is prone to smacking
the limit of correction or drifting. Sometimes it won't help you.

If you can, get a fast lens with IS

Kevin McMurtrie wrote:

Not only does it help avoid blur, it speeds
up AF significantly too.

How does it speed up AF?

Probably a better way to state the effect is that it reduces
blur due to camera shake. Saying blur alone could be confusing.

If you can, get a fast lens with IS

I agree with this.

Roger

dj_nme wrote:

Alain's Studio wrote:

I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I really
need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

From using Minolta AS, what it does is mostly remove camera shake as
one of the ways an image can blur.
My take is that it's more useful on longer lenses, as camera shake can
be quite evident, even on shutter speeds that can freeze action.

I once thought this too. Then I got a 28-135 IS lens and found how
great it is hand-held in situations ranging from moving
platforms (e.g. boats, airplanes, horseback) or where you can't
use tripods, e.g. low light levels in old churches in Europe,
or quick grab shots, like when walking down a trail and you don't
want to spend the time setting up a tripod.

I would suggest that in low light it is a better idea to get fast glass,
as the faster shutter speeds possible also freeze action much better.

Except when you want to travel light.

Roger

Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark) wrote:
dj_nme wrote:

Alain's Studio wrote:

I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right? I'm thinking of buying a lens for
concert picture and the last thing I need is slow speed, what I
really need is a real fast lens 2.8f or bigger right.

Am I wrong here?

From using Minolta AS, what it does is mostly remove camera shake as
one of the ways an image can blur.
My take is that it's more useful on longer lenses, as camera shake
can be quite evident, even on shutter speeds that can freeze action.

I once thought this too. Then I got a 28-135 IS lens and found how
great it is hand-held in situations ranging from moving
platforms (e.g. boats, airplanes, horseback) or where you can't
use tripods, e.g. low light levels in old churches in Europe,
or quick grab shots, like when walking down a trail and you don't
want to spend the time setting up a tripod.

I would suggest that in low light it is a better idea to get fast
glass, as the faster shutter speeds possible also freeze action much
better.

Except when you want to travel light.

And also excepting where you want to preserve a bit more DOF.

--
Images (Plus Snaps & Grabs) by Mark² at:
www.pbase.com/markuson

David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

Alain's Studio wrote:

I have one question about the "IS" for Canon lens, it says that you
can shoot with a lower speed when you have a IS but they must mean
shooting a still subject right?

Right; that's it exactly.

There is also cases where you are follofwin action. The IS
smooths the panning, reducing camera shake. IS has become a
major tool used in sports and wildlife action photography.
So, it is not just still subjects. Examples at:
http://www.clarkvision.com (all images taken with
\the 500 f/4 L IS were done with IS on, except the astrophotos).

Roger