What is the point of having IS or VR on giant lenses?

manbou

The new giant tele lenses from Nikon and Canon all come with vibration reduction or image stabilization. But why would you need this feature? I thought VR/IS doesn't work with a tripod, and aren't these lenses too big to shoot handheld? Is the Incredible Hulk walking around out there hand-holding his Nikon 600mm f/4 VR? :scratch

ziggy53

manbou wrote:

The new giant tele lenses from Nikon and Canon all come with vibration reduction or image stabilization. But why would you need this feature? I thought VR/IS doesn't work with a tripod, and aren't these lenses too big to shoot handheld? Is the Incredible Hulk walking around out there hand-holding his Nikon 600mm f/4 VR?

Sometimes you don't have a choice and hand-held is the way to go.

Some of the newer stabilization systems will shut down if they sense a tripod or other stable base is used. Some systems will work on a tripod if a tracking/panning mode of stabilization is chosen.

It is possible to hold a very long lens for short periods if you use an appropriate stance and grip. You're right in that I wouldn't want to do it for too long a time. I get shaky after a couple of hours with a 70-200mm, f2.8 too.

Cygnus Studios

Some school sports when allowing you to shoot from the floor or sideline will not allow the use of a tripod. Yes it is tough to hold a big lens for any real length of time, but sometimes you just have to deal with what you have to.

banjopete

Also as far as I know the feature is one that can be disabled via a switch for the most part.

ziggy53

banjopete wrote:

Also as far as I know the feature is one that can be disabled via a switch for the most part.

Banjopete, welcome to the Digital Grin.

Yes, stabilization can be turned off/on at will on every lens I am aware of.

Robinivich

manbou wrote:

The new giant tele lenses from Nikon and Canon all come with vibration reduction or image stabilization. But why would you need this feature? I thought VR/IS doesn't work with a tripod, and aren't these lenses too big to shoot handheld? Is the Incredible Hulk walking around out there hand-holding his Nikon 600mm f/4 VR?

IS/VR doesn't only help when handholding. Monopods are much more stable than handheld, but of course can't equal tripods. They are however a lot handier, and you'll see a ton around a typical sports field being used with those same giant telephotos you mention. (of course, at sports shutter speeds this is less of a factor, but I think you see where I'm going?)

Not to mention that sometimes even on a tripod, stabilization will help, for instance, once your shutter speed gets around 1/100s-1/60s and lower, the slap of the camera's mirror introduces vibrations that are hard to cancel. When your effective focal length could easily be 800mm or more (crop body, teleconverters, etc), even some very sturdy tripods can use some help, which modern IS/VR implementations can provide. IS/VR can be a superior solution to mirror lockup, which is hard to use if your target's not perfectly stationary.

I've seen some incredible shots made by a guy named Romy Ocon, who shoots birds in the philipines, he'll often be stacking teleconverters on lenses like the sigma 300-800 (), for which he mentions that mirror slap is so big a factor that he uses a rebel XT w/mirror lockup because the mirror mechanism is comparatively gentle in that camera.

AspectArts

Robinivich wrote:

IS/VR doesn't only help when handholding. Monopods are much more stable than handheld, but of course can't equal tripods. They are however a lot handier, and you'll see a ton around a typical sports field being used with those same giant telephotos you mention. (of course, at sports shutter speeds this is less of a factor, but I think you see where I'm going?)

Not to mention that sometimes even on a tripod, stabilization will help, for instance, once your shutter speed gets around 1/100s-1/60s and lower, the slap of the camera's mirror introduces vibrations that are hard to cancel. When your effective focal length could easily be 800mm or more (crop body, teleconverters, etc), even some very sturdy tripods can use some help, which modern IS/VR implementations can provide. IS/VR can be a superior solution to mirror lockup, which is hard to use if your target's not perfectly stationary.

I've seen some incredible shots made by a guy named Romy Ocon, who shoots birds in the philipines, he'll often be stacking teleconverters on lenses like the sigma 300-800 (), for which he mentions that mirror slap is so big a factor that he uses a rebel XT w/mirror lockup because the mirror mechanism is comparatively gentle in that camera.

I'm not sure if VR/IS on a tripod is good or not. Apparently it depends on the lens. I've found that if I turn the VR off I get great crisp shots, but with it on there is more blur. I have a rock-solid tripod though, so maybe the VR is over-compensating for the lack of camera shake???

Robinivich

AspectArts wrote:

I'm not sure if VR/IS on a tripod is good or not. Apparently it depends on the lens. I've found that if I turn the VR off I get great crisp shots, but with it on there is more blur. I have a rock-solid tripod though, so maybe the VR is over-compensating for the lack of camera shake???

Very true. Every lens has a different VR/IS implementation, there are several generations of designs for most manufacturers. Some IS units auto-detect tripods, and switch off when vibrations fall below a minimum level, others will detect their own motion, compensate for it, and in so doing create more vibrations, vicious cycle. It should mention it in the user manual. Sounds like you already know the answer though

Oh, the newest generations have another ability, they auto-detect (switch off when not needed), and activate only to counter mirror slap right before the shot is taken.

sherijohnson

here is an interesting question though, what if you were using a monopod, you know it is not 100% stable

rpcrowe

The above posts are correct
Newer generation IS lenses can be shot on a tripod with IS on. The IS will also help when using a monopod.

One other aspect of IS use that I didn't see mentioned is when you are shooting with a beanbag rest; especially when shooting with the beanbag resting on a car window that is partially rolled down.