Prepare yourself for a silly question...

Daren3006

Should IS be used when capturing moving subjects.

I've been shooting HS football with IS in Mode 1. It of course helps a ton on the static shots but I just wonder...what is the effect, if any, when the player is moving?

I'm shooting the Canon 40D with the 70-200 IS L f2.8

ian408

If you have high enough shutter speeds, probably not. If you're in low light,
it probably does help some. If you're shooting with a monopod, you want
mode 2 and not mode 1. On a tripod, turn it off altogether.

For sports, there are differing beliefs whether IS should be used at all.

cecilc

ian408 wrote:

For sports, there are differing beliefs whether IS should be used at all.

And that's probably true for most things ...

I'm one of those that believe that you don't need IS turned "ON" for sports shooting .... I shoot with a 400 2.8 IS and I've never had the IS on when shooting sports ... including high school football under the lights.

I'm not saying that's right - I'm just saying that's the way I shoot ... I would also say that if you're shooting with IS turned "ON" and it's working for you then anyone else's opinion probably shouldn't matter a great deal ....

rwells

cecilc wrote:

... I would also say that if you're shooting with IS turned "ON" and it's working for you then anyone else's opinion probably shouldn't matter a great deal ....

I'll certainly have to agree with Cecil on this part.


Personally, I shoot with the IS on. Why not?

What if you need to shoot (out of the lights) for a shot or two? Are you going to remember to turn it on, then back off?

I've heard that it eats up batteries, and it may in-fact do that, but with my 30D and battery grip I've shot many an event where over 1,500~ shots were taken in a day and the battery gage hadn't even moved. YMMV

mercphoto

Daren3006 wrote:

Should IS be used when capturing moving subjects.

I've been shooting HS football with IS in Mode 1. It of course helps a ton on the static shots but I just wonder...what is the effect, if any, when the player is moving?

I'm shooting the Canon 40D with the 70-200 IS L f2.8

IS mode 1 will help a ton with static shots because that is precisely what it is meant to do. Mode 2 is supposed to help with panning shots, where panning is roughly defined as "moving the camera in some straight line". In that mode the lens dampens vibrations in the direction perpindicular to the primary motion of the lens. As such I don't think you want to use Mode 1 at all for any type of action shot. I've used Mode 2 very successfully with motorsports and it might work well for running backs (you'll mostly be panning in a relatively level manner). But, in football you should have shutter speeds more than high enough that any lens shake should not be an issue in the first place. In other words, I don't see why IS would help a football action shot in the first place.

When I briefly shot youth football for an outfit here in Cedar Park (he's also a Sports Shooter member and also shoots professional football) he told me to never never ever use IS for game shots.