IS on or off?

[inkjunkie]

I was at a road course event this weekend. Was using a Canon 1DX with a Canon 400L 2.8, first generation. Thing is like a boat anchor so I was using my tripod and my Wimberley Gimbal head. I have a **bleep** near 50% fail to focus rate when I was using this set up. Question is...when using a long lens on a Gimbal head should the IS be on or off. I know that everything I have ever read said when a tripod is used to turn off the IS...but when chasing a vehicle going in excess of 100mph, I was going for the car is in motion look so I was using slower shutter speeds, I should have the IS turned ON, correct? By me chasing the vehicles I am in essence creating camera shake, despite the tri pod, correct? What I noticed is the first image in any given series is locked on, then things got sporadic. I am not going to do like I normally do and make a multitude of changes at once. Thing that is making me ask this question versus just going sitting on the side of a freeway and experimenting is the nearest busy, 60moh road is a good 40 minute drive for me.... Appreciate any and all advice....

[cicopo]

FYI I have the original 24-105 L & tried using it at a motorsports event but didn't turn the IS off (that is what the manual  recommended) but I has forgot that. Blurry images start to finish, even at higher shutter speeds. The IS on that one doesn't like panning one bit.

[inkjunkie]

Apologies for being non-existent. I have not put any effort into solving my issue just yet but.....

I purchased the 1DX used. I never bothered checking the case settings etc as the body was supposedly from my former "mentor". Well, all 6 of the case settings had been changed. So I reset the camera. Will be going out to the Motocross track tomorrow to see if thiungs have improved. I don't have much panning experience. But I looked at the shots I had taken with my former 5D Mark IV and my 7D Mark II and other than an occasional to slow of s shutter speed had very few soft shots.

I will try and update this after the weekend, if I am up to going out with the camera. The Motocross track is having 2 days of racing. Problem is I am going for a Lumbar Epidural late Friday afternoon and seriously doubt I will be up for a weekend of being on my feet.

[inkjunkie]

Thanks for the link. Previous owner of the body had the Case settings all changed...amongst other things.....

[cicopo]

When you said "motorsports" I assumed vehicles but now you're saying motocross which I haven't ever shot but the majority of photos I do see of it have been shot at high shutter speeds. Spokes, tires etc frozen in the photo rather than showing motion. I have no idea what the prefered method of capture is but it's worth looking in to. 

This is a link to motocross photos showing both high shutter speeds & slower ones. It's a lengthy thread & many of the early images are gone thanks to Photo Sharing Sites making big changes to free sharing so I've given you the link to the last page & you can work backwards. It should show what's acceptable but not necessarily what a magazine editor requires.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=800435&page=481

[Waddizzle]

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@inkjunkie wrote:
Thanks for the link. Previous owner of the body had the Case settings all changed...amongst other things.....

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Yeah, resetting all of the setting in the camera is highly recommended with any used camera.  Be aware that you need to reset settings in at least three or four places, not just the main menu “Reset To Factory Defaults” selection.  That function does not reset Custom Controls.  Some of the utofocus settings require a separate reset.

As far as IS goes, setting the right IS mode is crucial for getting sharp images.  Here is the correct use of Mode 1

Here is an example of using Mode 1 for panning, when I should have switched to Mode 2.  But, I would have missed the shot.

These were shot with a 7D2 and an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM.  Shutter speed was 1/1600.  Camera motion blur is not the reason why the second shot is soft.  It is caused by me using the wrong IS mode while I fired a few shots.

[inkjunkie]

Apologies...again..for not adding to this. I reset all of the settings in both my 1DX and 1DX Mark II. Did not change a thing and headed to the motocross track. As usual I took way to many images.

I know some folks don't care much for the Focal Point Plug In for Lightroom.....but for me it is a great tool. Back track some. Found some out and out blurry images that I took when panning. Operator brain cramp, shutter speed was simply way to slow.

Found some shots, with the riders coming right at me. Separated by 5-6' coming out of a corner. Both riders were blurry. Used the Focal Point Plug In, again operator bran cramp...I was a bit slow on the shutter. If I had fired the camera a split second earlier that I did I would have used one of the riders for the focal point instead of the fence post I used.

Back to panning. I have the camera set up in Zone AF. I noticed that in some of the shots where the shutter speed should have been "right" that I still had some soft images. Noticed that the bike was either a bit to far to the left of the frame (or the right). Checked using the Focal Point Plug in again, and well....my panning speed did not match that of the bike and I was either a bit slow ( or fast).

When I get a chance later today I am going to read all of the comments here, again. I do appreciate all of your input.

[ebiggs1]

Now you have the info required to fix it. It always seems to help if you know where the problem is.

[Waddizzle]

“
Back to panning. I have the camera set up in Zone AF. I noticed that in some of the shots where the shutter speed should have been "right" that I still had some soft images.“

Are you using AI Servo autofocusing? You should. I suggest using all AF points active.

Select the center AF point as the starting point. Turn on the AF point display, which should be the default, so that you can see where in the frame the camera is tracking.

I also like to program the [AF-ON] button to turn off AF, so that I can reset AF back to the center and reacquire focus on my subject.

Panning can be tough if you are too close, or if your focal length is too long. I do not want to pan more 90 degrees. I prefer to pan only 45 to 60 degrees, or less. For a very fast pan I may prefocus on a zone, and turn off AF altogether.