canon EF 500mm f/4 l is usm lens Image Stabilization settings

[USCRx]

Purchased lightly-used 1st generation 500mm f/4 lens. I'm not sure what "I" and "O" mean for the setting. Also, when would I use Mode 1 and/or Mode 2 (see photo)? Would love any help for these settings. Thanks!

[USCRx]

Thanks, everyone! Is there a best practice for pushing down the shutter button with a super telephoto setup, for the least amount of shaking?

[wq9nsc]

If tripod mounted you can use a remote release, I use a Canon TC-80N3 intervalometer which also works as a manual remote release.  You can also use the self-timer built into the camera as long as the subject is going to be in place for a couple of seconds but a remote release is much better.

Also consider using mirror lockup for critical shots.

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

I have the 600mm lens which I never use since the 150-600mm super zooms have come on the market. My go to lens is the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens.  They are just so much more friendly to use with the ability to zoom.

1. I never turn IS (or OS as Sigma calls it) off. Tripod or no tripod. I have never seen or noticed any difference.

2. As distance increases resolution decreases.  Most folks believe a telephoto lens is used to take shots of very distant subjects. Yeah, you can do that but what they are really designed for is to fill the frame with the subject.  A small bird for instance will remain a small bird even though you use a super telephoto if the distance isn't reduced. Dramatically I mean, down to a few meters. Your elk looks like you were a fair distance away.  Lens resolving power is going to be reduced. Using a tel-con is going to further reduce it. Just the name of the game. You give to get, no free lunch in photography. The number one best way to increase IQ is get closer.

3. Do you post edit at all? Here is your shot, remember I only have the sample jpg to work with. But I added a small amount of unsharp mask in PS. Also you should always apply lens correction which I didn't do.

A 50% crop....................

Always try to set the main most focus point on the eye.  It looks like you didin't.  May I suggest you turn off all the focus points except the center one. For a shot like this that is all you need and will work best. Also you should be in One Shot not Ai-servo. You are using Raw format?

I will also tell you the lens will get better as you get better!

[Waddizzle]

"I never turn IS (or OS as Sigma calls it) off. Tripod or no tripod. I have never seen or noticed any difference."

You do understand that 1D Series bodies will automatically disable IS when used with certain great white primes, right?  I do not know if it happens with initial releases of the lenses, but it definitely happens with all of the Mark II lenses.

It probably does not happen with any third party lenses, though.  I have noticed a difference in the sharpness.  At fairly slow shutter speeds, it seems to also make a difference in background blur.

[ebiggs1]

"You do understand that 1D Series bodies will automatically disable IS when used with certain great white primes, right?"

You do understand, I never turn IS or OS off whether I hold it or use a tripod.  That is the main most point. Not whether the camera or lens or whatever, I don't turn the switch off.

[USCRx]

Thanks SO much! You have been very helpful. Yeah, I was quite a distance away. The tule elk are pretty wary of anyone getting close. Very soon after I took this photo, the bull and his herd (~ 20 or so) strolled quickly away from me. I was just on the edge of being too close. I've kept the IS on, like you recommended. My post-processing skills can be improved, most assuredly. And I will try the remote. that sounds like a good idea.

[ebiggs1]

"Yeah, I was quite a distance away."

Keep in mind the thermal air currents are not your friend.  They get worse as distance increases too so you are fighting two obstacles you have no control over.  Less resolution and turbulent air.

Best also keep this in mind the better you get the better the lens will be.  Use it a lot, shoot a lot and learn it. Nothing here, no advice is hard fast fact, except the distance and bad air of course, so YOU need to find out what works for you.

[wq9nsc]

I turn IS off when shooting sports but that is because I am shooting with fast shutter speeds so camera shake isn't an issue AND I want to avoid the extra battery power usage by the IS system when shooting long events in very cold weather. 

The issue with the IS glass and tripods only applies to the earliest models, later IS lens models switch to a hybrid mode to avoid the increased apparent shake caused by standard IS operation when mounted to a tripod.  The sensing occurs within the lens and the magazine from Canon Europe provides a good explanation of IS behavior under various conditions:  https://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/image_stabilization_lenses.do

I use IS extensively with the EF 200 f2 but not so much with the longer glass except with the EF 800 which is only a f5.6 lens and handholding it makes the IS extremely valuable.

And on edit: Nice image Ernie!

Rodger

[USCRx]

For your information, here was the shot that precipitated me not using the extender anymore: pronghorn, sitting still, 500mm + 1.4x extender, f/5.6, ISO 500, 1/3200 sec, on tripod, IS on. I must've tried ~ 20 shots of this pronghorn, trying to get a sharp image, and they were all like this one.

[Waddizzle]

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@USCRx wrote:

For your information, here was the shot that precipitated me not using the extender anymore: pronghorn, sitting still, 500mm + 1.4x extender, f/5.6, ISO 500, 1/3200 sec, on tripod, IS on. I must've tried ~ 20 shots of this pronghorn, trying to get a sharp image, and they were all like this one.

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I am sure the extender did its' part.  This looks to have front focused by quite a bit.    You can check where your focus point was in Canon's DPP.  That may have been more tele and less the lens.  But, that looks a little too far to be front focusing caused the lens or tele.

I think I would keep OS turn off with this lens on a tripod.

I had a Sigma 150-500 that hadreally bad OS.  If I held the lens steady, suddenly you would hear a clunk in the lens, and you lost your subject.  Even worse on a tripod.  The lens was not bad just as long as you didn't use Sigma OS.  They seemed to have fixed the OS stability problem with Sigma 150-600 lenses.