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, Roger, I actually performed the test, and the 'baseline' AF looks the best! So now I'm wondering if (when I'm shooting) I should manually focus "out-of-focus", then use auto-focus to zero-in on the subject. I really can't think of any other solution.

   Or, as you said, I probably just need to get to know my lens, and what works in the field.

[wq9nsc]

If the subject is stationary AND you have time to set up the shot without fear of it moving, setting focus to one shot and using spot AF with the focus point on an eye works wonderfully most of the time. But this creates more risk of missing the subject so I typicall use a cluster of points in the center of the frame.  IF you need to lock focus and recompose, that is the perfect situation for using the handy focus stop buttons on the lens.

With your 7D2, see which focus points operate as cross type points with the 500 f4 plus 1.4X and when possible restrict the camera to using those points for the fastest, highest accuracy focusing. These are generally in the center of the AF array and your camera manual will show you exactly which ones are available as cross type sensors based upon the lens "group" as defined in your camera manual. 

Rodger

[USCRx]

Thanks so much, Rodger! Super helpful. I'm thinking I might increase my shutter speed, also. With the 500mm, the 1.4x extender, and shooting with a 7D Mark II, I'm effectively shooting a 1120mm lens!

[ebiggs1]

"I'm effectively shooting a 1120mm lens!"

Also, remember, as a general guide line, 1/1120 sec is the slowest SS you should use. 1/2000 is probably the slowest I think you should use. Now of course this is just a suggestion not a hard fast rule.

Often times mis-focus is blamed when in fact it was camera motion.

[Waddizzle]

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@USCRx wrote:

Thanks so much, Rodger! Super helpful. I'm thinking I might increase my shutter speed, also. With the 500mm, the 1.4x extender, and shooting with a 7D Mark II, I'm effectively shooting a 1120mm lens!

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With that much focal length, you will almost certainly want to use some sort of support.  You will be looking at the world through a straw.  Smallest camera shake will look like 8.0 earthquake on the Richter scale.  

Some high end bodies have the smarts to disable IS in some L lenses when it senses that it is mounted on a tripod.  I am not sure if the 7D2 is one of them, though.  It might be, though.  I do not know if there is a way to disable it, either.  

With the lens supported on a tripod, then the need to stabilize the image is significantly reduced.  I would turn it off, anyway.  The biggest benefit of IS in the lens is that it helps to stabilize the image for the AF system, as well as the viewfinder.  You won't need it with a good tripod and head, especially with a gimbal, a video fluid head, or even a pan and tilt head..

Enjoy your new toy.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@USCRx wrote:

Thanks so much, Rodger! Super helpful. I'm thinking I might increase my shutter speed, also. With the 500mm, the 1.4x extender, and shooting with a 7D Mark II, I'm effectively shooting a 1120mm lens!

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With that much focal length, you will almost certainly want to use some sort of support.  You will be looking at the world through a straw.  Smallest camera shake will look like 8.0 earthquake on the Richter scale.  

Some high end bodies have the smarts to disable IS in some L lenses when it senses that it is mounted on a tripod.  I am not sure if the 7D2 is one of them, though.  It might be, though.  I do not know if there is a way to disable it, either.  

With the lens supported on a tripod, then the need to stabilize the image is significantly reduced.  I would turn it off, anyway.  The biggest benefit of IS in the lens is that it helps to stabilize the image for the AF system, as well as the viewfinder.  You won't need it with a good tripod and head, especially with a gimbal, a video fluid head, or even a pan and tilt head..

Enjoy your new toy.

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If I were using a lens that long outdoors, I might hesitate to turn off the IS, even with a tripod. Where I live (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania), the motion blur due to wind could rival that caused by an unsteady hand.

[USCRx]

   OK. So I went out today to Carrizo Plains National Monument (~ 1 hour drive from my home). I was unable to get a sharp focus using my extender (Canon  EF 1.4x II) with my EF 500mm 1:4 L IS USM, using a tripod, and shooting at 1/3200 sec. So I stopped using it. Don't know what the issue is.

   I used the 500mm alone the rest of the morning with my Canon Eos 7D Mark II. Here was a typical result with the combination - a bull tule elk in front of Painted Rock (500mm, f/4, ISO 160, 1/2500 sec., slightly cropped), It looks sharp, but not super sharp. Don't know if I'm just being picky. Thoughts?

[Waddizzle]

Nice shot!  It looks pretty good to me.  It is hard to judge with a subject that does not fill the frame.

[wq9nsc]

Jim,

The image looks pretty nice to me.  You are still dealing with a very shallow depth of field so I don't think the entire subject is in the sharpest focus.  You could go to f5.6 or even f8 with that lighting and the ISO would still be quite reasonable.

With enough wind, even a big tripod will have some shake in the wind with a large camera and lens.  In my rural area of IL, wind gusts over 30 MPH are very common several days out of the week.  I have a Manfrotto 161 MK2B tripod with a Wimberly gimbal head on it and with a sandbag on the tripod spreader, the center column lowered, the rotation screws locked, and the EF 800 plus 1DX III mounted via a dual screw ARCA plate you can still see the camera wiggle in a high wind gust.  The Manfrotto 161 is big and solidly constructed but the EF 800 is like a sail to the wind.

Rodger

[Waddizzle]

"If I were using a lens that long outdoors, I might hesitate to turn off the IS, even with a tripod. Where I live (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania), the motion blur due to wind could rival that caused by an unsteady hand."

The IS can actually soften the image when the camera/lens are being held steady.  It can start hunting for motion that isn't there.  If you tripod shakes in the wind, then you may need a better tripod.  A good one should easily handle 20-30 mph gusts without creating significant camera motion, sufficient to blur an image captured at 1/2000 or faster, in this case.