IS off for transit?

[GFP]

Hi, I've never turned my IS off for transit, storage, flights or whatever, but a colleague of mine just mentioned that a canon engineer said that one should. Just to complete the picture, my camera also usually stays on or in standby mode. Just habit. My understanding is that IS is only powered on via the camera coming to life. Any knowledge out there on whether the IS system does any kind of 'docking' when switched off, making it more stable for transit. 

Any thoughts/experience out there. 

Thanks,

Graeme

[RobertTheFat]

I hope you're right about the IS, because it would be hard to remember to turn it on each time I turn the camera on.

My highly unscientific and undocumented observation, based on the Canons I've owned, has been that leaving the camera in standby mode runs the battery down faster than leaving it turned off. And turning it back on is something you can't forget to do.

[GFP]

This is a valid point (regarding batt life)... I guess it's just a habit. In considering turning the IS off each time I pack it, given my camera habits, I fear I may leave it off many many times when grabbing the camera, leaving to a lot of frustration at missed shots.

Interesting to ponder. I am also interested in technical/factual answers to the IS issue. 

Cheers,

G 

[cicopo]

I've never read anything about problems caused by leaving it on, and that's the way I leave my lenses. I also rarely turn my cameras off & depend on sleep mode. That works for my Canon's but the one & only Nikon I have must be turned off or the battery does drain quickly enough to be a problem if it hasn't been used in a few weeks.

[Skirball]

I've never turned IS off for anything other than not wanting it for whatever I was shooting - usually when on tripod (yes I know some refute that now).  That doesn't validate it, but I suspect the vast majority of photographers do the same, and mostly for the same reason - we'll forget to turn it back on.  If it was an issue I'd expect it'd be much more known.

[ebiggs1]

There are seven 1D series camera downstairs in the old darkroom that have not been turned off for many years.  Except to change batteries that is.  Plus I have never turned off IS on any lens I have or had except when it warranted it for tripod use or something.

I pick up the camera and the lens(s) I want, drop them into a bag and take off with them.

So far, so good as nothing has been harmed.

[GFP]

Thanks for all your responses. Good to know that others are equally as practical (ahem...lazy) when using their gear. I also haven't experienced any issues in this regard, and so good to confirm that here.

I think this was an isolated instance with my colleague. Apparently it was a 70-200 that had the IS system fixed three times with the resulting comment from the technician. Who knows what factors were involved but I think it's safe to say it was an isolated case with that lens. 

Good to clear that up then.

Thanks,

G