Does IS help at low (Not too low!!) shutter speed?

[David]

My friend asked me about IS but unfortunately I don't own any lens with IS.

I know IS does work but suppose you have two lenses, say the 70-200mm with IS and the other without, both zoomed to 200mm, shutter speed used is 1/180 s. (The shutter speed as you can see is not too low but just at the 'edge' where some camera shake might produce a less than optimal image.)

If the picture is taken by the same person, does it necessarily mean that it will be sharper when taken handheld using IS? Assume same breathing/hand motion, shooting style/position etc.

Another example is the 28-135mm IS lens. Say at 50mm focal length, shutter 1/20s. Does it mean with IS turned on, images tend to be sharper when taken by the same person, as compared to without IS?

Ok I know the question sounds a bit simple but that's what my friend wishes to know before considering getting an IS lens.

Thanks for any contribution from the IS users!

[dkw]

Simple answer; From personal experience, at shutter speeds below 1/focal length, IS is noticeably better, faster than that, don't see much diff.

Cheers,

[mpenza]

in general yes. However, do note that IS stabilises the shooter but not the subject. Hence if the subject is moving faster than could be freezed by the shutter speeds, the subject would still be blurred whether the lens has IS or not.

[metals99]

Originally Posted by David My friend asked me about IS but unfortunately I don't own any lens with IS. I know IS does work but suppose you have two lenses, say the 70-200mm with IS and the other without, both zoomed to 200mm, shutter speed used is 1/180 s. (The shutter speed as you can see is not too low but just at the 'edge' where some camera shake might produce a less than optimal image.) If the picture is taken by the same person, does it necessarily mean that it will be sharper when taken handheld using IS? Assume same breathing/hand motion, shooting style/position etc. Another example is the 28-135mm IS lens. Say at 50mm focal length, shutter 1/20s. Does it mean with IS turned on, images tend to be sharper when taken by the same person, as compared to without IS? Ok I know the question sounds a bit simple but that's what my friend wishes to know before considering getting an IS lens. Thanks for any contribution from the IS users!

U still need to hold the camera firmly.. and it does work but shutter cannot be too slow..

[Amfibius]

This picture was taken with a EF 300 F/2.8L IS on a Canon EOS-10D. There was VERY LITTLE available light, and I had to push ISO up to 3200 and shoot at F/2.8. The amazing thing was, this shot was taken at 1/125s, handheld! Despite the high ISO, the image is sharp enough to make out her facial texture, her facial hairs, and (in the original shot) the little blood vessels in her eyes ...

[majere2sg]

A couple of shots here were taken a low shutter speed with 100-400mm IS lens hand-held.

1
400mm, ISO: 200, Shutter: 1/13

2
400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/30

3
400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/15

4
400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/100

5
400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/40

I find that IS does help..

[NiVleK]

Originally Posted by majere2sg A couple of shots here were taken a low shutter speed with 100-400mm IS lens hand-held. 1 400mm, ISO: 200, Shutter: 1/13 2 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/30 3 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/15 4 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/100 5 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/40 I find that IS does help..

Power. 400mm handheld at such low shutter speed can get sharp images.

[sequitur]

Originally Posted by Amfibius This picture was taken with a EF 300 F/2.8L IS on a Canon EOS-10D. There was VERY LITTLE available light, and I had to push ISO up to 3200 and shoot at F/2.8. The amazing thing was, this shot was taken at 1/125s, handheld! Despite the high ISO, the image is sharp enough to make out her facial texture, her facial hairs, and (in the original shot) the little blood vessels in her eyes ...

my friend, do you go to the gym often ? i thought the 300/2.8 weighed something like 5kg !! :P

[David]

Thanks each and everyone for your kind comments. I think my friend will be impressed by the examples of images posted here!

majere2sg, I'm impressed... What can I say. Shutter as low as 1/13 even for 400mm? I doubt I can even get such sharp images when I use anything above 50mm without IS! Were you also resting your elbows on the ground or something?

I checked with my friend and he says he's more interested in considering the 28-135mm against the 28-105mm. (L is just too much for now.) He doesn't mind paying a little bit more mainly for the IS feature.

He's more interested in a comparison. Say shoot 50mm at 1/15 seconds, one using IS and the other without. When you zoom in on the image or use a loupe to view your slides/negatives, can you tell the difference, eg camera shake? Anyone any experience to share besides dkw's comments?

Thanks!!!

[Amfibius]

Heh, it's not that hard to hold a 300/2.8L long enough to squeeze the shutter button a few times

I'm very impressed that majere could get those shots as slow as 1/15 of a second at 400mm! When I handhold my 100-400 and zoom out to 400, I can barely hold the lens steady enough to compose my image. I have to lean against something or use my monopod.

[dkw]

Originally Posted by majere2sg A couple of shots here were taken a low shutter speed with 100-400mm IS lens hand-held. 1 400mm, ISO: 200, Shutter: 1/13 2 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/30 3 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/15 4 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/100 5 400mm, ISO: 400, Shutter: 1/40 I find that IS does help..

Phew! Arms of steel! Even with IS I can't go lower than 1/60 on my 100-400 at full extension. Nice pics.