canon 70-200 F2.8 (NONE IS) or new 70-200 4 IS?

[luismanrara]

First, very glad to have found this forum. I am an old timer on the hometheater forums but new to this one.

I used to have a canon 70-200 f/4 (none IS), which I traded for the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 (none IS) which I currently use and have been very happy with, but it is a little heavy and I always wanted the IS feature.

I bought this lens mostly to take pictures of my daughter who goes to dance competitions. there are sudden movements as you can imagine and the lighting even thought it's not dark, it's not the brightest. When I had the 70-200 4 none Is the pictures were dissapointing to say the least, the quick movement of hands and feet were all a blur. With the f/2.8 (none IS) the results are much better, which brings me to my question. Can the new canon 70/200 4L IS do a better job than the f/2.8 when it comes to fast moving hands or will it just help with the camera shake?

My camera is the rebel XT.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

It's not stabilizing the image, it's reducing hand and camera vibration.

IS/VR/OS ONLY compensates for camera movments, not subject movements. Stick with the f/2.8.

 

[luismanrara]

It's not stabilizing the image, it's reducing hand and camera vibration.

IS/VR/OS ONLY compensates for camera movments, not subject movements. Stick with the f/2.8.

Thank you for your quick response. I guess I will stick with the 2.8.

 

[usayit]

As stated... motion blur can't be solved by anything but a faster shutter speed. How you obtain that faster shutter speed is your decision.. ie faster aperture or higher ISO or flash.

Buying the f2.8 lens is not automatically going to improve the pictures without a firm understanding of what happens when you shoot at a wider aperture as well as the limitations still involved.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Yes, the 70-200 f/4L IS is only 1 stop difference, but it's only letting in 50% the light, and even if it compensates for YOUR movements, it won't compensate for your daughters. You'd get better results from your 70-200 f/2.8 on a tripod or monopod.

 

[usayit]

So how would shooting on a tripod or monopod compensate for the daughter's movement?

 

[usayit]

Faster Aperture versus Higher ISO versus flash...

Are you sure faster Aperture is the best solution? It will also further reduce the DOF... on a moving object..

Have you tried increasing the ISO of your DSLR and experimenting? perhaps paired with post-noise reduction?

edit...

oh shucks.. I read the original post slightly incorrectly.. guess its a bit late to be typin up responses.. hehe.. But yes.. we agree IS won't help.. My recommendation still is to try increasing ISO just a bit.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

So how would shooting on a tripod or monopod compensate for the daughter's movement?

It won't, but it will reduce or eliminate yours.

 

[JIP]

If you are trying to decide if you want to purchase the f/4 in place of the 2.8 the 2.8 is a better lens if you already have it keep it do not consider to e 4 over the 2.8 your results will not be better.

 

[Alex_B]

i personally would stick to the 2.8

my guess is (I used to do ballroom dancing), that motion of the dancers is a bigger factor than your camera shake, at least if you do not want the motion blur of the dancers (which could be a nice effect though).

I would, as already suggested, try to push up the ISO a bit to get shorter exposures.

 

[luismanrara]

Thank you all for your help. I am staying with the 2.8. Besides the dance pictures, I have captured beautiful images with this lens.