When does IS not matter?

[Hardrock]

I received my first IS lens last night and what a huge difference IS makes in low light. I only got to play with it for 30 minutes but at 200 mm I was able to take a shot at 1/20 of a sec with IS and with out I had to be at least at 1/100. I guess if you are strictly a sports shooter it may not make a difference but for any handheld low light situations its a big help. Oh and the image quality seemed to be worse using IS with a monopod than without. Hope this helps! At least for me if the lens is available with IS I plan to get it over the none IS version.

 

[rufus5150]

Just a quick side note....

If your camera is on a tripod....and you're shooting by remote....take IS/VR off....it'll produce a sharper image.

That is all.

Check your lens manual first, though. Some of the newer ones are intelligent enough to know you're on a tripod.

 

[cfusionpm]

I guess my only remaining question is 24-70mm 2.8 L or 24-105 4 L IS for multi-purpose?

Fixed. And to throw another one out there, with a crop body, you may want to look at the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens. Rather than having to choose between f/2.8 and IS, this lens has both, and has a more crop-body-friendly focal range (24-70 is not nearly as wide on a crop sensor. 1.6x crop sensors are used in all cameras except 1D/1Ds and 5D models). Optics are still very good too. It's an excellent choice to upgrade from a kit or mid-range lens; and its cheaper than both the 24-70 and 24-105.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review

 

[SushiWarrior]

I received my first IS lens last night and what a huge difference IS makes in low light. I only got to play with it for 30 minutes but at 200 mm I was able to take a shot at 1/20 of a sec with IS and with out I had to be at least at 1/100. I guess if you are strictly a sports shooter it may not make a difference but for any handheld low light situations its a big help. Oh and the image quality seemed to be worse using IS with a monopod than without. Hope this helps! At least for me if the lens is available with IS I plan to get it over the none IS version.

One thing when shooting at 1/20 is that you would be getting lots of subject motion blur if it was moving.

IS also helps when you are panning, it removes up/down movement.

 

[DerekSalem]

Just a quick side note....

If your camera is on a tripod....and you're shooting by remote....take IS/VR off....it'll produce a sharper image.

That is all.

That's a misconception. IS doesn't have any effect on the quality of the image. The only thing affected is battery life.

 

[Ron Evers]

Q "When does IS not matter?"

A When the camera remains motionless during the exposure.

It's that simple.