A Question on Image Stabilization

[Jason Ano]

I've never owned a lens with IS, as I primarily shoot on Zeiss manual. I might pick up the new Canon 35mm f/2 IS, hoping that it would be good for short distance shoulder rig tracking shots. So my question is: would IS be relevant to video work? or is that strictly for small, split second vibration picture taking?

 

[Phil Holland]

IS is relevant to image capture. Some lenses work better than others. I find it's particularly effective for my style of shooting using telephoto lengths. However, with a well balanced and/or comfortable shoulder rig you may find that you don't necessarily need it. For instance, I shot 135mm a few weeks ago on the shoulder without IS and it has a nice candid feel to it. Very "24-ish" if I had to compare it.

Shooting handheld, shoulder, and other non stable techniques provides a different look more energized look. IS smooths that out. Just depends on what you're looking for.

 

[ericyoung]

Yes, stills lens IS can be usable for video work. Like any tool, it won't work in all circumstances, but it's worth having and experimenting with it on shots where it might be useful.

 

[Jason Ano]

Thanks for the quick replies. Can you give me an example on when it wont work? or when the IS will somehow be a disadvantage in a particular situation? For example when Phil says that the IS will 'smooth' things out, does it look unnatural (for some odd reason I'm envisioning something like AE warp stabilizer) or more like a steadicam effect?

 

[Matthew Scott]

Thanks for the quick replies. Can you give me an example on when it wont work? or when the IS will somehow be a disadvantage in a particular situation? For example when Phil says that the IS will 'smooth' things out, does it look unnatural (for some odd reason I'm envisioning something like AE warp stabilizer) or more like a steadicam effect?

It's useful when you don't have a support system and are holding the camera to your chest for example. I can shoot 105mm with my scarlet by simply holding the camera (awkwardly), no rig, no support. This would look terrible (IMHO) without IS. With IS, shooting like this is totally possible and the look is nice. You have to get used to it though....I mean look for what the IS does in each lense because like Phil said it's different from lens to lens. Some lenses (like the 100mm macro) have more a harsh stabalization and it tends to look a little more rigid? A little more "stabalized" electronically. You can see it when you look for it and you will learn which lenses behave like what. Personally, the 24-105 IS is my favorite IS lens.
Finally, when combining IS with support, like shoulder mount or steadicam, you can get undesirable effects. Sometimes the IS will try to correct a slow pan and it can stand out like dogs balls. The 70-200 IS has both horizontal and vertical IS and having the option to switch one off or have them both on can give you more freedom in circumstances like this.

The effect of IS looks nothing like the warp stabilizer haha...try to imagine a whole bunch of little jitters or micro camera moves that all get averaged out to instead of stutter to the left, it kinda moves to the left all of a sudden...but with easy-ease keyframes hehe. And that's what it's really good for - removing the mocro jitters of camera movement. But adding it to an already stabalized system (shoulder rig) can give weird effects - it's hard to describe, you'll have to see it for yourself.

All in all, IS lenses are awesome for run and gun. Don't forget that they are loud though (if you have an on board mic without a shock mount) and the motors that do the IS'ing will be recorded to your on-board audio.

 

[ericyoung]

I've not found IS on Canon lenses to make any significant noise at all.

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

There are times when a locked off camera with an IS lens sort of "grabs on" to something in the scene that's moving slowly, and tries to stabilize it. So you can get some weird wobbles in shots that should be perfectly still. It can also mess with stop-motion animation. But, if you can turn the IS off, and remember to do so, problem solved.

 

[Matthew Scott]

I've not found IS on Canon lenses to make any significant noise at all.

Maybe with Scarlet it's okay because there's no on-board mic. But with DSLR, it's more than significant. It sounds like the camera is being drilled with a grinder I thought it was worth mentioning, no?

 

[ericyoung]

Maybe with Scarlet it's okay because there's no on-board mic. But with DSLR, it's more than significant. It sounds like the camera is being drilled with a grinder I thought it was worth mentioning, no?

I'm sure your experience is real, and so yes it's worth mentioning. A shock mount on your DSLR would definitely help as otherwise sound vibration can be transmitted directly through the camera body to the microphone body, rather than acoustically through the air.

 

[Matthew Scott]

I'm sure your experience is real, and so yes it's worth mentioning. A shock mount on your DSLR would definitely help as otherwise sound vibration can be transmitted directly through the camera body to the microphone body, rather than acoustically through the air.

True, and that's why I mentioned a shock mount in my original post