• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Hand-holding your 100-400 ... (1 Viewer)

JGobeil and Modular

It is advised (by canon) to turn IS off when 100 400 is on tripod. It probably does not matter much if you are working with high shutter speed. When the IS is turned on the gyro/mechanism is trying to correct movement and since there is none it goes into a kind of loop and you will see the image through the view finder move slowly from one side to the other. It seems therefore there will be some critical point where the movement of the image will affect sharpness in my humble opinion. You may therefore have binned pictures which may have otherwise been sharp....just a thought.

Nice gallery you have.
 
a.dancy said:
JGobeil and Modular

It is advised (by canon) to turn IS off when 100 400 is on tripod. It probably does not matter much if you are working with high shutter speed. When the IS is turned on the gyro/mechanism is trying to correct movement and since there is none it goes into a kind of loop and you will see the image through the view finder move slowly from one side to the other. It seems therefore there will be some critical point where the movement of the image will affect sharpness in my humble opinion. You may therefore have binned pictures which may have otherwise been sharp....just a thought.

Nice gallery you have.
Click to expand...

Interesting ! I have often seen that it does not really matter and I don't remember seing that effect in my viewfinder. However, Canon probably has a good reason for suggesting that.

I will have to find another way to protect the IS switch if I remove the masking tape. Before using tape, I missed quite a few good pictures because the IS was inadvertently turned off. Anybody has suggestions ?
 
I have never accidentilly moved the switch (as far as I am aware) since it is quite firm. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask someone to look at it....?
 
a.dancy said:
I have never accidentilly moved the switch (as far as I am aware) since it is quite firm. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask someone to look at it....?
Click to expand...

Mine is also quite firm. Must be the way I hold the lens. I'll study that the next time I use it.
 
Good luck!.... forgive my bad spelling of the word accidentally....it comes with a poor education...but at least I'm aware of it.
 
As most of the stuff I've shot since getting the 100-400 has been aircraft it's practically always hand held, in fact the only time it has been on a tripod was to test it before sending both it and the 20D off to Canon for calibration / matching together. (It worked by the way - don't be afraid of trying it!)

I use IS mode 2 for anything moving fast and IS 1 for most other scenarios. I've yet to find decent enough light anywhere to bother turning the IS off!

As for how to grip it - I've never though about it - just do it!

Dave.
 
I have noticed in my limited experience that I am going to have to keep using this thing in order to get used to the weight and build up the strength in my puny biceps and forarms. It is definitely getting better from when I first used the setup though. But overall I think I just need to get used to the weight and hopefully adapt to it with enough use in the field.
 
All these questions about handheld/tripod shots in relation to a sharp picture, even with a TC fitted. In my opinion it boils down to "How far away is the subject" Close shots no problems, distance is a big factor in this debate. In the end it all boils down to conditions and experience.


Paul
 
Not sure I follow that Paul - how is distance a factor in the sharpness of shots hand-held or on a tripod?

I agree that experience is probably the most important factor!
 
Mark. I find that movement of the lens is more noticable when looking at distant objects than close, because the movement is magnified, depending on focal length. With a TC fitted it is more noticable.
 
Thanks Paul, I sort of understand what you are saying but an unsharp shot is an unsharp shot, even if the subject is frame filling ;)
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

Julie50
Berwick on Tweed, Lindisfarne, and St Abby’s Head, UK this week.
Replies
2
Views
470
Julie50
Julie50
biowizard
Why are Caribbean birds so tame?
Replies
11
Views
984
angusmcoatup
angusmcoatup
yarrellii
Is the 15x50 IS worth it if you already have a 12x36 IS?
2
Replies
39
Views
3K
yarrellii
yarrellii
V
DDOptics binoculars for birdwatching
Replies
15
Views
2K
exup
E
N
Advice: Not too expensive toss in the pocket/bag compact binoculars?
2 3
Replies
49
Views
6K
julay
J

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top