Question about my new toy. 100-400L

[Paul]

I am sure Steve will be able to answer this quickly and I will thank anyone who does in advance.

My questions is about the IS 1 and IS 2. Which is for what purpose. I tired some shots today but most only turned out marginal at best. Going to have to take more arthritis medecine for the hands I think.

[Dbl]

IS 1 is all around IS in any camera position. IS 2 is for panning shots. It only corrects for movement that is at a right angle to the panning.

The 100-400 has the older 1st or 2nd genereation IS as well and its use is not recommended when on a tripod. Others such as my 300/2.8 are fourth generation IS where tripod use is allowed. There are only a few earlier gen lenses around at this time that don't allow for use on a tripod:

EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

EF300mm f/4L IS USM

Did you have yours on a tripod? Did you give the IS enough time to "spool" up and stabilize?

[MN Shutterbug]

Actually, I leave my IS in position 1 all the time. It still works on my bif's. If I'm shooting an eagle in a tree and he flies off, I've got other things to think about besides remembering to quickly flip the switch on the lens.

[finnbay]

I have used 2 on occasion when panning racing snowmobiles or having a runner go past me. At a shutter speed of 1/60 to 1/90 the subject will be relatively clean with a blurred background.

[MN Shutterbug]

I suppose with that slow of a shutter speed, it might be important. It makes sense. When shooting bif's, I typically shoot at a minimum of 1/1000 sec.

[Steve Foss]

I have used 2 with good success when I KNOW in advance I'm limiting myself to subjects moving in one direction. I generally leave it in 1, like X-T.

The first few times I used it from a tripod I experimented to see what would happen with the IS left on. Since there was no motion and the IS was searching for motion to dampen, it ended up creating its own wild zig-zags. Totally weird.

From a sturdy monopod, the 100-400 is deadly.

[Paul]

Maybe I did not leave enough time for the IS to kick in. THe IS on my 17-85 os a lot quicker apperently. I was at a friends house who has a large plethera of birds to photograph and I was shooting through their picture window wich did not help either. I will have to make plans to go over there witha blind. THey go through 500lbs of bird see Per WEEK. YEs Per WEEK. At any given time there are over 25 species of birds haning out. I think they are about to become better friends.

[Steve Foss]

On a tripod from the blind, I never turned the IS on at all on any of the supertelephotos I've used. The tripod makes it unecessary no matter what the lens, anyway, and even if you have the type of IS that functions from a tripod it just eats up battery life faster with no real benefit.

That's a good thing to remember, by the way. IS goes through batteries faster since it's a battery-operated mechanical system. How much faster depends on how long the photographer leaves the shutter halfway down to activate the IS while waiting for the shot to shape up. I've gone as long as 45 seconds to a minute with the focus locked onto the subject and IS engaged waiting for it to turn its head just so before tripping the shutter.

One good reason (not the only one by any measure) to add a battery grip to the camera down the road.