Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM IS Lens

Pinarello

Hello all,
I recently put up a post here on boards about the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM IS lens Lens.Very kind people here gave me their opinions about buying this lens, to which i was most grateful for all of the replies.I'd just like to ask one other thing about this lens if possible please.Would i be better/worse off with the IS? I've read loads of reviews on the b&h photo website about people saying that IS slows the lens down a little and it would be better to learn to hold the camera steady.If shooting sports someone asid you could miss a shot because it takes IS a fraction of a second to kick in.Please i'd love to hear any views people here might have..:o

City-Exile

I use a non IS version for sport, without any problem.
You'll be using high shutter speeds for sport, so camera shake shouldn't be an issue.
If you need a bit of support, you can always get a monopod.

Paulw

I have the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L lens. For sport, I seldom use IS. Sometimes I do use it for panning or for capturing a stationary object/person.

I'd say in a game, I might have it on for about 30 sec, total.

The other 99.9% of the time, I shooting with high shutter speeds and don't need IS.

shepthedog

I shot the Shelbourne vs Longford tonight and it made me painfully aware I need one of these bad boys soon!!!

Fionn

IS = image stabilisation,
it must be a positive in such a lens, just not for a a scenario such as certain field sports etc. this is a great low light lens, for instance portraits,or indoor lighted sports such as basketball/boxing etc. making the lens slow? lag or what? what are you shooting? dont really understand !

whyulittle

shepthedog wrote: »

I shot the Shelbourne vs Longford tonight and it made me painfully aware I need one of these bad boys soon!!!

Didn't stop you getting some of your photos onto a sport website.

RoundyMooney

Stupid question (not hijacking as it may help the OP with their decision;)

Would 2.8 be fast enough for indoor use without a flash, say for parties and the like?

Without cranking up the ISO too much of course.

Going back to sports use, and as a related question, I've been asked to cover a boxing match (in a casual capacity) soon, and would such a lens spec fit the bill?

I'll be pairing it with a 30D so I do have some flexibility.

AnimalRights

I was buying the Canon EF 70-200mm f.4 L USM version this morning in Gunn's and he was accidently giving me the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM! It's gigantic!! I was relieved when I realised he was giving me the wrong one!!

mathias

If shooting sports someone said you could miss a shot because it takes IS a fraction of a second to kick in

For an action freeze shot in sports IS is useless , thats not what IS is all about , it cannot do anything to compensate for a fast moving target , all it can do is compensate for camera shake.

With sports you should be using high shutter speeds with IS turned off , IS doesnt or shouldn't come into it with fast shutter speeds.

APMom

Sorry to latch onto the OPs post but I got this lens a few days ago (BIG birthday) so that I could take pics of my older kids doing gymnastics. I tried it out the other night and while some photos were great a lot weren't - the ones where they were doing flips, swinging round the A-bars etc. I had IS on, reading this I should have it turned off, I also used a monopod for some of them which didn't make a difference but I preferred holding camera myself as the pics are better portrait style. So what I'm asking is what shutter speed should I be using? I have a Canon 400d and I know I need to learn a lot more about it. Thanks.

mathias

Aim for a speed of 1/500 or better , that should freeze the action , put the camera into Tv mode , thats shutter priority , dial in the required shutter speed , try 500 to start with , and the camera should do the rest. If the results are not as " frozen " as you would like , then go a bit faster , say 1/1000 , until you get it.

At those kind of shutter speeds you can leave IS turned off , as its highly unlikely that camera shake would be a problem at those speeds.

Another thing to consider is how well lit the action is , if its nice an bright then you should have no problem , if its dull though , you may need to up the ISO to get a good shot , it will depend on the lens you are using.

Paulw

It will really depend on the sport you're shooting. Indoor sports tend to have much worse light. You will need to reset your White Balance, and watch your ISO. You may need to shoot with ISO 1600 or higher to get the faster shutter speeds.

Even outdoor floodlit sports can be difficult. ISO 1600+, to get shutter speeds over 1/500.

To freeze any action, you really want a shutter speed that is 1/focal length. So for the 70-200mm you will want 1/(200mm x crop factor). For Canon this will be a min speed of 1/320. So, you really want 1/400 or faster.

You will just have to judge the light at the venue and work with that.

With sports like gymnastics, such as the A bars, you can actually use IS. The space where your subject will be is going to be stationary. Action will be happening around a small space, so IS will be useful.

Try with and without. You can then judge what works best for you.

Hopefully this helps.

mathias

With sports like gymnastics, such as the A bars, you can actually use IS. The space where your subject will be is going to be stationary. Action will be happening around a small space, so IS will be useful.

Cant agree with that , best to turn it off , the main reason being it does actually delay a shot for just that fraction of a second that means you dont get the action shot you want , and as said it does nothing for a moving subjects or even stationary subjects , its pointless to have it on for shutter speeds that high.

Its main function is for stationary subjects and handheld shots , in low light , or just handheld shots in general at slow shutter speeds. All it corrects is camera shake , it cannot in any way stabilise a subject being photographed , thats not its function.

Paulw

mathias wrote: »

Cant agree with that , best to turn it off , the main reason being it does actually delay a shot for just that fraction of a second that means you dont get the action shot you want , and as said it does nothing for a moving subjects or even stationary subjects , its pointless to have it on for shutter speeds that high.

Well, we're all entitled to our views. Best thing is to try and see what works for each person in each situation..

Here's an image, taken with IS on.



Image details - shutter speed 1/1000, ISO 800, f/3.5 on a 1D MkIII and 300mm f/2.8 IS L.

Most of my kicking images would be taken with IS turned on. I know where the point of action will be, and even using the monopod, turning on the IS just gives that extra bit of stabilisation.

The vast majority of sports action, I have IS turned off, but when I know that the point of action will be stationary, then I can turn on IS.

APMom

Thanks guys, will try those settings. They've a competition in 2 weeks time so I can get in a bit of practice before then, they're coach is happy for me to click away and it's been useful to show them where they're going wrong. YOu'd think they were Olympic champions the way I'm going on

Paulw

APMom wrote: »

You'd think they were Olympic champions the way I'm going on

Olympic champions or school kids, it doesn't matter. You still want to get the best possible image. Especially if they come to look back on them in years to come.

Also, it will, as you say, help coach them, and show the small errors that are otherwise hard to see.

Hopefully you'll get images that you're happy with.

Best of luck with it, and have fun. And if you need extra coverage or more photographers, just post details here and I'm sure a few other photographers will attend.

Borderfox

The IS version is also weather sealed which is handy even if you have a 400d or 40d body as you only have to worry about the camera body getting wet. I was shooting a wedding on Saturday and the IS was on all day and worth its weight in gold.