Camera Labs

Well I trust Gordon's knowledge of photographical equipment.

Mark

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Canon EOS 40D / EF-S 17-85mm IS / EF 50mm f/1.8 / My Flickr

Have a look at the section Tripod-compatible Image Stabilizer on page 187 of Canon's EF Lens Work III. So there you have it. Rather frustratingly Canon don't seem to explicitly state in individual lens specifications whether the lens is "equipped with an image stabilizer that can be used with a tripod" but as neither of my lenses with IS is of the "super telephoto L type" I definitely have to switch IS off when I use those lenses on a tripod.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

So do all image stabilization implementations malfunction when a tripod is present, or is that specific to just a few?

While that document is helpful, it is very sparing on the details of why it malfunctions. Do I really need to know why? Probably not. But then I'm an engineer and a scientist, so that's the excuse for my curiosity

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PhilipGoh.com

Hi pgtips,

You can probably make a more educated guess than I as to why it malfunctions. My own guess is that some systems get into a positive feedback loop which may be induced by the tripod altering the resonant frequency to a point where the motion of the optics as they correct for shake induces a badly phased response in the motion sensors.

I did a little more digging last night and at least I found one place where Canon explicitly states whether a lens has a tripod compatible IS system and that's Canon's lens section of their Camera Hall. As an example, the entry for the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM states "a tripod can be used with the camera shake correction function ON".

Of course, as a Sony man, this isn't of too much help to you but I can only speak to the system I know best.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Awesome stuff Bob. Thanks for all that info. Now I'll go pester someone like alexramos who knows all things Sony related to share similar info.

I still think that such a malfunction is shoddy engineering. If my work was malfunctioning, that would be classed as a severe bug and if it wasn't fixed in a timely manner or documented in sufficient detail as to why it is failing, I'd be out of a job.

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PhilipGoh.com