New Canon IS lenses

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Camera Equipment : One Thread

The following item in the photo.net News provides some details on new image stabilization lenses from Canon.

I found it rather interesting that Canon is adding IS technology to lenses that, in previous versions, aren't really hand-holdable. The current weight of the the 400/2.8, 600/4 are in the 13 lbs range. Unfortunately, the news item only generally states that the weight of the IS lenses is lower than non-IS lenses (13 lbs range). The weight of the lenses would need to be reduced by at least half to get them in the hand-holdable range. My understanding of IS lenses is that they can only be used on tripods with the IS turned off, otherwise the IS gyro introduces motion trying to counteract the stiffness of the tripod. Therefore, it wouldn't seem that IS would help stabilize the lenses at slow shutter speeds on a tripod (very real situation for bird photographers). Anybody know how well IS lenses work on gimbal-type (ala Wimberly) heads?

So, I guess I'm wondering why IS would be a useful feature on a lens that can only be hand-held by people who regularly hold 5 gallon buckets of water at arms length? The prices look like they may be close to Nikon's prices for their AF-S teles.

-- Joe Boyd (boydjw@traveller.com), June 01, 1999

Answers

May be you won't need MLU no more while shooting with TC's and a large lenses, or to increase tripod sharpness when it is really windy...?

-- Marcus Erne (cerne@ees.eesc.com), June 01, 1999.

C'mon - you haven't seen people hand-holding 600/4's in TV commercials?!

I'm not sure why Canon'd put a lot of effort/money into this branch of the market. With some of the other lenses in the IS lineup, handholding is a viable option with IS. With the telephotos, it seems like more of a marketing ploy, though I can't imagine who they're targetting...

-- Scott (bliorg@yahoo.com), June 02, 1999.


Canon claims the "new" IS has been designed for tripod use and "automatic tripod detection." I'd like to see any improvement in handling of 300 to 600mm lenses myself -- they're a little unforgiving...

Hopefully these new lenses will drive prices down a little for used EOS big glass. Of course, "a little" isn't going to help most of us.

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), June 02, 1999.


If the IS is truly useable on a tripod or monopod, it may improve resolution due to shake from an unsteady tripod, wind, etc. On a monopod, this could really excel, since there is much more "shake" than a tripod. Canon is probably focusing on their largest market for these lenses, sports photographers of whom you see at Football games, etc. with large white lenses on monopods. But this also benefits the wildlife photographer as well. I think the most exciting offering in this group is a whole new lens (not just an upgrade) the 500 f/4 IS. Canon's previous 500mm was an f/4.5 which made AF with a 1.4x tc unusable, now they have finally answered our plea's.

-- Bill Meyer (william_meyer@stortek.com), June 02, 1999.

The introduction of a 500mm f/4 lens by Canon is one of the critical turning points I have set for making my decision on which system to buy into. Now I have to wait for the US price to see if I can afford the thing. OK, I can't afford it, but somehow I will find a way. In the mean time maybe Nikon will even the odds of my choosing it by introducing a 400mmm f/5.6 AF-S lens.

-- Stan McManus (stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 02, 1999.


I think that having an Image-Stabilization 600/f4 is very exciting news! I currently use the 600/f4L mostly for photographing birds. Having IS will definitely increase my number of keepers and enable me to shoot under new situations :

Following moving subjects often excludes the opportunity to lock down the ball head securely. IS will help get shots of birds momentarily pausing where in the past I was struggling with the ball head.

Using a 2x at best is crap shoot without IS. It's difficult to attain maximum sharpness even on sunny windless days. IS will make photographing sparrows and other small passerines in open areas with the 2x much more realistic.

Wind is a major factor contributing to unsharp photos with a long lens, even on a tripod. IS will definitely help here too.

Shooting from a vehicle will be much more practical as well. For quick grab shots, that might mean not having to set up a window mount or bean bag. Using the 2x on a bean bag might also be possible for the first time.

These are a few things that immediately come to mind. No, I wouldn't hand hold the 600/f4, but I do think having IS will definitely help a lot!

-- Robert Royse (rroyse@sprynet.com), June 02, 1999.


My biggest concern of the new lenses was the behaviour of the gyro on a tripod-mounted lens. The initial post, cited above, didn't detail any particular improvements for tripod-mounted lenses. Further details on the new lenses suggest a tripod-detection feature, that will modify the behaviour of the gyro from hand-held situations, or the current IS system that is unusable on tripod-mounted lenses.

As Bob points there are several situations where a long lens on a tripod vibrates enough to create unsharp images. There is no doubt that some form of IS would create sharper images for long-tele-on-tripod users. The real question is how much better the new IS system handles near-static loads (i.e. lens on tripod). We can only hope that it's the "two f/stop" improvement cited for the general case.

-- Joe Boyd (boydjw@traveller.com), June 02, 1999.


Oops! Yes, there is mention of the auto-tripod detection feature in the News post.

So, I'll just hope that the two step improvement carries through.

-- Joe Boyd (boydjw@traveller.com), June 02, 1999.


Hey guys, Got to see the new I.S. lenses at the PDN show in LA last weekend... The 300 isn't all that heavy, although I would hesitate to handhold it for too long. Focus speed is so fast it scared me... SERIOUSLY! The 400 is way to heavy to handhold, as are the 500 and the 600. One caveat, the I.S. system is doing something ALL of the time unless you turn it off. Kinda makes you realize that maybe your hands aren't as steady as you thought. The rep claims that if you use I.S. all the time you will lose about 20% of your battery life. In addition, they are discontinuing the non I.S. versions, so if you want one in an unused state you might want to grab it fairly soon.

-- Paul Mounce (pmounce@medrgrp.com), June 27, 1999.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ