C100: 70-200 f/4 IS or No IS?

M

mhood

Veteran
I'll be shooting from the back of a ballroom trying to get a MCU of a speaker. Most of the speakers tend to move around on the stage. I'll be on tripod the whole time. Do I want IS or not?
 
Depending on how smooth your tripod is I wouldn't IS it. IS is generally for handheld and stabilizing movement from all axis's. I've used IS on a tripod pan before and the IS tries to stabilize it and you end up with a 'grabbing' effect on your shot, where the IS tries to lock on to things.
 
Thank you Matthew. I think I'd rather have IS on a lens that I'd be more likely to handhold (i.e., the 17-50). I guess it is smart to save a bunch of money on the 70-200 f/4 and skip the IS. I can't imagine ever trying to handhold the 70-200.
 
Get the IS but dont use it on a tripod. I have the non IS version and going to sell mine for the newer IS version.
 
Both the F/4 & F/2.8 versions of the 70-200mm lens have two modes of IS. Mode 1 is regular IS for handheld while Mode 2 is for use while panning on a tripod as horizontal correction is disabled & correction only applied to up & down movement.
 
nigelbb said:
Both the F/4 & F/2.8 versions of the 70-200mm lens have two modes of IS. Mode 1 is regular IS for handheld while Mode 2 is for use while panning on a tripod as horizontal correction is disabled & correction only applied to up & down movement.
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Always wondered what the 1 and 2 stood for.
 
Definitely IS. It's there if you need it. I shoot handheld all the time with this lens. You can actually get pretty steady shots with the IS engaged.
 
I've always went without IS because of weight and the fact that I think shooting at that focal length is not conducive to handheld shooting. For me (and I do mainly international shoots), that focal length was tripod and street scenes in daylight so the F4 was fine. You will pay almost twice the cost for the IS model. My experience has been DSLR, so maybe with the C100's form factor you can get away with shooting handheld through half the zoom range? Another suggestion would be to rent or borrow the lens and try out shooting handheld with it and see what your results would be. I rent telephoto lenses for shoots and don't own one, but I am think about picking up one and might consider the IS if it really works through a usable zoom range and not 70 to 90mm.

brettsherman, are you using the entire zoom range?
 
I cannot imagine handholding a C100 with a non IS lens on it at 200mm - that would be sick bag material! However, with IS its a different story.

I often get excellent video shots with my Canon 70-200 IS F4. Sure, if I can tripod it I will, but with good technique in how you hold the cam, IS makes some long reach walkabout shots perfectly possible, shots that would be lost if I spent time to set up a tripod.

Just depends on your modus operandi and how flexible you want your kit to be as to if the extra cost is worth it. Me, I never buy any glass over 50mm without IS.
 
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Oh, I believe you...I've never tried to hand hold 200mm with IS and the "2" IS setting does sound perfect for tripod use. I wonder how badly the IS will drain my camera battery?
 
I'm usually taking a house sound aux feed from their board so IS (and fan) noise shouldn't be a problem for me.
 
Let's assume I will *never* be in a handheld situation with the lens. I will *always* use it on tripod primarily to shoot speakers in the Main Tent at conferences. Does the IS add enough to the tripod experience to warrant double the price?

And thanks for indulging me here ya'll.
 
mhood said:
Let's assume I will *never* be in a handheld situation with the lens. I will *always* use it on tripod primarily to shoot speakers in the Main Tent at conferences. Does the IS add enough to the tripod experience to warrant double the price?

And thanks for indulging me here ya'll.
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When locked off, you still have to contend with vibration from speakers, from people walking by, from being on a flexible temporary platform... then when you lock off outside of the tent you have the wind to deal with.

My 2.8 70-200L II is my favorite lens. Add an extender and it looks great on the C300 - maybe even a little more filmic.
 
I would need to be panning to follow the speaker. I'm a little concerned about a 2X extender on the f/4...IIRC, that will put me at f/8. Not all my stages are lit and I just haven't wrapped my mind around ISO 10,000 without horrible noise yet. ;)
 
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