C100: 70-200 f/4 IS or No IS?

[brettsherman]

brettsherman, are you using the entire zoom range?

Yes, I can shoot 200mm handheld. Performance varies. I can hold a fairly steady shot for about 30 seconds at 200mm before I tire. It's not tripod steady and moves around slightly, but definitely passable. Heck I even like the motion. It has to be stationary, no pans, tilts, etc. If I can lean against something I can record longer and get almost tripod steady shots.

 

[MattDavis]

+1 on JW2700's point on a locked off shot and vibration from passing delegates.

I have an 80-200 2.8 without IS, and it's languishing in the bag. Unusable handheld (of course), and a real handful on the camera with a tripod - needing support (to the extent that I was using Sony's 18-200 over the 80-200 2.8 because of its IS in my FS100 days). So now I'm waiting for the bank balance to settle so I can get the 70-200 f4 IS. That way, I have a fighting chance of hand-held, and I get back my 'steady shot' from the EX1 days when told to perch on a wobbly box at the back of a room, or the orange boxes supplied by press conferences, and 'That Big Guy' with the F800 and cast iron legs turns up late and sets up beside you and his machinations register on the Richter scale.

So, another vote for IS, with double-thumbs-up for the 'Mk 2' IS. While I can't provide you with results from this combo (*yet*), I can put hand on heart and say non-IS doesn't work in the world of high end event videography and I'm replacing my glass with IS. The 70-200 4 is next, and its doubler (maybe the x1.4) is after that.