IS or VR - How much you use with 500mm or 600mm?

Well that picture looks pretty sharp enough to me! I've not got into IS/VR, but so many pros have that logic sugqests it must be working, and without degrading the image quality one bit. In fact you hear of folks stacking teleconverters now so the lens and TC quality must be top-notch. For me it sounded fantastic at first, but then I thought that being able to use slow speeds would be OK but the subject would have to be dead still or you'd get subject blur, so maybe you'd never want to go that slow anyway so why spend the extra cash? But with them now working properly when tripod-mounted I think they really would be useful, just allowing you to relax and not worry so much about bracing on the lens barrel, holding your breath etc. when on a 600 or 800mm at around 1/125th-1/250th, and even more so when doubling up to 1200mm or so. I'm a cameraman and only stills in down-time so I can never justify spending so much on stills gear, but if I could I would definitely go for a 300mm IS, 600mm IS and 1.4 and 2x TCs. Only a couple of months to Christmas!

Steve

I don't think you'll be able to deduce a percentage of extra keepers, but I think you'll find Pölking's article, Sharp Photographs, enlightening.

IS will NOT reduce image quality on a tripod on these lenses. In fact it is likely to enhance it unless your long lens technique is perfect, there is no breeze, shutter speed is very high, etc.

I looked at a few of the charts on that Sharp Photographs link and don't quite understand how a cable release makes for blurred results. It's a critical piece of gear for me in low light, slower shutter situations and I use it specifically to achieve sharp results. -Greg-

I use 600/4 IS, obviously never handheld or on monopod, but rather on Wimberley head, always unlocked. (By the way, G1348 IMHO is much more usable than G1548.)

IS is always on for static shots (I tend to turn it off for bird flight shots with exposures shorter than 1/500, for faster tracking).

For static shots, IS makes substantial statistical difference in sharpness and retained detail even at fairly short exposures.

> IS may reduce the image quality

Not with 600/4 or 500/4. These are third-generation IS lenses and they can autosense when lens shake is below a threshold, in this case IS shifts into mode to compensate for mirror slap. However as I said in practice you are most likely going to be using 600/4 floating on unlocked Wimberley head so having IS makes a noticeable difference.

Hi Jemini, I have a 500mm f/4 IS and leave the IS on pretty much all the time, tripod or not. I find it very helpful myself. Good luck!

Greg - Pölking does say a little something about it under the heading "Cable trigger or manually ?" I have found that keeping my hands on the camera/lens can help in wind, but that's an exceptional case. Otherwise, I tend to agree with you.

I have only handheld my 500 f/4 a few times and only for a short time. I have my IS on all the time, even when on the 1348 tripod. I can't give you exact numbers on how many keepers I get because of the IS that I wouldn't otherwise have, but I have been able to shoot at some pretty low shutter speeds and obtain surprisingly sharp images. I have to attribute at least a good part of that to IS technology.

I wasn't aware that there was a Nikon lens out with VR at the 500mm or 600mm focal length. For what's worth, I have the 80-400mm VR lens and would be very hesitant to buy a long lens without VR after using that.

Kent in SD