IS/OS and Tripods

[skysailor]

Dumb question of the day. How does OS/IS work/not work while the camera is on a tripod? All my shooting is hand held with the OS "on".
Lyle

[basflt]

IS gives some vibration / motion of its own
so , with a tripod , IS makes things worse

me , i dont use it at all , and i dont even have a tripod

[ziggy53]

There is no singular optical IS implementation.

Some of the newer versions sense when mechanical stabilization is used and turn off the IS automatically. Some IS systems allow single axis stabilization (switch selected) to help with panning motion only.

Some IS systems will go into a feedback loop when they are turned on and the mounted on a physical support, resulting in blurred images.

When in doubt about a particular lens, ask here or consult the owner's manual for the lens or contact the manufacturer.

[bgarland]

I was shooting fireworks over the 4th and most of my images captured the straight lines of the firework trails as squiggles. I was using my Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM lens zoomed out to 200mm. I used a tripod and remote shutter release. At first I thought the squiggly lines were due to the windy conditions I was shooting in but when I look at the squiggles they seem to be too uniform a frequency to be from random wind vibrations.

I thought I had turned off my IS but when I checked the lens the next day IS was turned on. I am now thinking the squiggles may have been caused by the IS system being active while being tripod mounted. The owner's manual does say to turn off IS when on a tripod or dong long exposure shots and I usually follow that advise.

Here is one shot that is a good example of the squiggly lines I am talking about. What's your thought on the cause, could this be just the result of IS being enabled combined with the sensitivity of the 200mm focal length?

http://bgarland.smugmug.com/Holidays/4th-Of-July-2010/4th-of-July-2010082/923706672_c28Er-X2.jpg

And one more:

http://bgarland.smugmug.com/Holidays/4th-Of-July-2010/4th-of-July-2010119/923710212_FvVtG-XL.jpg

[bgarland]

I know with all the experience here someone will have opinion on if my firework squiggles were caused by IS being turned on while mounted on a tripod or not?:dunno

[ziggy53]

BGarland, yes, that is very likely the result of the IS system caught in a feedback loop of oscillations. You can probably confirm this by shooting something similar, perhaps traffic and tail-lights at night, with the same lens and camera on a tripod, testing with the IS on and IS off.

[bgarland]

Thanks Ziggy, I'll try that. Or maybe I'll just save this for special effects, :D

[JustPeachy2]

Thanks Ziggy, I'll try that. Or maybe I'll just save this for special effects, :D

The first pictures make me think of a palm tree experiencing an electric shock! JustPeachy2

[BigCamera]

I know with all the experience here someone will have opinion on if my firework squiggles were caused by IS being turned on while mounted on a tripod or not?:dunno
All of the manufacturers say to turn off stabilization when using camera/lens support. It is like a skitzophreniac looking for motion and there is none so it creates its own.
But really like noise cancelling headphones, the lens using a competing frequency of vibration to cancel motion.
R