Wildlife Photography across the Water: To VR/I.S or not

Wednesday 11 May 2011

To VR/I.S or not

Over the last few months i have been experimenting with the VR/Image stabiliser system on my Nikon lenses, I have read many times about whether you should turn the VR off when on a tripod or when the shutter speeds are high, When i was in Japan i shot alot of the images with the camera/lens on a tripod with the VR switched off and i was very happy with the results, i have continued to keep the VR feature turned off when the shutter speed is above 1/500 and if my set up is locked down i keep it off whatever the speed, I have always been an advocate of image stabilization but now i am starting to rethink its usage, I always have it on when hand holding but now when its tripod mounted it tends to be turned off, If you keep your VR/I.S on all the time then try turning it off and see if your images suffer or improve, I would be interested in your comments on whether you turn stabilization on or off

Dave

3 comments:

Anonymous11 May 2011 at 19:38
I use a Canon 500F4 and rarely use IS. IF I do,then I make sure it has settled before taking the shot as I feel it can actually make the image less sharp otherwise.

David Schenck
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mark wood16 May 2011 at 08:02
Dave I always turned off the IS when on a tripod, think its just good practice even though some of the new lenses detect they are on tripods.
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Bobbster24 May 2011 at 19:18
I tend not to use it, as it apparently slows down the AF?
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.