Image stabilization panning detection in RF lenses

David Franklin wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

Duckman21 wrote:

Many "cheaper" EF or EF-S lenses have only one stabilizer mode, but Canon previously indicated these to have panning detection built in, so the horizontal axis would disable if you pan fast enough. I'm wondering if the same holds true for the RF lenses like the RF 100-400mm.

I will start with my impressions of the RF 800mm f11. The IS works very well for stationary subjects but not so much for slow panning at medium to low shutter speeds. Not sure if I'm panning too slowly to trigger a "panning mode" or there just isn't one to begin with. I've been photographing ducks and other waterbirds swimming leisurely and noticed considerable motion blur. Turning off gave me some sharper shots but most were prone to overall blur in both the vertical and horizontal axis. I had a similar issue with my Tamron 150-600mm G2 on DSLRs, and always do this for flying birds, but found swimming birds less of an issue. I also wonder how much of an effect IBIS is worsening this by "enhancing" the stabilization and if it fares better with non-IBIS bodies.

Like you, I too have found that turning IS off completely gives me the highest keeper rates whenever I’m shooting something that’s moving (R5 + 100-500 +/- 1.4x). I don’t use panning mode because rarely is anything I’m shooting moving in a purely horizontal direction.

Instead I rely on a fast shutter speed to stop motion, or if I’m after slow shutter effects I try to use the best panning technique possible. For still shots, the IS is of course tremendously helpful!

I’m not certain if it’s the IBIS that’s contributing to this phenomenon (as you can’t disable it separately). But the work-around does give excellent results.

R2

Certainly, for those who shoot subjects in motion that they want to appear dead sharp with an apparently motionless background, high shutter speeds are paramount. But that is not the reason for purposefully panning 95% of the time. The panning technique is primarily used when you purposefully use low shutter speeds to try to capture a sharp image of the subject, but with the background and foreground in obvious blurred motion, the more motion blurred the better, usually creating what looks like long blurry moving horizontal tones and colors. This is the whole reason for type 2 IS - to allow free panning motion with almost all stabilization applied to vertical movement only. This is the reason to ask if some lenses have some limited version of this manner of IS operation, even if the IS isn’t marked to offer any type 2 function on the lens.

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Yes I typically do high-speed shots for BIF, but I do find "panning mode" or mode 2 helps either way. Unless the shutter speed is super high (like 1/3200). On the Tamron 150-600 G2 I've had shots up to 1/2000 which were still being ruined by the stabilization compensating for my panning movements.

That said, I totally lucked out with this shot of a Hooded Merganser at a low shutter speed on the 800mm f11 with the IS turned on. The next 20 images were all a blurred mess until the bird was higher up.