Sports photography- image stabilization or not?

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

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eXtendr said:

At long focal lengths IBIS/OIS helps stabilize the viewfinder while hand holding. Otherwise your scene is bouncing all over the place. Makes it much easier to track the action and helps keep AF points on your target.

Click to expand...

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

Sam Bennett said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I maybe shouldn't comment, because I personally like to shoot sports more around 1/400th to get a sense of movement in the shot (and will use NDs to get there at f/2.8). This can lead to "lost" opportunities in some cases if people are moving very quickly, close to me, etc. but I think tack-sharp sports photos are kinda boring. So for me, IBIS is still essential to pulling that off consistently - but I'm also documenting a sport with less erratic movement vs something like soccer.

Click to expand...

eXtendr said:

At long focal lengths IBIS/OIS helps stabilize the viewfinder while hand holding. Otherwise your scene is bouncing all over the place. Makes it much easier to track the action and helps keep AF points on your target. If you are on a gimbal head you can turn it off. Shutter speeds are high enough where motion blur is not a concern.

Click to expand...

C Sean said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I don't know it's a flaw or bug in either the Nikon Z6iii or the 180-600mm. Sometimes the dual stabilisation switch off for a few seconds and it becomes very difficult to shoot with. I wouldn't want to shoot like that without a tripod.

Cameras should have a sport mode where you can pan left or right and the stabilisation wouldn't kick in. I also want to point out many years ago people did test on the original Lumix 100-300 on an Olympus body. They found out the Olympus body stabilisation gave sharper/better images than relying on the Lumix 100-300 stabilisation.

Click to expand...

Rafael Rivera said:

Sam Bennett said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I maybe shouldn't comment, because I personally like to shoot sports more around 1/400th to get a sense of movement in the shot (and will use NDs to get there at f/2.8). This can lead to "lost" opportunities in some cases if people are moving very quickly, close to me, etc. but I think tack-sharp sports photos are kinda boring. So for me, IBIS is still essential to pulling that off consistently - but I'm also documenting a sport with less erratic movement vs something like soccer.

Click to expand...

Thanks Sam, I appreciate it. Today I'll be photographing middle school XC, so unlike last time when I had to go fast to catch the pro women's 800 around the track, I can more than likely get away with significantly slower shutter speeds for the tweeners. In that case, IBIS/OIS as you note may be more relevant.

And I like what you did there with the slower shutter speed, particularly showcasing the speed and motion of the mallet. That would've been lost with a faster shutter speed, and it makes for a more compelling photo. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Sam Bennett said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Sam Bennett said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I maybe shouldn't comment, because I personally like to shoot sports more around 1/400th to get a sense of movement in the shot (and will use NDs to get there at f/2.8). This can lead to "lost" opportunities in some cases if people are moving very quickly, close to me, etc. but I think tack-sharp sports photos are kinda boring. So for me, IBIS is still essential to pulling that off consistently - but I'm also documenting a sport with less erratic movement vs something like soccer.

Click to expand...

Thanks Sam, I appreciate it. Today I'll be photographing middle school XC, so unlike last time when I had to go fast to catch the pro women's 800 around the track, I can more than likely get away with significantly slower shutter speeds for the tweeners. In that case, IBIS/OIS as you note may be more relevant.

And I like what you did there with the slower shutter speed, particularly showcasing the speed and motion of the mallet. That would've been lost with a faster shutter speed, and it makes for a more compelling photo. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Thanks man. The downside is that some really strong "rips" the mallet will basically be invisible, so it's a balancing act (literally and figuratively). I think ideally you do a mix - some super high shutter speed, some low. If I was doing this more often I would be changing the shutter speed constantly to best fit what's going on (I photograph sports in Shutter Priority).

Click to expand...

Rafael Rivera said:

Sam Bennett said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Sam Bennett said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I maybe shouldn't comment, because I personally like to shoot sports more around 1/400th to get a sense of movement in the shot (and will use NDs to get there at f/2.8). This can lead to "lost" opportunities in some cases if people are moving very quickly, close to me, etc. but I think tack-sharp sports photos are kinda boring. So for me, IBIS is still essential to pulling that off consistently - but I'm also documenting a sport with less erratic movement vs something like soccer.

Click to expand...

Thanks Sam, I appreciate it. Today I'll be photographing middle school XC, so unlike last time when I had to go fast to catch the pro women's 800 around the track, I can more than likely get away with significantly slower shutter speeds for the tweeners. In that case, IBIS/OIS as you note may be more relevant.

And I like what you did there with the slower shutter speed, particularly showcasing the speed and motion of the mallet. That would've been lost with a faster shutter speed, and it makes for a more compelling photo. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Thanks man. The downside is that some really strong "rips" the mallet will basically be invisible, so it's a balancing act (literally and figuratively). I think ideally you do a mix - some super high shutter speed, some low. If I was doing this more often I would be changing the shutter speed constantly to best fit what's going on (I photograph sports in Shutter Priority).

Click to expand...

Makes sense. I'm going to try that this afternoon and play around with freezing the action and having some blur to emphasize the speed.

Click to expand...

Rafael Rivera said:

And forgot to mention that I think your photo really benefits from B&W, so good choice there. Helps to focus the eye and mind further on the action, especially the front rider, and remove distraction from other elements. Cool.

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Sam Bennett said:

eXtendr said:

At long focal lengths IBIS/OIS helps stabilize the viewfinder while hand holding. Otherwise your scene is bouncing all over the place. Makes it much easier to track the action and helps keep AF points on your target.

Click to expand...

This is a great point.

Click to expand...

C Sean said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I don't know it's a flaw or bug in either the Nikon Z6iii or the 180-600mm. Sometimes the dual stabilisation switch off for a few seconds and it becomes very difficult to shoot with. I wouldn't want to shoot like that without a tripod.

Cameras should have a sport mode where you can pan left or right and the stabilisation wouldn't kick in. I also want to point out many years ago people did test on the original Lumix 100-300 on an Olympus body. They found out the Olympus body stabilisation gave sharper/better images than relying on the Lumix 100-300 stabilisation.

Click to expand...

Bassam Guy said:

C Sean said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I don't know it's a flaw or bug in either the Nikon Z6iii or the 180-600mm. Sometimes the dual stabilisation switch off for a few seconds and it becomes very difficult to shoot with. I wouldn't want to shoot like that without a tripod.

Cameras should have a sport mode where you can pan left or right and the stabilisation wouldn't kick in. I also want to point out many years ago people did test on the original Lumix 100-300 on an Olympus body. They found out the Olympus body stabilisation gave sharper/better images than relying on the Lumix 100-300 stabilisation.

Click to expand...

O. MFT cameras and probably other makes with IBIS have modes for horizontal (S-IS2) and vertical (S-IS3) panning. I never thought about it before but I don't know if or how that applies to dual-IS.

Click to expand...

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

eXtendr said:

At long focal lengths IBIS/OIS helps stabilize the viewfinder while hand holding. Otherwise your scene is bouncing all over the place. Makes it much easier to track the action and helps keep AF points on your target. If you are on a gimbal head you can turn it off. Shutter speeds are high enough where motion blur is not a concern.

Click to expand...

john isaacs said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I don't use it because it freezes the image causing a delay in the ability to continue to follow the action.

Click to expand...

Bassam Guy said:

john isaacs said:

Rafael Rivera said:

Can anyone comment on whether they find it beneficial to use IBIS and/or OIS- or not- when shooting sports with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, such as with lenses like the Olympus 40-150 or the PL 50-200? I have the latter, and am wondering if there are any drawbacks to using Dual Sync IS if the shutter speeds are theoretically fast enough to freeze motion. I've read that if the shutter speed is already fast enough to freeze camera and subject motion for a given focal length, the benefit of IBIS and/or OIS becomes negligible- and in some cases can even cause a slight increase in image softness or motion blur.

Click to expand...

I don't use it because it freezes the image causing a delay in the ability to continue to follow the action.

Click to expand...

I've noticed that but never thought it through. Thank you.

Click to expand...