17-55 IS image jump normal?

[CMPic]

as I had more time to test the lens, I concluded that the image jump occured not only while panning, but also when staying stationary. Often it is not a jump in one direction but more like the image swimming around in something....

Amazon is out of stock on the lens so I am still waiting for the replacement.

 

[Steve Balcombe]

... that I am stuck for words.

 

[Paul De Bra]

The gyros or whatever the lens uses to detect movement are tiny and thus not perfectly stable over long periods of time. IS works quite fine for up to 1/4s. From 1/2s upwards the instability of the IS may cause blur dut to the lens "swimming around". In principle when the lens is absolutely stationary (on tripod) the lens should detect that and stop compensating for motion. (Older IS implementations needed to be switched off to prevent the swimming from causing blur in tripod shots.)

as I had more time to test the lens, I concluded that the image jump
occured not only while panning, but also when staying stationary.
Often it is not a jump in one direction but more like the image
swimming around in something....

Amazon is out of stock on the lens so I am still waiting for the
replacement.

--
Slowly learning to use the 450D and and the Canon G6.
Public pictures at http://debra.zenfolio.com/ .

 

[Jari Karppanen]

I have noticed that the 17-55 allows for a greater amount of movement (compared to 18-55) without the image actually moving when looking through the viewfinder. Basically one can "shake" the lens intentionally without actually causing the image to move much; but if you move the lens too much, the stabilizer cannot compensate enough and there will be a "jump" (does not matter in which direction one pans). Nothing strange there.

Canon says both 17-55mm's and 18-55mm's stabilizers are about equally efficient ( 3 stops?), but IMO there clearly is a big difference in how they operate, and 17-55 does a much better job at keeping the image still.

 

[CMPic]

Funny you say that because to the contrary, my 18-55 IS is very stable and after many months of use I have yet to see it "jump" or show any unusual behavior.

And the IS on 18-55 IS is rated 4 stops (3rd generation), whereas 17-55 IS' is 3-stops (2nd generation).

 

[CMPic]

Some of us may not be as enlightened as you are. We are learning and learning takes lots of give and take. We can't wake up one morning and know everything and anything about the operations of all cameras, lenses and their complex systems. That's why these forums exist - to give us ability to share knowledge and learn from one another (that may not apply to you since you already know everything).

I spent $1,000 on a lens that does wierd things that I hadn't experienced on my cheapo but effective lens. There is nothing wrong with wondering if this is a normal phenomenon or not. So if you don't like the thread and the opinions expressed (whether because they sound amateurish to you of whatever other reason) then you have the choice to not to read.

Good day.

Unbelievable. Where does this forum get these people from.
Incredible. Do you guys just sit with your cameras looking for things
to play up or do something that you were not expecting so you can
quickly jump on dpreview and feel important.????
If IS is on then it's ON compensating for movement. If you move
horizontal then it will compensate. So yeah it probably jumps. But it
stays in focus. And stops the jitters. I just pulled my 40d with
17-55is out because I was so angry to read another ridiculous post
about some normal operation of a lens and I tried it. IS stops
movement. That's what it is designed to do. If you are moving it then
it's probably trying to adjust and get the frame level. Far out.
Don't use it then. Buy a point and shoot. Or get a camera without IS.
I't s probably so good that it's actually OVER helping you. So
without getting too much more upset. It's normal. But what the heck,
send it in to Canon for "Repair' and make some more poor repair
blokes look over it in disbelief as they look for problems that are
not there. Go on. Help build up the backlog of legitimate breaks and
fixes with your 'Broken' lens. I'll send mine in too. Why not. It
must be stuffed cus IS moves around a bit. for crying out loud......

 

[andye53]

There are a lot of skeptics out there, myself included.

If I hadn't seen what a defective IS mechanism does, I probably would have thought to myself must be user error and moved on from reading the thread.

$1000 is a lot of money for a lens. You have every right to get one that's perfect.

I spent $1,000 on a lens that does wierd things that I hadn't
experienced on my cheapo but effective lens. There is nothing wrong
with wondering if this is a normal phenomenon or not. So if you don't
like the thread and the opinions expressed (whether because they
sound amateurish to you of whatever other reason) then you have the
choice to not to read.

Good day.

Unbelievable. Where does this forum get these people from.
Incredible. Do you guys just sit with your cameras looking for things
to play up or do something that you were not expecting so you can
quickly jump on dpreview and feel important.????
If IS is on then it's ON compensating for movement. If you move
horizontal then it will compensate. So yeah it probably jumps. But it
stays in focus. And stops the jitters. I just pulled my 40d with
17-55is out because I was so angry to read another ridiculous post
about some normal operation of a lens and I tried it. IS stops
movement. That's what it is designed to do. If you are moving it then
it's probably trying to adjust and get the frame level. Far out.
Don't use it then. Buy a point and shoot. Or get a camera without IS.
I't s probably so good that it's actually OVER helping you. So
without getting too much more upset. It's normal. But what the heck,
send it in to Canon for "Repair' and make some more poor repair
blokes look over it in disbelief as they look for problems that are
not there. Go on. Help build up the backlog of legitimate breaks and
fixes with your 'Broken' lens. I'll send mine in too. Why not. It
must be stuffed cus IS moves around a bit. for crying out loud......

 

[RobertoAvanzi]

I got my 17-55 today and noticed that after I focus on a subject and
then move the horizontally the image jumps sideways. Is this normal?
I know this is from IS because when IS is turned off it stops
"jumping". My old 18-55 IS never did this even with IS turned on.

The 17-55 has no panning mode IS. The 18-55 has a newer IS logic (not necessarily better IS hardware) that detects panning and in that case the 18-55 behaves like some L lenses when the IS mode 2 is explicitly activated, only automatically. This is all documented by canon.

To extend lens life, use IS only if necessary. So, if you are, say, shooting in bright light or at high iso with a shutter speed like 1/200 or faster, you can safely deactivate IS. This is good practice with all IS lenses (of course the speed where IS is not useful depend on many factors, including focal length).

I also noticed the stiffness in the zoom ring when going from 24 to
17mm.

This is normal. It will loosen a bit, but it takes time.

best
Roberto

 

[RobertoAvanzi]

Funny you say that because to the contrary, my 18-55 IS is very
stable and after many months of use I have yet to see it "jump" or
show any unusual behavior.

And the IS on 18-55 IS is rated 4 stops (3rd generation), whereas
17-55 IS' is 3-stops (2nd generation).

According to photozone and other review sites, the statement that the 18-55 IS has 4 stops stabilisation is a bit too bold. It is more like 3, whereas the 17-55 is very effective, too, at 3 stops. Perhaps the smaller lens can stabilize a bit more (it has also to move much less glass...), but the difference need ont be significant.

Roberto

 

[gdanmitchell]

Calm down.

IS is designed to counteract the small movements in a frequency range that are produced when you hand hold a camera. IS cannot and will not stop all types of motion.

It does try to compensate for all types of movement, but when the movement is beyond that which it is designed to work with something has to give.

Think of it this way. In the case of a small motion, the image in the viewfinder (and projected on the sensor) seems to "stick" to the boundaries of the frame. It can only stick over a relatively short distance during a given amount of time. If you move further and/or farther than that the IS "stickiness" cannot keep up.

I think you can probably do a little experiment and see this for yourself. Look through the viewfinder with IS on and move the camera a bit. Now do the same but move over a larger range of motion.

None of this is about "broken" lenses. It is just the way IS works.

And calm down. No need to get personal when people are just trying to help out by answering forum questions.

Dan

Unbelievable. Where does this forum get these people from.
Incredible. Do you guys just sit with your cameras looking for things
to play up or do something that you were not expecting so you can
quickly jump on dpreview and feel important.????
If IS is on then it's ON compensating for movement. If you move
horizontal then it will compensate. So yeah it probably jumps. But it
stays in focus. And stops the jitters. I just pulled my 40d with
17-55is out because I was so angry to read another ridiculous post
about some normal operation of a lens and I tried it. IS stops
movement. That's what it is designed to do. If you are moving it then
it's probably trying to adjust and get the frame level. Far out.
Don't use it then. Buy a point and shoot. Or get a camera without IS.
I't s probably so good that it's actually OVER helping you. So
without getting too much more upset. It's normal. But what the heck,
send it in to Canon for "Repair' and make some more poor repair
blokes look over it in disbelief as they look for problems that are
not there. Go on. Help build up the backlog of legitimate breaks and
fixes with your 'Broken' lens. I'll send mine in too. Why not. It
must be stuffed cus IS moves around a bit. for crying out loud......
--
'Things are never as bad as people make out'!

--
---
G Dan Mitchell
SF Bay Area
Blog: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/wpg2-3/

 

[CMPic]

I have seen a few sites that say 17-55 IS has panning mode and tripod detection, while others say that it doesn't... Can you give a link to the canon doc or site?

The 17-55 has no panning mode IS. The 18-55 has a newer IS logic (not

necessarily better IS hardware) that detects panning and in that case
the 18-55 behaves like some L lenses when the IS mode 2 is explicitly
activated, only automatically. This is all documented by canon.

 

[RobertoAvanzi]

The 17-55 has no panning mode IS. The 18-55 has a newer IS logic (not

necessarily better IS hardware) that detects panning and in that case
the 18-55 behaves like some L lenses when the IS mode 2 is explicitly
activated, only automatically. This is all documented by canon.

I have seen a few sites that say 17-55 IS has panning mode and tripod
detection, while others say that it doesn't... Can you give a link to
the canon doc or site?

Well, if somebody states that the 17-55 IS has panning mode and tripod detection,

then she has mistaken it for the 18-55 IS (which does have automatic panning motion detection but no tripod detection) or some other lens. The 17-55 user manual (which I have, as I own this lens) clearly states that the lens IS may operate less effectively when panning and that it should be turned off when using a tripod.

About the 18-55 IS you can read the info, for instance, on the photozone site the automatic panning detection is mentioned (dpreview lens reviews just mentions that the IS has a single mode (no panning mode)).

best
Roberto

 

[Jari Karppanen]

Yes, the 18-55 IS is more stable (kind of), it does not "jump around". That was what I meant, when you look through the viewfinder, the 17-55 tries to keep the image still even with big movements, whereas 18-55 seems to me more about eliminating small vibration and does not resist intentional shaking, thus no jumping. What this means is, that if you happen to be on a boat, 17-55 will do a better job. Again, IMO.

If you happen to move the camera while activating IS with the 17-55, sometimes there is an initial small jump. But the image definately does not jump around unless you are intentionally shaking the lens.

Neither of the lenses are able to compensate for full three stops (IMO), and definately not four with the 18-55. That's just marketing talk.

 

[RobertoAvanzi]

Yes, the 18-55 IS is more stable (kind of), it does not "jump
around".

Yup. That small lens is very nice. A friend of mine has it, and one day we swapped walkarounds. She found my 17-55 too bulky, I found the 18-55 too small and difficult to use (I tend to use manual AF override, and depending on the user's shooting style the 18-55 can be nearly useless). But the small lens had a very smooth stabiliser - and boy it does have good optical quality!

That was what I meant, when you look through the viewfinder,
the 17-55 tries to keep the image still even with big movements,
whereas 18-55 seems to me more about eliminating small vibration and
does not resist intentional shaking, thus no jumping.

If you happen to move the camera while activating IS with the 17-55,
sometimes there is an initial small jump. But the image definately
does not jump around unless you are intentionally shaking the lens.

Yup, my experience too. I must add I almost never made the 17-55 "jump". Sometimes it just does that, esp. at the beginning of the stabilization process, and that's it.

best
ROberto

 

[GeorgeHon]

Mine does it as well.

There are hundreds if not thousands of 17-55 IS owners on the forum
-- anybody else cares to comment if they also experience this?

--



Canon EOS 400D
Canon Speedlight 430 EX
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L IS
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF 12 II Ext.Tube

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 USM L (gone) Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 SPII XR (gone)

http://www.pbase.com/george_hondromitros
http://community.webshots.com/user/george_d_hon

 

[RobertoAvanzi]

Canon says both 17-55mm's and 18-55mm's stabilizers are about equally
efficient ( 3 stops?), but IMO there clearly is a big difference in
how they operate, and 17-55 does a much better job at keeping the
image still.

Canon claims that the 17-55 IS compensates for three stops, and the 18-55 IS compensates for four stops, not three. But, in practice, I observed that the 17-55 works well for larger movements.

Roberto

 

[CNY_AP]

I wonder if Canon will redesign their lenses to use the new IS. Seems like a cheap way to modify mnay lenses and get people to upgrade! The 18-55 review showed the new IS being much simpler/cheaper as well - fewer parts.

 

[Winsie]

I've had my 17-55mm for 21 months and after 12000+ photos, the IS would jump erratically and cause my XT to lock up with ERR 00. I went back to my vendor and he checked the lens with the XTI and the XSI and though the IS mechanism still jumped around - it didn't lock up the new Rebels.

Out of warranty, I sent it back to Canon for repair. Canon replaced the IS assembly. I must say that I was annoyed that the lens failed on me in towards the end of my vacation - I was still able to use the lens with the IS turned off. I have taken 3000+ shots since the repair and it still works great.

 

[kolan]

Probably yes. My copy jumps from time to time. If I move faster when IS works the picture jumps. 17-55 has gyro engine inside when 18-55IS has spring engine and electromagnets.