p.1 #1 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
This may seem like an odd question; however, I thought if anyone would have any answers it would be those who frequent this Forum.
At what kind of shutter speeds do you guys turn off the IS on Canon RF lenses?
Conversely, at what shutter speeds would you consider turning on the IS?
I read somewhere previously that you should just leave it turned on as the camera "knows" when it is tripod mounted. I understand what each of the three modes is designed for.
Background:
I shoot with the Canon R1 and the R5 mkii, with either the RF 400mm F2.8 with and without TCs or the RF 100-300 F2.8 with and without TCs. I prefer the freedom of shooting handheld if possible.
I have been struggling on bird flight shots to get maybe 1 in every 10 photos that are sharp, at best, and sometimes nothing sharp in a 60 frame burst. Birds in flight have been everything from 10% of the screen to frame filling with the same focus issues.
This has been very frustrating especially since most frames have been shot at between 1/3200 and 1/6400 of a second.
Sometimes it looks like it could be caused by heat haze, although I personally do not believe it is, and I have tried shooting with and without a short lens hood, which has made no difference to the number of good shots.
The bodies have been back to Canon for checking and they are saying they are both in spec and have no issues.
The frames that are not sharp have absolutely nothing in the frame that is sharp even though I have focus tracking on, and I get focus confirmation in the viewfinder.
My thought process has no led me to the possibility of the IS being turned on is actually causing more harm than good.
Has anyone else experienced these kind of issues and/or does anyone have any suggestions?
I appreciate your time and any input.
Derek
May 21, 2026 at 03:31 PM
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p.1 #2 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
deke4774 wrote:
This may seem like an odd question; however, I thought if anyone would have any answers it would be those who frequent this Forum.
At what kind of shutter speeds do you guys turn off the IS on Canon RF lenses?
Conversely, at what shutter speeds would you consider turning on the IS?
I read somewhere previously that you should just leave it turned on as the camera "knows" when it is tripod mounted. I understand what each of the three modes is designed for.
Background:
I shoot with the Canon R1 and the R5 mkii, with either the RF 400mm F2.8 with and without TCs or the RF 100-300 F2.8 with and without TCs. I prefer the freedom of shooting handheld if possible.
I have been struggling on bird flight shots to get maybe 1 in every 10 photos that are sharp, at best, and sometimes nothing sharp in a 60 frame burst. Birds in flight have been everything from 10% of the screen to frame filling with the same focus issues.
This has been very frustrating especially since most frames have been shot at between 1/3200 and 1/6400 of a second.
Sometimes it looks like it could be caused by heat haze, although I personally do not believe it is, and I have tried shooting with and without a short lens hood, which has made no difference to the number of good shots.
The bodies have been back to Canon for checking and they are saying they are both in spec and have no issues.
The frames that are not sharp have absolutely nothing in the frame that is sharp even though I have focus tracking on, and I get focus confirmation in the viewfinder.
My thought process has no led me to the possibility of the IS being turned on is actually causing more harm than good.
Has anyone else experienced these kind of issues and/or does anyone have any suggestions?
I appreciate your time and any input.
Quite simply I leave IS on (in both the body and the lens) when I shoot handheld and turn it off (in both the body and lens) when shooting from a tripod.
I don't think your issues have anything to do with IS and especially not at those shutter speeds. You have great lenses that should focus fast and great cameras that have good tracking autofocus (AF). I suspect your problems have to do with your AF settings and not anything to do with IS. Can you tell us a bit about your AF settings? Can you provide some five to 10 shot bursts that show the problem? Perhaps with a bit more information some here will be able to help.
p.1 #3 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
It would help to know your experience level. Otherwise, we need to ask questions like: are you sure that you're in servo mode and are you sure that you don't have the focus limiter on a distance setting that is outside your subject distance. If you have IS on, are you sure that you are using mode 2 or 3 for panning instead of mode 1.
Are you using eye auto focus? The box should turn blue when the subject is in focus. I believe that the camera will still take the shot even if the box isn't blue, so you would get out-of-focus shots in this case. There may be a menu option where the camera will take the shot even if you are not in perfect focus, but I'm not sure. I'll assume that your shots are fine for non flight shots.
Have you done any birds in flight photography before? You want to start panning before you take the shot and continue to pan after you take the shot, kind of like using a paint sprayer, so you don't have any abrupt movement.
At your shutter speeds, IS or not IS shouldn't be a problem, and I haven't noticed any problem with leaving IS on, even at higher shutter speeds and on a tripod. I generally don't use IS with higher shutter speeds or on a tripod if the shutter speed is above 1/200.
p.1 #4 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
I have the same lenses as you and have used the R5 II and currently use the R1. I never shut off the IS unless for video. Does not matter the speed. I get a very small percentage that is not sharp. I agree with the above a setting must be off somewhere. I shoot handheld 95% of the time.
p.1 #5 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
I never turn off IS on modern EF or RF lenses, only the older ones that drift on fairly solid support.
The big whites since about 2011 or so have good IS and not needed to turn off.
You do need to select the appropriate IS mode for various situations, such as panning mode on some lenses.
p.1 #6 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
There are lots of very talented photographers who shoot hand held and are able to frame, focus and pan very smoothly. Please check Jan Wegener's youtube for tips, techniques and examples of video hand held with super telephotos. I've had to accept I'm not one of those people and have best results using a tripod with IS #3 on all the time for stills and video at all shutter speeds. Good luck!
p.1 #7 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
osidesurfer wrote:
It would help to know your experience level. Otherwise, we need to ask questions like: are you sure that you're in servo mode and are you sure that you don't have the focus limiter on a distance setting that is outside your subject distance. If you have IS on, are you sure that you are using mode 2 or 3 for panning instead of mode 1.
Are you using eye auto focus? The box should turn blue when the subject is in focus. I believe that the camera will still take the shot even if the box isn't blue, so you would get out-of-focus shots in this case. There may be a menu option where the camera will take the shot even if you are not in perfect focus, but I'm not sure. I'll assume that your shots are fine for non flight shots.
Have you done any birds in flight photography before? You want to start panning before you take the shot and continue to pan after you take the shot, kind of like using a paint sprayer, so you don't have any abrupt movement.
At your shutter speeds, IS or not IS shouldn't be a problem, and I haven't noticed any problem with leaving IS on, even at higher shutter speeds and on a tripod. I generally don't use IS with higher shutter speeds or on a tripod if the shutter speed is above 1/200....Show more →
I have been a Canon shooter for nearly 40 years and have shot with most of the big whites and pro bodies, so I'm no stranger to the Canon systems. Most non-flight shots are good with occasional minor variances in focus and yes I have done BIF before, and this is why this is so frustrating.
p.1 #8 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
lemmy shoyu wrote:
There are lots of very talented photographers who shoot hand held and are able to frame, focus and pan very smoothly. Please check Jan Wegener's youtube for tips, techniques and examples of video hand held with super telephotos. I've had to accept I'm not one of those people and have best results using a tripod with IS #3 on all the time for stills and video at all shutter speeds. Good luck!
I have both Jan Wegner's and Whistling Wings' settings and have tried each of them.
I have also tweaked some of those settings too.
I feel there is one or two settings I need to change that will end these issues, I just have to find them.
The IS settings was an after thought on my part, because I feel that I am exhausting most other options.
p.1 #9 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
RobAmy wrote:
I have the same lenses as you and have used the R5 II and currently use the R1. I never shut off the IS unless for video. Does not matter the speed. I get a very small percentage that is not sharp. I agree with the above a setting must be off somewhere. I shoot handheld 95% of the time.
Hi Rob,
It was after speaking with you and seeing the images you were getting that I decided on both of these lenses.
They are both excellent, and that is another reason why this has been so frustrating.
I sent the R5 mkii to Canon to get it checked out and they returned it saying it was fully in spec with no issues.
I have an Airshow this weekend, weather permitting, so I will tweak some settings again and see how the images come out.
p.1 #11 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
I don't use the RF 400/2.8, but the RF 600/4 which is similar in design.
The first thing I would do is test a fixed target at moderately close distance on a tripod to confirm basic operation and lens IQ.
Try IS Mode 2 or 3 for flying BIFs.
p.1 #12 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
Why not try a session or two with IS turned off? It's the only way you'll see for yourself if it makes a difference.
Personally, I'm old school with respect to IS use. If I'm shooting action (mostly sports in my case), I turn off IS. IMO as good as IS systems are today, they're still mechanical systems that react to movement and therefore with action, they will be slightly in 'catch up' mode. That said, I do not have a ton of firsthand experience with current RF super tele primes. I had access to the 600/4 for a weekend motorsports event and used it mostly with IS off. But when handheld in the pits, I used IS mode 1. My impression was it needed half to a full second for the IS to settle down for best effectiveness. I have used the 100-300 more extensively but with sports/action have always turned off IS. For event work, I mostly used IS mode 1 and thought it was faster to settle than the 600, to the point where I never noticed it. I recently acquired the 70-200 Z and I feel it's very similar in this respect to the 100-300. I have over 10 years experience with the EF 200-400 and just used it yesterday and today for event (non-sports) coverage with the R5II in e-shutter. It needed 1+ seconds for IS to settle in mode 1, which I have long observed with this lens. In fact, back in the DSLR days, I noticed that its IS would drift over the course of longer sequences, likely in reaction to vibration from the mirror. To some degree also with mirrorless in EFCS. If I shoot sports and have inadvertently left IS turned on, I notice it pretty quickly with this lens because the IS system fights erratic movement (at least in mode 1).
Bottom line IMO is that IS is a variable and you should try your usual shooting technique with it turned off to potentially eliminate or confirm that it is the relevant variable that has negatively impacted your results.
FWIW, my R1 experience has been 100% based on loaners from Canon CPS, which means I've used multiple copies, onto each one I would load the same settings. Last year I had different loaner copies on back to back weekends shooting football. The first weekend the camera was amazing and really blew me away. The second weekend it was less amazing because AI Servo AF appeared to be less consistent. There were other variables, such as the loaner 100-300 and 1.4x TCs were also different, in addition to differences in time of day, lighting, etc. But subsequent sessions with those lenses across a range of football and other scenarios on the R5II didn't reveal noticeable issues. Therefore it seemed to me that the R1 copy I had that weekend might have been the problem. At the time, I brought it to CPS's attention and apparently they sent the camera for inspection, but I did not follow up because I didn't expect they'd confirm if there indeed was a problem. The issue I saw in my images with that R1 was that focus would occasionally randomly drift in front or behind the subject. There were sequences where the AF point was reliably on a nearly stationary player (i.e. QB dropped back in the pocket making a pass) and the focus would 'blip' for a number of soft frames and then recover. But in your case, if you're experiencing similar problems with two different camera models, I'd think it's a settings or technique problem rather than a defective camera problem.
p.1 #13 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
I shoot with a 600mm f4 IS III which is the same lens as the RF600mm f4. I always leave IS on and always use Mode 1, panning included. IS will stabilize your viewfinder no matter your shutter speed and help a lot in following your subject. Ibis is useless at long focal lenghts. Check your lenses on a different body.
p.1 #14 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
Uarctos wrote:
Check your lenses on a different body.
+1 and was thinking similarly but the chances that both the 400 and 100-300 could be bad would seem to be quite low. Based on the first post the impression is that the problem is evident with both the R1 and R5II and apparently also both lenses.
p.1 #15 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
I leave lens IS on unless I'm tripod mounted (which is rarely).
I use Mode 2 when shooting action, as I am frequently panning to follow movement. Otherwise, Mode 1 is just part of the air I breath. (That said, newer lenses seem to sense panning motion in Mode 1 and handle it more gracefully without "fighting" with the camera like older lenses could do. With RF lenses I probably do this out of habit more than necessity.)
I've never really explored the use of Mode 3. I find that having the viewfinder stabilized to be helpful and I am not sure what the practical benefits of "just in time stabilization" are supposed to be. Plus, I don't really trust it conceptually--it usually takes a second for things to "settle" after IS is engaged.
p.1 #16 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
I turn IS off when dismounting a lens because, supposedly, some at least of the EF lenses don’t park the IS mechanism correctly if powered off with the switch in the ON position, and it’s easier to just treat all the lenses the same. So it’s off when I first start shooting with a lens, and I have to actively switch it on, which I won’t do unless the shutter speed falls too low. (I don’t own any lenses heavy enough that I’d need IS to hold the lens steady for framing. Sufficient spinach and not too much coffee, I guess.)
I’ve also seen claims IS can affect bokeh on some lenses. This is not something I want to spend time testing, and also not something I could do anything about even if it were true, so again the easy path is just to avoid IS when it’s not needed.
Finally, why wear the mechanism out needlessly?
Regarding your general problem of soft images, in the R3 at least there is no longer a “focus priority” option like in the old DSLRs; if you set the camera to a given fps it’ll shoot on that time interval whether or not the AF kept up. So if you have a bad battery you might see lots of bad frames because it can’t drive the AF motor properly, whereas with the old cameras (at the default setting) you’d hear the camera shooting too slowly as it waited for the lens.
p.1 #17 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
By way of an update, the Airshow was for the most part wet and gloomy.
I did try the R5 mkii with the RF 400mm F2.8 and the 2x TC with the IS turned off; however, I was trying to shoot through fine rain, low cloud and smoke from the jets that did fly.
All of which was not conducive for shooting this combo.
On the other hand the R1 with the 100-300mm F2.8 and the 1.4x TC, with the IS turned off, never missed a shot and was fantastic.
The settings I was using were the same as for my BIF except with vehicles selected as the subject.
I just don't understand why I should need to turn the IS off, other than it definitely works great again?
I will be out after BIF this weekend with both cameras; however, with better light, I want to see if the R5 mkii works much better with the IS turned off as well.
p.1 #18 · Image Stabilization on Canon Cameras and Lenses
With my R5mk2 I have shot birds with the 70-200 2.8L Z, 100-500L, and my now-sold 200-800. The only one that tended to "jump" a little IS was on was the 200-800. With the 70-200 and 100-500 it was always a benefit so I left it on.
What you may want to do is try different focusing and tracking options. And they may be different if you're photographing perched birds, or birds where you will know where they will be (e.g. hummingbirds at a feeder), vs. tracking birds in flight in the open sky.
For open sky tracking, I know that the more I zoom in (say 500mm) it's going to be difficult to know where in the frame the flying bird will be, and whether or not I can keep them in frame due to their sometimes erratic motions. In those cases, I may switch to Flexible Zone 1 AF and set the box to where I'm thinking the bird will be in the frame most of the time--maybe middle third in terms of height, but widen the box to almost fill the width of the sensor. If the bird is truly erratic in its flight pattern, I may choose Whole Area AF and let the camera do the work. I set subject detect to Animal, and set eye detection to Auto as well. I use servo AF too, and use the electronic shutter with a moderate burst rate (I think I set it to 15 or 20FPS). I also use pre-capture on. Yeah you'll burn through your memory card...but you greatly increase your chances of getting "the shot(s)".
