JimG1 Loc: Waxahachie, TX

I just bought a Canon 2X teleconverter and plan to use it with my F2.8 70-200. I know I lose 2 F-stops with it. My question is, if I'm on a monopod, do I turn IS on or off?

raysass Loc: Brooklin, On, Canada.

Me personally would leave it on and check the quality of the picture and compare it to turning it off. There has to be some movement with a Monopod, so it may be better to leave it on.JMHO.
Ray.

Ramled Loc: Victoria, British Columbia

I leave it on with my monopod. There is usually some movement.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I usually leave mine turned on.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

On.

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

With a mono pod I would leave IS on.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

I too leave the is on.

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

The rule of thumb is on for monopod, off with tripod.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Hi,

I have the the 70 - 200 M II f/2.8 and the Canon Tele 2x III. I leave the IS on when mounted on the monopod. I shoot a great deal of sports and the combo is fantastic.

Mark

OviedoPhotos

with a monopod I leave IS on. With a tripod I shut it off.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Lots of good answers! I did leave it on the 2 or 3 times I have used it on a mono-pod and if shooting off a tripod with a gimbal head I leave it on too. For non moving subjects I turn it off. If you don't have the 1.4 TC try looking at that one, the IC is very good even though you don't have the reach.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

IC = Image Cuality? :)

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

If you are shooting a moving subject, leave it on. If you are shooting a stationary subject on a tripod with the tripod locked in place, turn it off, regardless of whether you are using a teleconverter.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

On a monopod... I'd NEVER turn off IS. There will always be enough movement for IS to be needed when using a monopod. If using a teleconverter, any movement is even more exaggerated and IS is even more important.

In fact, assuming that's a Canon 70-200... the IS never needs to be turned off at all (unless you need to conserve a little battery power... though IS doesn't actually use much).

All the Canon 70-200 with IS will "self-detect" if the lens is locked down on a tripod and there's no movement, and will automatically turn off IS themselves. This is true of all but a few of the Canon IS lenses.

The list of lenses that can't self-detect and automatically turn off IS is pretty short. Among current and recent models, the Canon 28-135, 300/4, 24-105 and the original 100-400 are the only lenses that definitely require IS to be manually turned off, when the lens is solidly locked down on a tripod. In the complete absence of any movement, these particular lenses' IS can go into sort of a feedback loop where the IS actually creates movement and causes image blur.

Even with these lenses, if you forget to turn it off and the IS goes wacky, you'll see it happening in the viewfinder and can then turn off IS manually. No harm will be done, except possibly for a blurred image or two. The camera and lens themselves won't be damaged.

But with most Canon IS lens, there's no worries. My EF 70-200 IS lenses are among my most used... one of them I've been using for about 15 years hasn't had the IS turned off for any reason for as long as I can remember. In fact, I've got a piece of gaffer tape over the switches to prevent accidentally turning it off.

All this only pertains to Canon IS lenses. Image stabilization in other brand lenses (Sigma OS, Tamron VC, Nikon VR) may work differently and need to be treated differently.

JimG1 Loc: Waxahachie, TX

Thanks for all the info guys!