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SLR CAMERA SKILLS

Digital Camera June 2014
stabilisation technology have been
a game-changer as far as handheld
photography is concerned.
What is image stabilisation?
There are actually two types of
stabilisation. Canon, Nikon, Sigma
and Tamron favour lens-based
stabilisation, while Panasonic, Sony,
Olympus and Pentax use sensor-shift
stabilisation instead. They both do
the same thing, though: detect camera
shake and counteract its efects
by moving either a oating optical
element (in the lens) or the sensor
(in the camera).
The key advantage of sensor-based
stabilisation is that it works for any
lens attached to the camera, even an
old manual-focus one. Lenses that
have stabilisation built in, such as
Canons IS (Image Stabilizer) lenses
and Nikons VR (Vibration Reduction)
ones, are more expensive, but the
performance of each stabilisation unit
can be optimised for each type of lens.
How will I know that image
stabilisation is working?
Most stabilised lenses have an on/
of switch on the lens barrel. With IS
on, the system whirrs into life once
you touch the shutter release. And
we do mean whirrs. Optical image
stabilisation can be noisy when its
active, so much so that it can be
picked up by the cameras internal
microphone when shooting video.
Youre also likely to see the image
You dont need to mollycoddle your lenses, but you do need to keep them clean. Heres how to remove dust, dirt and ngerprints
Start with an air blower
The rst stage in cleaning a lens is to remove
dust before you touch the front element
with a cloth. If you do this with a can of
compressed air, follow the manufacturers
instructions with care. We prefer to use a
manual air blower, as this can also be used to
clean delicate areas of the camera too.
Brush, then wipe
Use a lens brush to remove any particles that
the blower misses, then a microbre cloth
to buff away any oily marks. For stubborn
residues, use a dedicated optic cleaning uid
and a disposable lint-free, non-abrasive lens
wipe. Finally, t a UV lter or other protective
lter to protect the front element.
Clean the contacts
Dont touch the rear element of the lens
a gentle blast from an air blower should
be enough to remove the odd bit of dust
(hold the lens with the rear element facing
downwards). Dont forget to clean the
electrical contacts on both the lens and
camera with a lint-free lens tissue too.
TECHNIQUE LOOKING AFTER YOUR LENSES
HOW TO GET SHARP RESULTS
Image stabilisation can help you get sharper handheld
shots, but its not always the answer to soft images
L
enses tend to be at their sharpest at mid-range
apertures, such as f/8 and f/11. As the aperture gets
smaller, the shutter speed gets longer, so you may need
to increase the ISO to get a shutter speed fast enough to
reduce the effects of camera shake. This is usually 1/focal
length of the lens or higher, such as 1/50 sec for a 50mm
lens on a full-frame camera. Image stabilisation enables
you to take sharp handheld pictures at slower shutter
speeds without increasing the ISO or using a larger
aperture. Some stabilised lenses even enable you to
get sharp results at a shutter speed thats several times
slower than youd normally use. However, if you dont use
good lens technique, youll still end up with a picture with
soft details and smudged edges.
HANDHELD
IS
TRIPOD
in the viewnder or the Live View
screen judder then become very still.
So why would I ever want to switch
off a lenss image stabilisation?
Image stabilisation draws its power
from the camera battery, so you may
be forced to switch IS of if youre
low on juice. If youre working from
a tripod, its best to switch of IS
altogether, so that it doesnt attempt
to detect vibrations that arent
actually there, which can lead to rather
soft pictures.
If youre moving the camera to
keep an active subject in the frame,
you may need to switch of the IS
system again. If you dont do this,
youll probably nd the system will
work against you, attempting to
correct for the camera movement
that youre intentionally making.
Some stabilised telephoto lenses
have an IS mode switch that lets
you toggle between the normal
IS setting (Mode 1) and a special
panning setting (Mode 2) where the
camera only corrects movement in
one plane horizontal or vertical.
Some stabilisation systems can even
automatically detect when youre
intentionally panning or shooting
from a tripod and will make any
adjustments as necessary.
IS options difer between lenses, so
theres no getting away from it: youll
have to refer to the individual lenss
manual to check how it will react in
diferent situations.
A tripod will give you the
sharpest shots possible at
slower shutter speeds, but
be sure to switch off IS!