Leaving shake reduction on

Hi all. I've just sold my olympus SLR stuff as I wanted to have shake reduction, sensor cleaning, water resistence, and a bigger independent lens selection.

Anyway I got a K10D with power grip, and a tamron 18-250. I'm still getting used to it, but I keep leaving the shake reduction on by accident. Does this cause problems if it's not needed?

Apologies if this has been asked before, I can't find anything very obvious on searching.

Stephen

The main issue with SR is if you leave it on when the camera is on a tripod as it can cause issues - which I've seen with a long lens. Other than that, it ought not be a problem leaving it on unless you have a stunningly steady grip

Thanks. Believe me my grip is not steady! That's the main reason I got this thing, I hate lugging a tripod everywhere. Does shake reduction use more power?

(I'm typing this on a nokia 770, it doesn't like smilies for some reason, oh well)

SR will use some power, but I leave it switched on (except when on a tripod or other solid mount) and it doesn't seem to cause any problems.

as far as I'm concerned, the default position for SR should be "on", only turning it off when on a tripod.

Thanks for that, the button's quite stiff anyway.

I leave the SR on all the time. I have frequently forgotted to disable for shooting on tripod, No ill effects!

I can see no reduction in battery life; but in any case I do not expect an account to be rendered for the use of the tiny bit of extra power.

No one is so steady that they do not benefit from SR.

photog 73

I just saw this thread end remembered that my K10D has SR and is not recommended for use on a tripod. I have been shooting some macro shots that require perfect focus and a still sensor. Well I know what was wrong now, I left SR on when mounted to the tripod!

I've definitely seen issues with SR left on when on a tripod.

Hi Tyr

If Pentax was really 'clued-up' they'd have built a micro-switch into the bottom of the screw-thread on the base-plate which automatically disabled the SR setting when using a tripod ! However. page 68 of the Instruction Manual says the following:

So not entirely all bad news, is it ?

Best regards
Richard

The micro-switch would be a bad idea as I leave the quick release plate from my tripod on my K10D all the time.

Likewise my wrist strap, which hasn't come off the camera yet since I got it.

Also if you use a bean bag rather than a tripod the micro-switch idea wouldn't help.

I think they've got it about right. If you use a long exposure, you aren't going to want to use it in "push the button, release immediately" mode, so SR will be switched off for you, and if the exposure is short enough for you not to care then I doubt having SR left on is going to be a problem.

I'd be interested to hear more about Chirpy's experience.

It's only from experience on one outing a while back, not from any technical evidence:

I don't have the before and after pics anymore as I was disgusted with myself and deleted them (I don't do that anymore).

I went to the local lake to photograph water birds using a Sigma 175-500mm, mostly at/near the long end of the zoom and using AF.

I spent a couple of hours taking shots with the camera on a nice solid tripod. I then noticed that I'd left SR on so thought little of it and switched it off. Continued taking pics, all looked fine on the LCD.

Got home and transferred pics over to PC and found that nearly all of the pics with SR were just ever so slightly soft focused on the central subject, which pretty much ruined the shots for me. For the shots with SR off, the pics were of my own personal standard (!).

My conclusion was that having SR on either caused or contributed to the duffers. It could have been other factors (lighting conditions changing comes to mind), but it seemed to make sense from the pics I got.

Hi Tyr

Re your reply:

Me too I'm afraid, although not all the time. I knew there'd be a 'downside' somewhere ! There's simply no option but to go outside and 'shoot-myself-in-the-foot' for being such a 'twit' ! So it's back to the drawing board yet again !!
Incidentally, I was looking for a lightweight camera support and found a superbly built
'Slik Sprint Pro 3Way GM' tripod, which I discovered by chance at a photographic store in Dublin whilst exploring Ireland this spring. I can highly recommend it.

http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/photos-l/SPRINT-PRO3-Way.jpg

Best regards
Richard