SR and monopods

Hi Guys

I know to turn off the SR on my K10 when it's sitting on three legs. What do folk suggest for monopods (telephoto zoom at sporting events) - SR on or off?

I ask this because I picked up on one thread that SR can lead to slight blurring if its not needed.

I've tended to leave SR on except when on a solid tripod. I've never noticed it introducing extra blur, although I've never done any scientific tests.

I always have SR On when I use a monopod and I get noticeably sharper shots at marginal shutter speeds as a result.

R

Thanks guys, I used SR all last winter but still feel that my results with the sigma 70-300 are soft. It is hard to be scientific because there are so mnay variables -so i value the experiences of others.

Cheers, Geoff

I usually leave SR on when using it on a monopod. Off on a tripod.

When I had the Sigma 70-300mm I never bothered with a monopod and let the SR do its job. To me it didn't feel right having the camera body mounted on the monopod, just my prerefences.
I use a monopod with my Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 and DA* 300mm and leave the SR on, you have got me thinking though, I might try some shots with SR off and see what difference there is, if any.

My scepticism about the alleged problems of using SR on a tripod is probably not news to many, so I won't repeat it all again (though if you've somehow managed to miss my occasional rants on this topic, have a look here).

What I would say, is that if you're concerned about your results with a particular lens, stick it on a tripod, use one of the delayed release modes (in any of which SR is automatically turned off regardless of where you have the SR switch), and take some pictures of something with lots of fine detail, at different focal lengths and apertures.

I'd also take some pictures of something very simple, with well defined edges, using SR off on the tripod, and releasing the shutter with no delay, with your finger on the button, so that you can get used to what camera shake actually looks like at a pixel level.

Compare all these carefully, with other lenses if possible, and arrive at a reliable conclusion.

You're right - there are lots of variables involved in getting sharp pictures, and the only way of getting more confident that (as is usually the case) it's the user, not the kit causing any problems, is to eliminate as many of the kit-related ones as possible.

I always use SR with my monopod and am convinced that it makes a noticeable difference - as still as you may think you are holding the monopod it's inevitable some movement will occur and the SR helps to deal with this

On the Sigma 70-300, I owned one for a while but found that generally images were soft above 240mm, not sure if this is your issue ?


Simon

Thanks Guys

There could be something in the longer end of the sigma being softer then the shorter end. I'm still trying shots both with and without SR but at the football game last Sunday the weather was also rainy so that didnt help with the sharpness of the longer range zoomed in shots!

All my shots with the DA* 50-135 were hand held and all were sharper than the sigma. But then there are a few hundred pounds of optic value seperating the two lenses!

Appreciate the comments about looking for camera shake at a pixel level.

All the best

Geoff