uestion re: shake reduction.

ok here's one for all you low light shooters:
if using sr with a tripod causes blur in the images...
what happens if you have good technique, and steady hands....no tripod...will sr induce blur, or improve your shots?
I've been experimenting. With shots in low light, 1/2 sec exp at f2 iso 100, I'm getting sharper images without sr....
any steady handed shooters out there care to try also, and let me know how it works out for you?
I'd like to rule out any problems with my cameras before drawing conclusions.

I'm not sure that Marc (Pentaxke) will see this posting but I believe he found the same thing as you Don.

Well unless the camera can tell the difference between being held by a hand, and by a tripod mount, logically this must be so if you can hold it steady enough.

I've seen plenty of arm-waving speculation for what might cause SR-induced blur, but no good evidence for it, though. I've taken quite a few tripod-mounted SR-on shots looking for it and seen nothing. You'd think it would be easier to find given that Pentax mention switching SR off in the manual.

It's easy enough to see if the SR is working at all...

Set up a long exposure, take the lens off, press the button, and watch the sensor move when you move the camera a little. It's very obvious when it's doing its compensation thing.

We generally don't carry tripods any more, reserving their use for studio and macro shots.

SR combined with higher ISO if needed has given perfectly good sharpness in the darkest of corners in the cathedrals and churches we have visited. Oh, and also use of wider apertures. Sue has been using the 50mm f1.4 with great success and I've been finding similar results with the 43mm f1.9

It's a sensible precaution to take more than one shot to make sure. I think even the steadiest of hands will show some shake, just a substitute a 300mm lens for a moment and see how steady you are.

I've never yet seen shake induced by SR on a tripod, but this may be just because my tripods are so cheap that they shake just as much as my hands!

I couldn't take most of my hand-held telephoto photo's without SR at 300mm+ as the larger apertures mean I have to use slower shutter speeds than recommended for the focal length.

I am always forgeting to turn it off when i use a tripod

I hope I am not hijacking this thread, but my question seems to fit in with the discussion.

I aquired a DA* 300mm this weekend, and tested it in the garden hoping to catch some local wildlife. This chap was the only one to make an appearance.

I was using a tripod with ball-head not tightened up fully so I could follow the subject with the lens. This will obviously mean that there will be a bit of camera shake when I press the shutter, mainly i would guess in the vertical plane.

I couldn't decide on whether I should use SR or not , and will have to do some experimentation when I get time, but would be interested to hear from the wildlife photographers amongst you on your techniques.

The picture here was with SR off by the way.

I leave SR on for:

Hand-held
Monopod
Tripod with loose ball head or loose gimbal

I turn it off for:

Tight ball-head
Panning head

My tripod is pretty sturdy and with a locked down head and using a remote trigger I'm sure I've seen problems with SR when I've left it enabled.

BTW: Well done for getting the DA* 300mm

Hi Jonathan

My technique till now with a tripod has been to use either the 2 second timer (which turns SR off automatically), or a cable release with SR off. but this has always been when capturing a static subject.

Your technique with a "loose" ball head of using SR makes sense. My only fear is that all my instinct when pressing the shutter is to keep the camera as still as possible, yet if I am 100% succesful I will ruin the shot by having the SR on !!

Oh the dilemma of modern photography.

I reckon that SR is fine for all normal photography - even on a tripod.
SR will begin to make things worse when you have long exposure times - anything over about 1/2sec. So, if you are using a tripod because you have a 20second exposure, then definitely turn off SR (or use the 2-second delay which automatically turns it off).

In practice I haven't found any discernible difference between tripod with SR and tripod without SR with regular shutter speeds.... but I could be wrong

Matt

ahha, I didn't know that. I almost always use 2 sec delay when using a tripod, so that would explain why I've never noticed SR causing trouble!

Isn't your camera a K10D? Was the remote a wireless one?

If so, then using a remote trigger turns the SR off, according to the manual.

It was a GX10 (I've now upgraded to a K20D) and it was using a cable switch, not a wireless remote.

for me the loss of sharpness is occuring with a 50mm and the 16-45.....
longer telephotos definately benifit from sr!