XL1S stabilizer question

[Michael Wagener]

My XL1S arrived last week. One question about the stabilizer function in the 16X standard lens:

I am aware of the lag while panning (had that on my old XL1 as well) but this one starts moving again after sitting still for about one and a half seconds. In other words I pan, then stop and the image keeps moving for a fraction of a second (as it should), then settles, but then it starts moving again very slow after it sat for 1 and 1/2 second for another second. Is that normal or is is time to send in the lens for a check up?

Thank you for your input.

[Rob Lohman]

Are you sure this is the lens and not some other auto function?

[Michael Wagener]

Well, it goes away when I switch off the stabilizer on the lens, but I'm not technically versed enough to rule out other sources for the problem. What other function could cause this?

[Rob Lohman]

I would say auto focus. I'm not sure if my XL1S does this. Been
a while since I did panning tests on it. I'll see if I can do some
tests again this weekend.

[Phil French]

Does this happen all the time or only under certain conditions? I have noticed some other weird glitches which would only happen under certain conditions. Once, (without a tripod) when I was panning along the wall of a canyon (with about one eight of the picture blue sky) I found that the whole picture would suddenly drop down. I tried the same shot several times and it did the exact same thing each time. When I turned off the stabilization the problem stopped. I only ever had this happen on the one morning on the one type of pan and concluded it was due to the specific lighting or lines of the shot (the edge of the canyon and the blue sky) that some how "tricked" the stabilization.

[Michael Wagener]

Phil

as far as I can tell it happens only when the stabilizer is on and then all the time.

The camera and lens are at Canon in NJ right now. The lens had a backfocus problem and needed to be adjusted. I told them about the stabilizer situation. I'll report back when the camera returns.

[Don Palomaki]

Sounds like it is the prism 'recentering' to a neutral position. The last action (pan followed by over shoot) probably has the VAP in a non-neutral position. The slow drift you see is probably parallel to the direction of the pan and the lens may be recentering after the camcorder senses motion has stopped. More reasons not to use IS when on a tripod where there is no other motion to mask this activity.

[Michael Wagener]

Don

you're exactly describing what's happening. So does that mean the camera is actually reacting "normal", doing what is is supposed to do? It is not a major problem for me, because, as you noted, when shooting on a tripod the IS will be off and a handheld shot will cover the motion.

Looking forward to Canon's response.

[Michael Wagener]

My XL1S came back from Canon repair yesterday. The focus problem is fixed and it looks like the picture is quite a bit sharper than it was before I sent it in. Canon wrote that they adjusted the focus and cleaned the drum. As to the stabilizer "problem" I was told exactly what Don was describing, the stabilizer will "hunt" for a while after the camerea is not moved anymore, when shooting on a tripod. The problem will go away during handheld shots, since the camera will never enter a complete still status like on a tripod. So what I thought to be a bug is actually normal (and explainable).

I'm very satisfied with the picture quality the camera is delivering after it was adjusted.

Thank you for all your advice.