My lens has a spot on it, is there anything I can do?

[Paul R Johnson]

You probably need a head that will cost a sizeable amount of money for long lens work. Just touching the pan handle moves the image quite a bit with even a very delicate touch.

[Mark Williams]

Don't know if your camera has stabilization but I have gotten good results with my GH5 using 75-300 (600mm effective) with e-stabilization "on" mounted on a $300 tripod and tracking subject with continuous auto-focus on.

GH5 Firmware 2.4 Test (4K) on Vimeo

[Ryan Elder]

Oh ok. I dont think the camera has stabilization but tthe lens does.

[Paul R Johnson]

Does stabilisation work for video? I thought it was only for stills?

[Chris Hurd]

On Ryan's lens, IS should be switched *off* when shooting from a tripod.

Otherwise it'll fight the pan. Okay to have it on when handheld, though.

Mark's in-body stab. is designed to work with a tripod. That's the difference.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh ok. How does the lens fight the pan? Is that why in the footage if i pan right, it jerks left sometimes, And vice versa?

[Chris Hurd]

Yes, what you describe is exactly what I mean by "fighting the pan."

Your particular lens was designed only as a still-photo lens. It was never intended for video. When you have the lens on a tripod with the IS switched on, it doesn't know that your panning movement is intentional. So it fights that motion, resulting in the little "hiccups" you're getting at the end of a pan.

Therefore you need to turn IS *off* when shooting video with that lens from a tripod.

Newer, better lenses will accommodate tripod shooting with a special mode designed to work with intentional panning movements. Some lenses have multiple IS modes. Yours does not, however.

[Josh Bass]

I won't lie, I honestly that was also the deal with camcorders where the IS is built in. I had always heard the rule as "tripod = no IS" (at least if you're gonna be panning). Maybe that's older cams or I'm dumb or something.

[Ryan Elder]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Yes, what you describe is exactly what I mean by "fighting the pan."

Your particular lens was designed only as a still-photo lens. It was never intended for video. When you have the lens on a tripod with the IS switched on, it doesn't know that your panning movement is intentional. So it fights that motion, resulting in the little "hiccups" you're getting at the end of a pan.

Therefore you need to turn IS *off* when shooting video with that lens from a tripod.

Newer, better lenses will accommodate tripod shooting with a special mode designed to work with intentional panning movements. Some lenses have multiple IS modes. Yours does not, however.

Oh okay, thanks, I thought it was just IS cameras that did that, I didn't know the lens could fight off the movement! Thank you very much for pointing that out.

What if for when I am using a gimbal with a wider lens for wide shots? Should I have IS switched on or off for that?

[Mark Williams]

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

I won't lie, I honestly that was also the deal with camcorders where the IS is built in. I had always heard the rule as "tripod = no IS" (at least if you're gonna be panning). Maybe that's older cams or I'm dumb or something.

Josh, I thought that also until I tried the GH5 e-stabilization on a tripod at extreme telephoto. It took out the jiggles of using an inferior tripod to track subjects making the footage usable. All of this was shot on a tripod with e-stabilization on. Not my normal subject matter which is usually locked down with minimal or no camera movement.

Ocoee Whitewater - YouTube

[Ryan Elder]

Is e-stabilization and IS the same thing?

It seems to me that every time I find out about something electronic in the lens, it's a disavantage. I find out that the lens is fly-by-wire focus, and now I find out that IS has been fighting my panning.

Are there any DSLR lenses out therefore, that are telephoto, have no electronic components and are all manual mechanical? Would that be better and less complications?

[Josh Bass]

Is the stabilization in the lens or body in that case?

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

What if for when I am using a gimbal with a wider lens for wide shots? Should I have IS switched on or off for that?

Now that's a good question. My guess is to have it on, but you should experiment with it both ways, find out what's best, and report back here to let us know.

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

I won't lie, I honestly that was also the deal with camcorders where the IS is built in. I had always heard the rule as "tripod = no IS" (at least if you're gonna be panning). Maybe that's older cams or I'm dumb or something.

Nah, that was indeed the rule back in the day, but newer camcorders and some newer lenses have multiple IS modes, often incorporating a specific special IS mode to use when panning from a tripod. Modern times... go figure.

[Josh Bass]

welp that explains it...I don't shoot much and when I do it's almost always with a C100 with the typical still lenses or an EX1.

[Chris Hurd]

Mark's GH5 has e-stab. in the camera body (I think).

OIS (optical) is a lens mechanism. It's found in lenses and on camera bodies that have an integrated lens built in.

EIS (electronic) is a function of the image sensor in a camera body. Not as effective as OIS in a lens.

There's also IBIS, in-body image stabilization, on some newer camera bodies. I understand it's very good. Usually when you have IBIS, there's most often an included mode specifically for using with a tripod.