# lifespan of IS motor?



## vulie504 (Aug 8, 2014)

Hello, I've recently purchased my first lens with IS on it. Do to guys leave IS on all the time even when not needed such as a scenario with lots of light and high shutter speeds or do you guys turn off IS? To be more specific, I have the 70-200 IS ii and I guess I'm trying to "prolong" the life of the IS if possible because I'm sure it's not cheap to fix.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 8, 2014)

IMHO, you are much more likely going to break something turning that switch off and on. 

The IS unit is not actually running all the time, it comes on when you half press the shutter button, and tales about a second or even two to stabilize. It turns off a few seconds after you take the shot or release the shutter button.

The IS on your lens is tripod sensing, so if the lens is held very still, IS will not come on. 

As far as your question about life, it is not a motor as in a rotating motor or gyroscopic motor. The is units mostly last the life of the lens, but they can and do fail occasionally. If its going to fail, it will most likely happen in the warranty period. If it is used a reasonable amount that first year, failure is much less likely. Since IS has only been around for 20 some years, no one knows how many will be working forever.

I've had some of the original lenses with IS and they still work fine.


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## climber (Aug 8, 2014)

I turn it OFF when shooting sports with 1/2000s or less.


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## Marsu42 (Aug 8, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> IMHO, you are much more likely going to break something turning that switch off and on.



Do you have any data on this? Personally, I wouldn't be so sure and thus keep "protecting" my IS if the shutter time doesn't warrant it at all. Plus the 100L IS sometimes makes frightening noises when I turn it on with the camera in a near vertical position (*kneeeecchh-eeeeeek!*) but as far as I've read this is to be expected on this model.

Mostly, I don't use IS for high speed sports/wildlife in good light, for many other situations the stabilizing effect on the vf and thus more accurate framing & af point placement makes IS useful anyway. 

Last not least, don't be so sure about the tripod auto-off of the IS, there are some threads about it and I'm getting better results for focus stacking with the IS off via the switch rather than relying on the detection. One reason probably is that even slight vibrations interfere with the tripod detection.


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## mustafaakarsu (Aug 8, 2014)

I have two IS lenses, 24-105 L and 100 L macro, I always turn off 24-105's IS if I don't need it, because it makes viewfinder jumpy when starting and stopping operation. I don't think you should worry about lifespan of it, as it's mentioned that it has a long lifespan, but the noise and jumpy viewfinder in some lenses.


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## DominoDude (Aug 8, 2014)

I don't have all that many lenses with IS, but they're all Canon glass, so I expect them to last. It does happen that I turn them off, but only when I know I don't need it (at high shutter speeds, or when I want to see if it makes any difference).

Glad I saw your post, Marsu42, because that is the first one I've seen on a problem I've experienced myself on occasion. In a vertical position my 100/2.8L made noises that had me believe that the little hamster inside was badly squished in that tight compartment.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 8, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > IMHO, you are much more likely going to break something turning that switch off and on.
> ...


 
Of course, there is no published data.

One of my engineering specialties, however, is switches. They are difficult to produce with a long life, and are rated for numbers of actuations. OEM's select a switch for its expected usage to save $$$ and to reduce size of the switch.

The IS switches are not intended to be turned on and off thousands of times. In a lab, you could probably actuate them a million times, but in the real world, dirt and dust accumulate in tiny amounts, and some will make it past the seals on the switch as it actuates. This shortens the life by a big factor. The switch covers themselves also fall off. Replacing a IS switch is expensive, because they are typically mounted to a circuit board and you have to replace the entire switch assembly which usually means all of the switches, which is going to cost more than you'd think. On the other hand, the IS system is designed to be used over many years, and using it does not bring in dust from the outside. The IS is pretty fragile, most damage is from bumps or drops.

Using IS at very high shutters speeds can result in blurry images, but I've never had one that I could attribute to the IS. Its one of those things that is possible, but not a major issue.

I'm forgetful, and I might get more blurred images from not turning it back on when a slow shutter speed was used. 

There is nothing wrong with turning IS off and on, but I'd not recommend doing it frequently, like 1000 times a month. which is ~ 30 times a day. Twice a day is only 730 times a year, so that should not be a issue.


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## JonAustin (Aug 8, 2014)

I've owned 5 IS lenses, of which I still have three. I leave the IS on all the time, except when using a tripod, and even then, I sometimes forget to switch it off.

I switch AF on and off, and change the position of the focus limiter switch (where equipped) far more often.


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## mackguyver (Aug 8, 2014)

JonAustin said:


> I've owned 5 IS lenses, of which I still have three. I leave the IS on all the time, except when using a tripod, and even then, I sometimes forget to switch it off.
> 
> I switch AF on and off, and change the position of the focus limiter switch (where equipped) far more often.


I'm with Jon, here and I rarely turn off IS. I know Canon has sometimes recommended turning it off (while the camera is powered) prior to transport as it "locks" the IS lens group in place, but I think you're more likely to sell the lens before the IS dies than to have one fail while owning it. Unless you're rough on your gear, of course.


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## Sabaki (Aug 8, 2014)

Hey Marsu42


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## wickidwombat (Aug 9, 2014)

really forget about it

people worry about the wierdest stuff.... 

I can't imagine being that highly strung that i get concerned if by using IS the lifespan of the lens will be reduced.
its like worrying about driving your car in case you use up some tread on the tyres...


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## dgatwood (Aug 9, 2014)

For most lenses, I'd expect the aperture to fail several times before the IS motor does, on average....


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## Marsu42 (Aug 11, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Using IS at very high shutters speeds can result in blurry images, but I've never had one that I could attribute to the IS. Its one of those things that is possible, but not a major issue.



Hmmmyes, sorry to be a pita on this, but I've also heard completely other personal opinions from wildlife photogs who often switch between static/IS and moving/no-IS scenes. Personally, I'm not so sure, but I did sometimes get inexplicable blur @100% crop on very high shutter speeds.

As written above, I am rather sure with macro/focus stacks turning IS off is a good idea no matter the famed "tripod detection".



Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I'm forgetful, and I might get more blurred images from not turning it back on when a slow shutter speed was used.



Hmmmyes, maybe a firmware setting "use IS only on shutter speed below ..." would be in order.



Mt Spokane Photography said:


> There is nothing wrong with turning IS off and on, but I'd not recommend doing it frequently, like 1000 times a month. which is ~ 30 times a day. Twice a day is only 730 times a year, so that should not be a issue.



Thanks for your resourceful insight! I usually turn IS & af off at least once a day to review/rate lots of pictures because I hate the IS kicking in when I happen to press half shutter.

But after your comment I might end up rather switching the half-shutter function to "meter only" to save some mechanic switch cycles if they harder/more expensive to replace than on the camera body.


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## pwp (Aug 11, 2014)

wickidwombat said:


> people worry about the wierdest stuff....


+1 

Leave IS on and get out there and shoot stuff...wait, you might wear out your shoes...

-pw


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## wtlloyd (Aug 11, 2014)

Maybe you should then be worried about wearing out the IS on/off switch.


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## Maiaibing (Aug 11, 2014)

Lensrental is probably the only place to get good stats on this and they have written that IS lenses fail faster and more often than non-IS lenses.

I have only once had a lens repair (lucky me I guess). My 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L ii - and it was expensive.

I shut off IS when I can because then no IS has to settle.


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## TexPhoto (Aug 11, 2014)

Your IS is not really off when you turn it off, it's just in a different mode. The floating IS element is powered up and being held steady by it's little magnetic actuators.

I had a 70-200 f2.8 IS II have it's IS go bad. It was flicking 2-3 times a second up and down. Turning it off did not help. I asked Canon how to turn it off and they said I could not turn it off, it had to be repaired. 

So I don't think turning it off will prolong it's life. At least it will not not reduce it's "run time".


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## mrsfotografie (Aug 11, 2014)

vulie504 said:


> Hello, I've recently purchased my first lens with IS on it. Do to guys leave IS on all the time even when not needed such as a scenario with lots of light and high shutter speeds or do you guys turn off IS? To be more specific, I have the 70-200 IS ii and I guess I'm trying to "prolong" the life of the IS if possible because I'm sure it's not cheap to fix.



Funny I worry about a lot of my gear a lot of the time but I have absolute confidence in the IS/AF/electronic aperture system. Most electronics last longer than you would expect. FWIW the AF and electronic aperture in my 03/1988 MkI 50 mm f/1.8 still work like a charm.

No pun intended, but if you worry about your IS breaking maybe you should shoot primes wide open too and in permanent live view mode using an electronic shutter so you don't wear out your:

IS
AF
Aperture
Mirror
Shutter
Zoom mechanism

So what I mean to say is, please stop worrying and enjoy your fabulous 70-200 and remember, it's a pro lens and these are built to last.

Disclaimer: Use, but don't abuse your gear like some pro's do


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## Rocky (Aug 11, 2014)

Most people accept that their car may not be trouble free for less than 5 year. Why do people expect their camera and lens to do better than that???


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## md7204 (Aug 11, 2014)

I bought my EF100-400L new in Jun 2010. I just fedex'd it to canon this morning for a suspected bad IS motor. It was doing the 2-3 times a sec jumping thing mentioned above. Never been dropped, no scratches or marks on the body, no "rough" handling, etc. Ironically the problem is worse when IS and AF are switched to "off". I will post the repair cost when canon evaluates the lens. I have 3 other canon lenses with IS (EFS 17-85, 24-105L & 70-300), all owned longer than the 100-400L, and none of them have had a problem with IS (yet).


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## vulie504 (Aug 25, 2014)

Lol, i really appreciate the comments and some of them were quit humorous. Especially the comment of wearing out my shoes. I guess i am worrying over stupid things and i should go ahead and just enjoy the lens. Thank you everyone for your comments.


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## Marsu42 (Aug 25, 2014)

Rocky said:


> Most people accept that their car may not be trouble free for less than 5 year.



That's why I don't have a car and go by bike and public transport (it's easy to do around where I live).



Rocky said:


> Why do people expect their camera and lens to do better than that???



I guess for amateurs it's wishful thinking because the price for a good dslr kit is very high in comparison what you could do with the money for other recreations like travel... so it has to last, doesn't it?

Thus one interesting question is avoided: Wouldn't it be more clever to by Rebel cameras with cheaper 3rd party lenses, and when they break simply upgrade to the better current model? Certainly not an option for professional use, but less worry about gear damage, theft or wear and for most purposes about the same result :-.o


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## Rocky (Aug 25, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> Rocky said:
> 
> 
> > Why do people expect their camera and lens to do better than that???
> ...



That is an intersting thought. However, the Higher level DSLR do have more feature than the Rebel. If the Rebel has enough feature to satisfy you, by all means, go for it. I have a 20D for 5 years and a 40D for 4 years. Both cameras have the shutter releas button failed. Fortunately, I can fix them with alcohol(Thanks for the instructions from You Tube). If I cannot fix them, they will be goners. As for the lens, my 17-40 L holds up very well even after 9 years. For me, I have got more than what I have paid for. But I start to question the focusing accuracy of he 28-135 Canon lens after 6 years. I do not have any experience with the third party lenses.
Since I want to travel light, I have just switched to the EOS-M system.


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## dgatwood (Aug 26, 2014)

Rocky said:


> Most people accept that their car may not be trouble free for less than 5 year.



I expect my car to be trouble-free for at least five years, too. I've never had a DSLR that didn't still work after 5+. The only lens I've ever had fail (ignoring the shattered filter threads and scratched front of one lens that I dropped) was my original Digital Rebel kit lens. It died after only 9 months. In hindsight, it was probably under warranty, so I should have had Canon fix it, but the thought didn't even occur to me at the time.

Of course, I didn't really care enough about that lens to bother with shipping it to Canon to fix it. The day it failed, I borrowed a 20mm prime from one of my coworkers and used it to shoot all day. I was so shocked at how much sharper the photos were that I ordered a 17–85 and never looked back (except to swap out the bad ribbon cable with a part from a broken copy of that lens just to have a "safe for use at the beach" lens).


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