[Michaelina2]

SR is just another setting to me and I prefer to shoot with SR=OFF most of the time. On the other hand, there are occasions when I'd like to have it ON. For example, using old lenses paired to my K-5. In that case, I find SR to be helpful at lower 'green button' determined shutter speeds. As such, I've saved a USER mode that automatically configures the camera to a collection of pre-determined settings (of which one is SR=ON). Now, when I wish to work a subject in a particular way and attach my (say) K85/1.8, I can select the "Old Lens" USER mode which, in turn, defaults to all of the settings I have found through experience to work best for me with that pairing. Likewise, when I'm confronting a different set of subjects that call for a different lens pairing and for an SR=OFF setting, I change to another saved USER mode. The new USER mode reconfigures the camera to fit the new set of circumstances. All of this may sound complicated, but it's not in practice. I think of the K-5 as five cameras in one and have customized each USER mode into a "camera" that fits particular set of circumstances. Once I size up a situation, a simple touch of the rear toggle lets me effortlessly pick the best match.

Cheers...

[fuf]

I turned the SR off on my K-5 and am not using it unless the exposure time is low. I encountered the same problems as Crosshair described and showed in his images when the SR was on. Without it I'm getting much more consistent images. I can't remember having the same issues with K20D.

[Vylen]

I suppose, unsurprisingly, each camera is different. And certainly, the SR mechanism between the K20D and K-5 are different. That said, I leave mine on for my K20D (I think I failed to mention that my last post).

[civiletti]

I leave SR on. When I mount on a tripod, I use the 2" timer, which diables SR.

[Edvinas]

After I've experienced some blurry pictures because of not stabilised SR, I started to turn it only when it is necessary - i.e. when I'm starting to get blurry pictures because of hand shake.

[Zafar Iqbal]

I was just looking through some high shutter speed shots and some of them have motionblur occurring at speeds such as 1/2000 and faster. there isn't fast subject related motion going on.

Is that because I didn't give SR enough time to settle?

[gebco]

I was just looking through some high shutter speed shots and some of them have motionblur occurring at speeds such as 1/2000 and faster. there isn't fast subject related motion going on.

Is that because I didn't give SR enough time to settle?

I only have anecdotal evidence to suggest that that may be the case; my experience shows I have more keepers when I aim and shoot with SR off than when I leave SR on. As indicated in my previous post, I leave SR off for sports and BIF. (This is on my K-x)

For slower shutter speeds and more static scenes I put SR on.

[Sloglass]

I only turn off the SR when I am shooting panning action shots. Panning shots like the one posted will not work with SR on. I like the fact that Pentax uses the correct term (Shake Reduction) and not Image stabilization. ALL DLSR's I know of are trying to reduce shake, whether they call it that or not. I own a camera that does IMAGE Stabilization (Olympus E100-RS) but it is a mirrorless design which detects the subject and tries to stabilize it in the frame. It is processing the image BEFORE the shutter is triggered, and that is key to why DLSR's don't work this way. They can't because they don't have an image until the shutter is triggered.

All the cameras I have seen are not concerned with stabilizing the image as they are in simulating a stable camera. If your trying to move the camera and shoot it needs to be off.

[Ron Boggs]

I've found shake reduction to work to stop slight wind motion of plants during macro or near macro circumstances, even on a tripod. Perhaps I've just been kidding myself, but a wiggly leaf from slight wind looks pretty similar to the sensor to my own wiggly hands. I noticed this in early bodies too since I shoot quite a bit of macro stuff. Either shake reduction works for slight macro wiggle when shooting from a tripod or I've just gotten considerably better at timing my shots between wind shakes? I suspect the former.

[selar]

I turn shake reduction off if I haven't been drinking for 24 hours.

[audiobomber]

I turn shake reduction off if I haven't been drinking for 24 hours.

So never?

[neil]

Always off, period.

[zapp]

1/focal lengh is so outdated you should not call it a rule.
When will you not see a difference between a shot taken w./w.o. a tripod? I would say 1/500 and faster and that includes wide angle lenses. Even a good tripod will provide for better image quality over an average tripod.
SR supposedly reduces camera shake, so you should switch it on when needed. Some people even say that SR hunts around too much and that they only switch it on when really needed - 1/4 to 1/30 second.
Panning mode is also different here you need to be aware whether or not panning is recognized by your SR system.

So it is more a question of the situation and personnel perception. The most interesting question is how often a shot is "ruined" by SR and to ralize that SR is not a unversal cure.

[GibbyTheMole]

Interesting discussion.

1/focal lengh is so outdated you should not call it a rule.

Maybe not a hard and fast "rule", but it's a pretty good guideline, in my experience.

FWIW, I leave the SR on unless I'm using a tripod, and I have yet to see SR ruin a shot, even with flash.

[fewayne]

(1 / focal length) * crop factor, should be, no? For a given photosite density, the light hitting the sensor is exactly the same whether the sensor has 24 x 36 mm of sites or some fraction of that. However, the resulting image from, say, the APS-C sensor in a K-7 will be enlarged more than would one from a FF, amplifying flaws like shake-induced blur. Of course SR dials back the blur again, at least for those of us who are willing to stoop to it :-).

Here's a question: In Pentax DSLRs, is the SR in live-view mode, or while shooting video, also run with accelerometers instead of analyzing the image feed? Anyone know this for sure? Because when I pan when shooting video, I seem to get a blur-and-jump, blur-and-jump pattern sometimes instead of a nice smooth blur.