Nikon 70-300mm VR: viewfinder stabilizes, then becomes shaky again after a few seconds
Asked 8/5/2013
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2 answers
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I’m testing a factory-refurbished Nikon 70-300mm VR lens. At 300mm, vibration reduction is obvious in the viewfinder: after a half-press of the shutter, the image stabilizes after about a second, but a few seconds later it becomes shaky again. I don’t hear the VR system switch off.
This happens while handholding with elbows supported. The lens is set to Normal VR mode. Is it normal for VR to appear to stop stabilizing after a few seconds, or could the lens be misbehaving?
What’s the best objective way to check whether the VR system is working correctly before the warranty expires?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
1
Are you in normal or active mode? It appears to me you are likely in normal. The difference between the two is that in normal, if the camera thinks you are trying to pan, it disengages the stabilization on horizontal movement to prevent the stabilization from fighting the pan and causing movement to lag behind your pan.
In the video with it off, you can see there is constant vertical and horizontal shake. In the video with it on, it turns on, detects what it thinks is an attempt to pan, then the horizontal appears to disengage resulting in lots of left to right shake, but motion up and down still appears to be stabilized.
Try using active mode which should keep both horizontal and vertical stabilization going all the time. If you still have problems, then perhaps one of the gyroscopes in the lens has a fault of some type.
Originally by user11392. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11392
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This can be normal behavior in VR Normal mode. On Nikon lenses, Normal mode may detect what it thinks is panning and reduce stabilization in one axis so the system doesn’t fight your intended movement. That can make the viewfinder seem steady at first, then later show more left-right shake while still stabilizing up-down movement.
A good test is to compare Normal and Active mode at 300mm. If Active mode keeps both horizontal and vertical stabilization engaged and looks steadier, that points to normal VR behavior rather than a fault. Your description matches that possibility.
A practical objective check is to shoot the same scene handheld at several slower shutter speeds with VR off, then on in Normal, then on in Active, and compare sharpness over multiple frames. If VR-on shots consistently produce more sharp images than VR-off shots, the system is working.
If Active mode shows the same odd behavior and there’s no real improvement in image sharpness versus VR off, then a VR sensor or gyro issue is possible and warranty service would be worth considering.
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