One of the main reasons for getting the Canon EOS 600D, was the option for 3x-10x crop mode while shooting 1080p HD video. That and the relative small size (read weight), which makes it a great camera for hiking.
Worlds Cheapest Super Tele
I have actually used the function very little, but the few times I have been using it, is with my Canon EF 70- 300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens.
The 3x-10x crop mode basically makes that lens a 1120-4800mm lens on the cropped sensor camera!!! This is a very cheap way to get a super tele lens for video work. But 4800mm is a lot of zoom. So much that I have a hard time holding the camera still.
But thats where the image stabiliser comes into play, or does it?
Image Stabiliser Problem
The other day I was taking some photos on the beach in Denmark. It was a late summer evening, with a beautiful full moon. After getting what I came for, I decided to try out the super zoom, and see how close I could get to the moon.
I had my Redged TSC-525K Ultimate Carbon Travel Tripod on hand and set up the camera. After a few tries, I realised that the image was a bit shaky. I first tried to stabilise the tripod by hanging my camera bag full of rocks under it, but that didn’t seem to help.
Then I noticed the obvious sound of the overworked image stabiliser. It was trying to compensate for a non existing problem. When I turned it off, the image was a lot smoother.
The image still looks a little soft, but that is probably because I was using the cameras internal LCD screen for focusing. I really should have brought an external viewfinder for a job like this.
In conclusion the 3x-10x crop mode is pretty awesome, but remember to turn off the IS before shooting.