Why is VR always on in Live View?

[Wade Abadie]

This is probably a silly question....but it’s something I don’t remember happening.

I almost never use live view to take photos. But I was just taking some test shots with live view, and noticed that as soon as I switch to live view....the VR stays engaged the entire time I am in live view. Is this normal? And is there a setting I can change to make it so that VR is only engaged during live view when focusing or when the shutter is being pressed?

Camera is a Nikon D500
Lens is a 500 f/4G VR

 

[Steve]

Yup, totally normal. VR is on whenever the camera is on and not in standby mode or turned off.

 

[Wade Abadie]

Thanks Steve!

 

[JANuser]

VR being on in liveview has always been the case, going back to the first Nikon cameras with the feature. I can only assume Nikon did this to help the user focus better when taking hand held shots, given how slow Liveview AF is on all cameras (DSLRs) other than the D780. I turn VR on the lens off when tripod shooting anyway, so it’s almost a non-issue.

 

[Steve]

As a side note, this is why VR is always on with the Z cameras too - if you can see the viewfinder, the camera is on and active. So, VR is too.

 

[Wade Abadie]

Interesting....I didn’t realize that. I figured the VR being on all the time would drain more battery, but it must not be too bad if Nikon designed it that way.

 

[Steve]

Interesting....I didn’t realize that. I figured the VR being on all the time would drain more battery, but it must not be too bad if Nikon designed it that way.

It does drain the battery more than not having it on, although I don't know the difference in the rate of the drain - I may have to devise a test of some sort to see. I don't think it's terribly significant - I think the LCD screen probably taxes the battery much more than VR. Seems like anytime I'm using the back LCD on any camera, my battery drains like it has a hole in it.