Anyone have a Pana 250/400 or anything with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)? My question is, should this feature be turned off when using a tripod, for better picture resolution?

Key word is Optical. If it were electronic stablization then yes turning it off helps with resolution. So leaving OIS on the GS250 yeilds the same resolution when turing it off.

Pana's consumer OIS system still degrades the image by around 10%, according to Pana Technical. It's not the same OIS you'll find on Canons and Sonys.

I guess the bottom line is, it can't hurt and can only help... Thanks!

I stand corrected.
http://media.pana3ccduser.com/wiki/index.php?Optical%20and%20Electronic%20Image%20Stabilization

According to the pana 3ccd wiki Frank is indeed correct. Bummer

Pana's consumer OIS system still degrades the image by around 10%, according to Pana Technical. It's not the same OIS you'll find on Canons and Sonys.
Yup, this is with ALL Pana cams, not just the GS range.. reason being is that its still crunching numbers.. sure its optical, but its using image processing resources to manage the OIS... even for the DVX and most likely, even for the HVX...

I've done some pretty controlled tests on my TRV900 and VX2000 and can see no difference in picture quality with the SSSS (Sony Super Steadyshot) either on or off. It's as transparent a technology as I've come across, but there are failings.

Inside a waterproof housing the OIS can cause vignetting as the lens 'sees' around inside the case. Same with a wide-angle converter that (just) doesn't vignette when the camera's stationary - on the move it might well cut the corners.

Also less than steady floors (wooden floors in a marquee, for instance) SSSS will help iron out the bumps even when on a tripod.

And lastly SSSS is somewhat noisy in operation (though it takes a quiet room to hear it) and of course uses more battery power.

tom.

I've also read that OIS systems introduce a subtle lag when panning. Its definitely not substantial, but after reading this and biasing my mindset I felt that I could see a lag with my GS250. So now I typically turn OIS off when on a tripod, unless there are other vibration factors that need to be controlled (e.g. filming on a cold&windy day where I would shiver and shake the camera on pans and zooms).

-Terence

"So now I typically turn OIS off when on a tripod, unless there are other vibration factors that need to be controlled (e.g. filming on a cold&windy day where I would shiver and shake the camera on pans and zooms)."

as you should... OIS systems are designed to counteract motion.. in turn if ur panning left, the OIS system is going right and vice versa.
Some systems work bettr than others (the XL2 in particular is abosultely KICK ASS.. even at long tele ranges.. ) but sometimes it DOES feel "floaty"