Hi, I am not a technology freak, but the new feature that many camera lenses started to have in the last years can make the life of photographers much easier. I'm talking about the lenses which posses this very cool mechanism, called Vibration Reduction or image stabilization. These mechanism can help to stabilize the image in the absence of a tripod, a precious equipment which however is not always possible to carry. I will post some examples below of some photos taken at an exposure time that I would never believe could result in a sharp image.
The image of the empty tables was taken at a focal length of 230 mm (345 equivalent) and at exposure time of 1/25!
Another example is the photo of the yummy cookies taken at a focal length of 185mm (277 equivalent) and at a exposure time of 1/40s. I could have never managed to set up a tripod in this French boulangerie, yet I got a close up of this nice cookies thanks to this cool mechanism.Here's the last example taken at a focal length of 185 (277 equivalent) at 1/30. At 100% you can distinguish also the leaves of this grapevine!
So if you are planning to buy a new lense, especially with long focal length I would definitely suggest to get one with image stabilization!
By the way, the image stabilization mechanism can recognize when the photographer is doing panning, and does not correct horizontal blur in this case, as shown in the picture of the car in motion.
Best,
Marco
