Digital Photography with an Image Stabilizing Lens
Digital Photography
One question that is often asked in the world of digital photography, is whether or not an IS (image stabilizing) lens is worth the extra cost.
At $200-$250 more for an image stabilized consumer series lens, and even more for a professional series lens, that question is actually quite hard to answer. The real is, it depends on the type of photography you tend to do most often.
If for example, most of your photographs tend to be landscapes, or still life photos, then the answer (of course is no). On the other hand for those fast moving action shots or for shooting from a moving platform the extra image stabilization provided by a good IS lens is often worth it.
What is an Image Stabilizing Lens?
Before we talk about the best uses of an image stabilizing lens let’s first discuss how the lens works.
An IS lens is slightly different than your traditional fixed lens. It still has the same series of elements inside the lens itself, but in this case those elements aren’t fixed. The IS lens instead uses small gryo sensors that sense movement and/or camera shake. The lens groups then move with simple servo motors to compensate for that movement.
Most digital SLRs today, also have image stabilization. Using an IS lens, combined with the stabilizer in the camera body can provide even more versatility in your photographic capabilities.
Digital Photography and IS Lenses
The theory behind the IS lens is that by compensating for movement, you get a clearer, crisper image. In most cases this is true, but there are times when you shouldn’t use an IS lens as well.
For the digital photographer who takes lots of photos of moving subjects, such as sports photography, bird photography, children at play, etc having an IS lens in your line up is definitely worth it. With a combination of the image stabilization in your SLR camera, and the IS in the lens you’ll be able to take a crisp shot even from a moving vehicle.
On the other hand, for a landscape photographer, you will get a crisper image with a high end fixed lens and a decent quality tripod.
There are also case when a crisper image isn’t better. In a sports photo, for example, the IS lens will ensure everything is crisp and clear. It will remove all motion blur from the subject, and the background (depends on the aperture). In some cases removing the slight blur from the shot actually takes away from the action.
The answer to our original question can really be summed up with: Yes, an IS lens is worth the extra cost for many situations. For others, you are far better off investing that extra money into a high-quality tripod, and a better fixed lens. For those of us in the photography business, having at least one IS lens in our equipment bag will provide extra versatility when on a shoot.
