VIBRATION REDUCTION

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I was doing a job last week for a major ski and golf resort, set in the beautiful Laurentian Mountains in Quebec. While walking around the various properties we came across a family of deer. We were at a distance such that a 200mm zoom lens was required, and luckily it was already on my camera.

You may have noticed that the longer your lens is zoomed to, the shakier your photos become when not using a tripod. This can really be demonstrated by looking through a telescope; one minor vibration of the tripod, and the whole celestial scene shakes for a few seconds! For wildlife photography, using a tripod is usually not convenient, so the latest solution is to purchase an Image Stabilizing lens, or sometimes called a Vibration Reduction lens.

Even though the sample photo of the deer seems nice and bright, my shutter speed was slow enough that the photo would have been shaky and blurry. I turned on the image stabilizing feature on my lens, and immediately the scene became stable, and I was able to get a sharp photo. Although I am not an expert on the mechanics of vibration reduction, my understanding is that a gyroscope with sensors tells the lens to move the opposite direction of your camera shake, thus canceling the unwanted movement. These corrective lens movements happen in milliseconds . . . incredible technology!

Although more expensive than normal zoom lenses, if you enjoy nature or sports photography, an image stabilizing lens might be a worthwhile investment. Depending on the brand, they often go by the names IS (Image Stabilizing Lens) and VR (Vibration Reduction Lens).

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