In article , david-
lid says...
My view is slightly different - IS allows me to do things I haven't been
able to before.

I have used 400mm and 500mm lenses in my film SLR days and have been able
to get good pictures with these lenses, but only under certain conditions
and probably only with a tripod or other support.

I now want a minimum photographic outfit and a tripod or monopod doesn't
make it into the kit I want to carry around. Therefore having IS
available extends the range of lenses I can use hand-held (at ISO 100 for
low noise) from the 135mm region to the 400mm region, and therefore
increases the scope of my photography generally.

Yes, if you have a tripod it's different. Yes, if you have higher ISO
available it's different.

David





Actually your view seems about the same as mine. The only difference I
see in your post is you have used tripods, probably more than me. You
know technique, you took the time to learn it (or you had to if your
photography pre-dated IS).

I almost never bring one into the field to take wildlife or landscape
shots. I only use a tripod for portraiture.

As for higher ISO... most of my field photography is done with cameras
that only do well at ISO 100 or ISO 64.

I have been in the forest with a neophite photographer and heard him say
(while lining up a shot) "I wish I had a tripod".. at which point I
grabbed his arm and drew him to a nearby tree and showed him how to
brace his upper body to get the shot (and he did).

Generally, when out in the field, I find myself surrounded by tripods,
monopods, and braces. They are, however disguised as fences, trees,
rocks, car hoods (or bonnets), pick-up truck step bumpers, and more than
once, the rump of a sleeping cow.

Probably, if I inventory my life, the most often carried piece of
"bracing gear" that I carry is a "bean bag" that fits across the bottom
of my camera bag.. I dont know its weight, probably about a pound, but
Im used to carrying it.


--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.