How Much Do You Need Image Stabilisation On Your Lens/Camera ?

How important image stabilisation is to you depends on whether you take the most of your shots using your camera's kit lens or use a telephoto zoom. If you mostly use the kit zoom for example , there may be not be that many occasions when you really need stabilisation. Certainly , it will help in low light and when shooting at maximum zoom in poor lighting but it's far from essential.

With telephoto zooms , though, it is another matter. The longer focal length make camera shake more likely happen and you need much faster shutter speeds to get sharp shots. This means you are more likely to encounter lighting conditions where shake is likely. So while Nikon's new 18-55mm VR kit lens , for example , might be not an essential buy , the new VR version of its 55-200mm telephoto certain is worth considering.

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