Red will leave you alone now honest no image stabilisation on the lens then?
I take it has to be used on a tripod?!
Jumping in here... It doesn't
have to be used on a tripod - depends on the amount of light around.. as a rule of thumb, you should be able to hand hold at a shutter speed of 1 over the focal length, so 100mm = 1/100th second or faster, 400mm = 1/400th second or faster (though I have to say my handholding isn't even that good
- that's why I bought IS L-glass). For BR's 'moon shot' (what a picture that phrase conjures up
) then yes you would need a tripod. (1/15s is way slower than the 1/400 that the rule of thumb suggests
)
You can use an IS lens on a tripod, but you have to turn the IS off, or it does strange things like compensating for shake that isn't there - and the picture wanders about
- in fact IS will not cure camera shake completely, but it will let you handheld on slower speeds - typically 4-5 times slower than without it.
Promise no more questions...... its just for £99 they do a tamron lens with the camera I am looking at instead of £200 and just thought for the price it may be worth a punt....but no I.S on it
D
In the 'olden days'
It was the quality (read expense) of the glass that was important, and the difference in 'clarity' for want of a better phrase, between cheap and expensive glass was noticeable for an otherwise identical setup. Nowadays manufacturing techniques have improved. And with digital cameras, the ability of the camera processing software to 'sharpen' the image has made the difference less noticeable, unless you're comparing the extreme ends of the market..
do you need IS? - a lot depends on the type of photography you do - Landscapes don't move too fast, giving you time top set up a tripod... I tend to shoot wildlife as I come across it, and have to shoot handheld as there's usually not time to get a tripod set up as the fox / deer / bird of prey etc. legs it across the field, which is why i went for the extra expense of IS and 'fast glass'.
blimey, don't I waffle
EDIT: Should have let Red answer and saved meself some typing