The Poor Man's Image Stabilization
Photo.net have posted a new article by Bob Atkins, in which the author claims to have found a technique that replicates the effect of image stabilisation lenses; sharper photos at slower-than-normal shutter speeds whilst handholding the camera. IS are typically heavier and a lot more expensive than non-IS lenses, so the article is worth reading and the technique worth trying if you want to save some cash.
“The technique itself is very simple: simply compose your image in the viewfinder and take a series of consecutive frames ? as many as your camera will allow or is economical. On my 10D I take a burst of nine frames. Now while this may sound simple to the point of being totally obvious, there is a twist. My handholding technique is fairly poor, I can barely use the 1/focal length rule and have in fact resorted to shooting a least a stop higher than this ?rule? in the past after discovering that any less would sometimes result in soft photos in my case, as clearly my technique is lacking.
However after trying out the method outlined above I have not only been able to get consistently great results at the 1/focal length setting, but in fact can also get very good results two or more stops slower, which is comparable to the results people have been getting with IS lenses ? but without IS and with all types of lenses, including the shorter focal lengths that IS isn?t designed to cater for. As an aside I have found that the 1/focal length rule doesn?t seem to be affected by the DSLR cropping factor, in my case anyway.”