A few questions about IS lenses (which I'm sure have been asked before):

1) Are lenses with Image Stabilization (IS) worth it? How well do they really work? If they work as advertised, is the extra cost the only reason why more people aren't using these lenses?

2) I believe recent models of IS lenses have been enhanced to provide for two modes, one for stationary subjects, and another for panning. Does anyone know if this is the case for the EF 75-300 zoom IS (USM)? If not, what are the problems when panning with the IS version of this lens?

Thank you in advance.

MM

-- Michael McGoldrick (mcsail@magma.ca), September 20, 1999

Answers

"Worth it" is so subjective that it's hard to answer such questions.

IS works as advertised. Gives you about about a 2 stop stability advantage for hand held shots. If you don't use a tripod, this is a big advantage. If you do, it's no advantage and you don't need IS.

The 75-300IS doesn't have the "pan" mode. You can pan with it with the IS turned on, but the IS might cause some horizontal image shift, which isn't what you really want.

-- Bob Atkins (bobatkins@hotmail.com), September 20, 1999.

There are warnings that panning with IS on can cause problems, and some people have reported having them. I have not had any problems with mine though.

About all I can do otherwise is echo Bob's comments.

-- Brad (bhutcheson@iname.com), September 23, 1999.