Using image stabilization for digital photography

If you really want to master the art of digital photography than learning about image stabilization is one of the first steps.One of photographer's worst enemies is vibration.Using a slow shutter speed and trying to minimize shaking while trying to photograph (especially an action shot) just does not mix.This often results in that perfect shot becoming a blurry shot.Using a tripod to stabilize the camera can help to insure sharper photographs but what do you do about situations where a tripod is not an option?That's where image stabilization comes into play.

Image stabilization was once only found in professional level cameras but today the technology has trickled down into consumer cameras and lenses.How does image stabilization work?The cameras that are equipped for this have tiny gyroscopes to counteract camera motion for sharper shots.When going to buy a new camera be sure and check out if it has image stabilization inside. This could help improve the quality of your shots dramatically.But be aware this is not a feature that is of yet included on all digital cameras.Each manufacturer is making the decision on which cameras will include image stabilization.

This may lead you to ask exactly what image stabilization is.The image stabilizer inside the camera works to give you sharper pictures by counteracting camera shake.Image stabilized lenses and cameras use two tiny gyros that process the camera movement and send a signal via a servomotor to move lens elements, a prism, or the sensor plane in the opposite direction of your camera's movement. In other words if you shake one way, it shakes the other way. Larger gyroscopic stabilizers can steady your entire camera, whether it is optically stabilized or not. For handheld shots with slower shutter speeds or aerial photography, image stabilization is an invaluable tool to minimize motion blur.Image stabilization alsohelps to steady the image projected back into the camera by the use of a "floating" optical element that is often connected to a fast spinning gyroscope which then helps to compensate for high frequency vibration (hand shake for example) at these long focal lengths.

There is another big advantage to having image stabilization.Having image stabilization equals smaller file size. By having sharper stills and steadier videos that means higher quality originals and higher compression ratios.This is because when there are fewer details per frame and fewer changes between frames you can make the file much smaller.Image stabilization can also yield beautifully sharp images at slower shutter speeds.

So good image stabilization can help you take hand-held shots almost two stops slower than with image stabilization off. For example if you would require a shutter speed of 1/500s to shoot a particular scene, you should be able to shoot at only 1/125s (4 times slower) with image stabilization. This is very useful when shooting moving subjects in low light conditions by panning and/or when using long focal lengths. Each shot will have its own determining factors in the use of image stabilization.

But the overriding rule in using image stabilization is to follow the guidelines of choosing a shutter speed equivalent to the lens' focal length. Slower speeds may lead to camera movement and consequently unsharp images but the image stabilization should correct this.
The image stabilization technology has been available in digital video cameras with large zooms for quite some time now and has proved to be very effective. Only recently manufacturers of digital still cameras have also started featuring image stabilization. It is a technology that is proving useful and popular.Experts predict that soon all cameras will be equipped with this feature.