{"id":514,"date":"2017-03-15T14:20:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T14:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/?p=514"},"modified":"2017-03-16T01:49:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T01:49:11","slug":"image-stabilization-sharper-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All camera brands offer some form of <strong><em>image stabilization<\/em><\/strong>. The technology is wonderful! Whenever you are using slower shutter speeds while holding the camera, hand vibration will cause some amount of motion blur, making the image less sharp. In these situations, image stabilization can <em>really<\/em> help. Images that otherwise would turn out a little soft (unsharp) will be much sharper with image stabilization.<\/p>\n<p>Every camera and lens manufacturer calls this technology something different, adding a little confusion. Canon calls it <strong>Image Stabilization<\/strong>. Nikon calls it <strong>Vibration Reduction<\/strong>. Sony calls it <strong>Super Steady Shot<\/strong>. Tamron calls it <strong>Vibration Compensation<\/strong>. It\u2019s all basically the same idea.<\/p>\n<p>The different manufacturers implement this feature in different ways. Some have it built into the camera body, and others build it into the lens. Canon and Nikon build it into their lenses. The catch is, not all lenses have this feature. Generally, lenses that have this feature cost a bit more than ones that do not. I personally believe it is worth the extra cost.<\/p>\n<p>Usually the manufacturer will indicate the degree to which their stabilization will help. For example, they may\u00a0say a lens offers \u201c3 stops of image stabilization.\u201d To know what is meant\u00a0by that, you have to consider a basic rule about what shutter speed is sufficiently fast to\u00a0freeze any motion blur introduced by hand movement\/vibration.<\/p>\n<p>That rule says the shutter speed should be at least <strong>1 \/ focal length<\/strong> when using a camera with a &#8220;full frame&#8221; sensor. So if you are shooting with a 200mm lens, you should ensure the shutter speed is at least 1\/200th second or faster. Or if you are not using a camera with a full frame sensor, such as a camera with an APS-C sensor, then you need to take into account the sensor &#8220;crop factor&#8221; (typically 1.5X on most Nikons and 1.6X on most Canons with APS-C sensors). That means with that same 200mm lens on a Canon Rebel DSLR with a 1.6X crop factor, is effectively producing images that look like they were\u00a0shot with a 1.6 X 200mm lens (320mm) and you should really shoot at least 1\/320th second or faster.<\/p>\n<p>Now, back to that lens that says it offers &#8220;3 stops of image stabilization&#8221;. If\u00a0you are shooting with a 200mm lens they mean you can break that shutter speed rule I mentioned above by three stops. A <strong>stop<\/strong> is a photography term referring to the doubling of the light. So, in terms of the shutter speed, \u201c<em>one<\/em> stop\u201d means making the shutter speed twice as slow, like going from 1\/200<sup>th <\/sup>to 1\/100<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>If you are using a 200mm lens on a full frame sensor camera, you should normally try to shoot at 1\/200<sup>th<\/sup> second or faster. If the lens offers \u201cone stop\u201d of image stabilization, then you can get away with shooting at 1\/100<sup>th<\/sup>. If it offers three stops of image stabilization, you can theoretically shoot at 1\/25<sup>th<\/sup> second! (1\/200<sup>th<\/sup> -&gt; 1\/100<sup>th<\/sup> -&gt; 1\/50<sup>th<\/sup> -&gt; 1\/25<sup>th<\/sup>). <em>Wow!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Just note that it is probably risky to go that far with trusting the image stabilization to sharpen up a slow shutter speed shot, but it sure helps having that feature when you simply must use a slow shutter speed hand-held, like when shooting in a low light scenario. If it turns out the image stabilization just isn&#8217;t getting the job done well enough, that means it is time for you to shift to a higher ISO which will enable you to shoot at faster shutter speeds.<\/p>\n<p>One more note about terminology you might encounter: \u00a0Sometimes you might see the term \u201c<strong>EV<\/strong>\u201d used instead of \u201cstops.\u201d They mean the same thing. \u201cEV\u201d stands for <strong>Exposure Value<\/strong> and technically is the more accurate term when talking about varying shutter speeds. A \u201cstop\u201d normally refers to the aperture values, but when we are talking about shifting shutter speeds by an amount that is the equivalent of adjusting the light by one f\/stop, that is said to be an adjustment of one EV. Still, you will find many manufacturers talk about the image stabilization in terms of stops instead of EV\u2019s. It\u2019s all the same.<\/p>\n<p>Also, note that lenses that offer image stabilization have an off\/on switch, and some offer more than one mode of operation. Check the manual that came with your lens for more information about its features and any limitations. For example, the reason they have an off\/on switch is because when you are shooting on a tripod, you should turn off the image stabilization. \u00a0Again, check your manual for more information about that. \u00a0Just remember to turn the image stabilization back ON when you are shooting hand-held!<\/p>\n<p>This feature is <em>so important<\/em>; you really need to make sure you know how to use it! \u00a0Using this technology will help ensure you get consistently sharper hand-held shots! It\u2019s a \u201cmust use\u201d feature!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-516\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/stabilizerex-e1489586634837.jpg\" alt=\"Image Stabilizer Example\" width=\"800\" height=\"813\" \/><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful! Whenever you are using slower shutter speeds while holding the camera, hand vibration will cause some amount of motion blur, making the image less sharp. In these situations, image stabilization can really help. Images that otherwise would turn out a little soft &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Image Stabilization = Sharper Images<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[142,144,143,3,146,145,63],"class_list":["post-514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photography-tips","tag-camera-features","tag-image-stabilization","tag-lens-features","tag-photography","tag-sharper-images","tag-vibration-compensation","tag-vibration-reduction"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Image Stabilization = Sharper Images<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KGPhotoWorkshops Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/AustinPhotographyClasses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-15T14:20:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-16T01:49:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/stabilizeron-e1489586296412.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kevin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"kevin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9ced6b1de31a26a7a8b63e56bcee54\"},\"headline\":\"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-15T14:20:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-16T01:49:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\"},\"wordCount\":820,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"camera features\",\"image stabilization\",\"lens features\",\"photography\",\"sharper images\",\"vibration compensation\",\"vibration reduction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Photography Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\",\"name\":\"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-15T14:20:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-16T01:49:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"KGPhotoWorkshops Blog\",\"description\":\"Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops, Austin, TX - Austin Photography Classes\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-g.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-g.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/AustinPhotographyClasses\",\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/kevingourleyphotography\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9ced6b1de31a26a7a8b63e56bcee54\",\"name\":\"kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d7c876caddf1a73f2427aee3075ecb22ae0ce924b89ff605cfeee56d432b4f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d7c876caddf1a73f2427aee3075ecb22ae0ce924b89ff605cfeee56d432b4f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"kevin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images","description":"All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images","og_description":"All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/","og_site_name":"KGPhotoWorkshops Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/AustinPhotographyClasses","article_published_time":"2017-03-15T14:20:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-16T01:49:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":415,"url":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/stabilizeron-e1489586296412.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"kevin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"kevin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/"},"author":{"name":"kevin","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9ced6b1de31a26a7a8b63e56bcee54"},"headline":"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images","datePublished":"2017-03-15T14:20:08+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-16T01:49:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/"},"wordCount":820,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["camera features","image stabilization","lens features","photography","sharper images","vibration compensation","vibration reduction"],"articleSection":["Photography Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/","name":"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-15T14:20:08+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-16T01:49:11+00:00","description":"All camera brands offer some form of image stabilization. The technology is wonderful!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/15\/image-stabilization-sharper-images\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Image Stabilization = Sharper Images"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/","name":"KGPhotoWorkshops Blog","description":"Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops, Austin, TX - Austin Photography Classes","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops","url":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-g.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-g.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/AustinPhotographyClasses","http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/kevingourleyphotography\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9ced6b1de31a26a7a8b63e56bcee54","name":"kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d7c876caddf1a73f2427aee3075ecb22ae0ce924b89ff605cfeee56d432b4f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d7c876caddf1a73f2427aee3075ecb22ae0ce924b89ff605cfeee56d432b4f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"kevin"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":518,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514\/revisions\/518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kgphotoworkshops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}