Is an Image Stabilized Camera for You?

For anyone who experiences blurring or a lack of sharpness in their photographs image stabilization may help. Generally speaking, the image stabilization feature steadies things via the lens element or sensor so that the camera compensates for any unintentional hand movement, otherwise known as "hand shake". Notice that it helps to eliminate the blurriness caused by the photographer's small movements not the blurring that may occur due to movement of the subject.

An image stabilized camera becomes most important when shooting at night time or in other low light situations where the shutter speed is slower. With a slower shutter speed the likelihood of small movements occuring which may create blurring are increased, thus the image stabilization feature is most useful in this scenario. It's also particularly beneficial when using a telephoto lens or in macro (close up) shots where those small movements are most noticeable in the images you produce.

Basically optical image stabilization and electronic or digital image stabilization are what you will see when shopping. An image stabilized camera which uses the optical version will generally produce a sharper, superior picture to one that uses digital image stabilization.

As mentioned above optical image stabilization occurs through mechanical means where as digital stabilization attempts to achieve the same results through electronic manipulation of some type. The common electronic or digital means of stabilization generally results in more "noise" within the picture; a more grainy look to the photograph.

If you want to learn more about the various techniques used in a digital camera with image stabilization you can review this Wikipedia article. In the end, the important thing to remember is that optical image stabilization is what you want to look for when shopping.

We suggest that you make this as simple as possible. Simply look for the term optical image stabilization in the literature about the camera. You will often see this in refernce to the lens. In some instances you will see the acronym OIS which stands for optical image stabilization. For instance, you may see a camera with the description including a "4x optical image stabilized zoom lens".

If the description merely includes "anti-shake" or "anti-blur" in the description without mentioning OIS, the camera probably does not offer true optical image stabilization. Some cameras, such as some Sony Cybershot models, have dual image stabilization which generally means the have some form of both optical and electronic image stabilization.

Many digital cameras now have the ability to record video. Image stabilization when recording video is also a tremendous advantage as it cuts down the gyrations caused by small hand movements when not using a tripod. The quality of the video can be vastly improved with this feature.

If your camera will be used to capture video you also need to be sure that the optical image stabilization feature can be used while recording video as this isn't always the case.

Photo Credits
Introduction: Haversack.
What is an Image Stabilized Camera: Vibrant Spirit.
Two Types of Image Stabilization: CarlosfPardo.
A Camera with Video Capabilities: PhotoPediaPhotos.