Image Stabilization and Light

[dweitzel0]

My understanding is that an image stabilizer is beneficial in lower lighting, when the shutter must to stay open longer than in good lighting. Assuming this assumption is true, will an image stabilizing lens greatly improve the sharpness of the picture if the shot is taken outdoors with good lighting?

 

[jann1033]

IS helps if you inadvertantly move the camera. the reason it is built up for low light is it's hard to hold the camrea still with a slow shutter speed, higher speeds are fast enough that you don't have time to move it to blur it..it helps me in bright light if my hands are shaky but i don't know it helps that much with a high speed...at least i don't see a diff. my only IS lens( 28-135) isn't as sharp as the lens i like most and use if i can( 70-200)) so even with IS it's normally not as sharp outside as that lens under the same conditions.
so basically it depends, how sharp is the IS lens? if it's sharp it might be a little sharper if you have a tendency to move the camera. if it isn't sharp to start with, it won't miraculously be tack sharp due to IS

 

[Code]

I read some time ago (though I forget where so anyone feel free to correct me) that the effect of stabilization disappears around 1/250-1/300 shutter speed depending on focal length and degree of shake, so in very bright lighting i.e. direct sunlight you won't see a difference, but in shadows, dusk/dawn, etc there is still likely to be a benefit, especially when you are shooting at the f/5.6 end of a slower telephoto lens.

 

[ukcatfan]

My understanding is that an image stabilizer is beneficial in lower lighting, when the shutter must to stay open longer than in good lighting. Assuming this assumption is true, will an image stabilizing lens greatly improve the sharpness of the picture if the shot is taken outdoors with good lighting?

Under good lighting, the shutter speed is going to almost always be fast enough that IS does not even engage. The only way to get it slow enough that IS would come into play is when you close the aperture way down or use a ND filter. Both of those negatively impact sharpness, so basically, no IS will not help make an image in good lighting be sharper.

The only thing that might come into play is if you are using a long focal length where visible shake is likely even under good lighting.

Kevin