When does IS become necessary for tele photo without tripot?

[espion]

IS expands your capability envelope. Period.

But if there was, is, and will never be, a need for that increased capability then, of course, it is a waste of money.

Otherwise its an investment. Then the question is, what kind of rate of returns can you live with, if in the first place the extra cost was not affordable.

OK, enough of theory. An example: myself.

At 200mm, I can shoot from 1/125 to 1/160. And as IS generally improves your stability by two stops, I can now shoot either:

1. at 1/30 - 1/40, at same aperture and ISO, meaning I can shoot handheld what I previously cannot due to handshake, eg in low light conditions

2. convert the 2 stops gain to increased aperture, eg from f5.6 to f11, for more depth of field, something useful for me when shooting butterflies with the 200mm

3. convert the 2 stops gain to decreased ISO, eg from ISO400 to ISO100, ie at same aperture and shutter two stops down, or some other combo thereof, and incur less noise in your picture.

So the question you have to ask is: is any money worth the shots you otherwise cannot make or need some other out of cam solutions, eg tripod, noise reduction software, etc

If the answer is yes, then get IS, if no, then dont.

 

[Yatlapball]

Put simply... Photographers have been shooting for decades without your fancy whatever it is.

Nice to have. Won't die without it.

 

[espion]

Won't die without it.

That's not the question, but rather, do you live better with it?

 

[Yatlapball]

Why are you selective quoting? The first part which you conveniently omitted already states my view very clearly.

 

[espion]

Why are you selective quoting? The first part which you conveniently omitted already states my view very clearly.

cos the first part is irrelevant to the question ...

 

[Yatlapball]

And why is it not relevant?

IS is just a feature. It is "Nice to have". By that it already implies that "Yes, it does make life better" so it already answers your question about does it "Do you live better with it?"

 

[espion]

And why is it not relevant?

Cos the question is the question to ask, and not whether the question is answered or not.