Stabilizing Technology

Under the names Image Stabilization (Canon) and Vibration Reduction (Nikon), this lens technology, invented in the mid-nineties, is spectacularly useful in low light photography.

The basic principle is straightforward, the execution less so. Camera shake—that is the inability to hold the image steady at slow speeds—results in the focused image moving rapidly on a plane perpendicular to the camera axis. If the lens, or one of its elements, can be made to move in exactly the opposite direction to the shake, the image will be stabilized.

In practice, the special lens is equipped with sensors that can detect the movement, and a microprocessor to analyze it and transmit the necessary information to micromotors. The Nikon VR ...

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