Travelinbri wrote:.

For instance, is it just as simple as if Im usually pretty steady upto 1/30th of a sec, now Im steady up to 1/10th?.

That would be true of a pretty old IS lens. 1/30 -> 1/10 is less than two stops. Modern IS lenses typically give you 2 to 3 stops, or shutter speeds of 1/8 to 1/4 in your example..

How can IS help your pictures not be so dark?.

Everything else held constant, using a longer shutter speed increases the exposure. More light is gathered, thus the result is lighter..

If your camera is choosing the wrong exposure for you, perhaps you need to work on understanding how the camera meters, and how to fix it to what you want. This typically involves one or more of exposure lock, exposure compensation, using different metering patterns, or manual exposure..

Seen in a fortune cookie:Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed..

Does this reflect in the light meter? I understand his, but does the light meter know his and when I am looking at it, does it show me the balance with the IS already taken into account? Is my question making sense?..

Travelinbri wrote:.

Does this reflect in the light meter? I understand his, but does thelight meter know his and when I am looking at it, does it show me thebalance with the IS already taken into account? Is my questionmaking sense?.

No, it doesn't make sense. The meter reading is what it is, IS doesn't change that (*). If your shots are too dark, learn to use the metering and exposure controls on the camera. All that IS does is it lets you take a blur-free shot at a shutter speed that is slower than you'd normally be able to do it..

(*) IS can have an effect, in that it stabilizes the view both for you and the metering sensor(s), so especially with multi-segment (aka matrix, evaluative, etc), partial or spot metering the meter might be looking at the scene slightly differently that it would without IS. But that doesn't change the "too dark" issue..

Seen in a fortune cookie:Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed..

Travelinbri wrote:.

For instance, is it just as simple as if Im usually pretty steady upto 1/30th of a sec, now Im steady up to 1/10th? I understand what astop is, but how can IS help your pictures not be so dark?.

Here's one scenario..

You're in a museum where they don't allow flashes or tripods. Your camera meter shows that with available light and using your current ISO sensitivity and aperture, your shutter speed is going to be two seconds. You can't handhold for two seconds..

So to increase the shutter speed, you crank up the ISO to a sensitivity where you're going to get a more noisy shot, but you'll live with the extra grain to get the shot. You won't be in Vienna ever again in your lifetime..

You still want to increase shutter speed, so you open the aperture as much as you can while still maintaining the depth of field that you need to keep the whole subject in focus..

Now the camera's meter says your required shutter speed is 1/10 second. That's at least one stop below the best your handholding techique can manage. If you don't have image stabilization, you don't get the shot..

If you have image stabilization, you turn it on and get the shot..

Then you look at the LCD..

You realize the shot's too dark. So keeping everything else equal, you slow down the shutter speed even more. Now you're at 1/5 second, more than two stops below your best unassisted handholding technique. The needle in the viewfinder shows that your overexposing versus against what the automatic metering suggest. You don't care. You want a brighter image..

You steady yourself. Squeeze the release slowly..

Snap..

You get the shot that everyone else has walked away from..

Image control:Zoom outZoom 100%Zoom inExpand AllOpen in new window.

1/5s f/4.5 at 120.0mm iso1600..

Dennis Phillips wrote:.

If you have image stabilization, you turn it on and get the shot..

Not to diminish what you wrote, as it's fine. But if you don't have IS, there can be other ways. And you can use these techniques with IS too..

For instance, if there was a wall nearby, you can lean back or sideways to brace yourself. If there's a seat, sit on it, make a tripod with your elbows touching your knees. If there's a ledge or other immovable object about the right height and distance, rest the camera on it, perhaps using a beanbag. With any of these techniques, use continuous mode and pick the best shot (some will have less shake)..

I've captured seemingly impossible shots of paintings on church ceilings (on film, not yet scanned) by placing my camera lens-up on the floor, hitting the self timer, and standing back for the shot. Around 2 second exposure, I think. Helps that I was there early before other people got there, otherwise the camera likely would have been stepped on..

Then there's what I call the tension monopod, others have other names for it. It's an example where a picture really is worth 1000 words:.

Http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiskerke/artikelen/string.html.

Then you look at the LCD..

You realize the shot's too dark. So keeping everything else equal,you slow down the shutter speed even more..

And this is the most important part. The meter is not god. It cannot read your mind. It doesn't know how you want to capture the scene. Feel free to modify it (using exposure compensation, exposure lock, different metering patterns, etc) or just totally ignore it (using manual exposure)..

A histogram is the best meter of all, you get to see what the sensor sees. If it doesn't please you, change it. We didn't have this luxury with film. Best we could do was bracket (shoot at different exposures) and hope all turns out well when the film was developed..

PS: Nice pic!.

Seen in a fortune cookie:Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed..

That string solution looks very promising, especially for some of the longer heavier lenses where bobbing up and down is a greater problem than side to side sway..

Super portable. I'm going to experiment with this. Have you used it yourself?..

Dennis Phillips wrote:.

Super portable. I'm going to experiment with this. Have you used ityourself?.

For years. Mine isn't quite as super compact, but the added mass helps in other ways..

I use an old Bogen RC0 QR plate as the mounting point. A bit hefty, but can be installed tight without tools in a few seconds. Also gives a convenient place to tie the bootstring around when not in use. No need for a keyring, just drill and extra hole or two in the plate to use as the string mounting point. If you are careful with the drilling you can still use it as a QR plate..

Here's a similar plate:.

Http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...en_Manfrotto_3049_RC0_Quick_Release_Plate.html.

Seen in a fortune cookie:Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed..

Would it be wrong if I said I could kiss you guys? I truly appreciate people here allowing me to ask questions that are over obvious to most... Im learning a ton here, and improving every day!Cheers,-TBRI..

I like that string idea, I'm going to try it out, thanks...