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I'm not sure I trust image stabilization. Isn't it just like ground loop fixers for car stereo - a hack at the problem, but not a real solution? Optical image stabilization from Canon seems like much less of a hack than digital image stabilization (which I can't find a description of) in the Pentax. Still, a hack, which a proper lens and proper knowledge of its use would overcome. Right?


Uhhhh... no.

Proper lens and knowledge of its use have nothing to do with camera motion at the moment of exposure.

Image Stabilization uses motion sensors built into the camera to compensate for any movement or shake of the camera as the picture is being taken. It actually moves the lens elements very slightly to keep the image focused in the same spot on the CCD sensor. It will allow you to hand-hold a camera with shutter speeds four (or more) times slower then you could without IS, and still get acceptable pictures. For example, 1/60 of a second is normally considered the slowest "hand-holdable" shutter speed for most people. With a good IS system, you can get the same results at 1/15 second, and with steady hands, even pictures taken at 1/8 second will be usable. Optical IS does seem to get better results than software IS, but any IS helps a great deal.

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Namely, there must be a good lens specifically for indoor press pictures.


There is no such thing. There are good lenses and there are poor lenses, but they aren't categorized by what kind of pictures you use them for. What makes a lens "good" is its sharpness, its light-gathering capability, and its freedom from distortion. All lenses are compromises. For instance, a DSLR lens can have better sharpness, better light gathering, and less distortion, but this will come at the expense of versatility and price. I don't think you will find much better than a 3:1 zoom ratio on a DSLR lens. This would make transitioning from a shooting range of "...3 feet to 50 feet (many rows back in a small lecture room)" problematical without having more than one lens. By contrast, the Panasonic camera I mentioned has a 12:1 optical zoom. If I set the camera into 3 megapixel mode, the zoom ratio extends to more than 20:1. That means I can have the same image size at 200 feet away as I would have if the subject were just 10 feet away. You'd need a wheelbarrow to carry around all the lenses a DSLR would need to have that same versatility.

I highly recommend that you go to dpreview.com, pick virtually any camera at random and read their full in-depth review, not to learn about that camera, but to gain a great deal of knowledge about digital photography in general. I used to be a professional photographer (no big deal -- it was just supplemental income, shooting car races and the occasional wedding, but I did it for money and had a business license so I guess that made me a professional) in the days before digital cameras, and just about everything I know about digital I learned by studying the reviews at dpreview.com.

tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"