Many of Canon's EF and EF-S lenses have built-in image stabilization.
Image stabilization or vibration reduction, whatever name you call the technology, it is designed to help photographers get sharper images under specific shooting circumstances. The mechanics behind the technology might vary from one company to another, but the basic idea is the same -- compensate for camera shake and movement through built-in lens technology.
What Causes Blur
Camera blur comes from three major sources -- movement of the photographer, movement of the camera and movement of the subject. Canon's image stabilization technology is designed to help photographers combat blur created by photographer movement and camera movement. Unfortunately at this time the technology cannot compensate for movement created by the subject. Slow shutter speeds and long focal length lenses multiply any movement created by the photographer or at the camera. At the time of publication, Canon has two stabilization technologies -- traditional stabilization and hybrid stabilization found in its EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM.
Canon's IS Technology
Like Nikon, Canon's stabilization technology resides in its lenses and not in its cameras. Canon's traditional stabilization uses angular velocity sensors, or gyroscopic sensors, to detect angular movement. Angular movement happens when the camera body stays on the same axis but moves up and down or side-to-side. Inside a Canon IS lens lies multiple sensors that detect pitch and yaw movement. These sensors communicate with the camera during exposure and shift some of the lens components in an inverse proportion to the amount of lens movement detected.
Hybrid IS Technology
Canon's hybrid IS technology builds on its traditional technology. The hybrid technology not only detects angular movement, it also detects shift movement. Shift movement occurs when the camera body and lens move side-to-side or up and down as a unit. Under these conditions the camera does not stay on its axis. The hybrid technology calculates the amount of shake found at the image plane and adjusts elements inside of the lens to compensate for both kinds of movement -- angular and shift. Shift movement is very common in hand-held macro photography where the slightest movement can cause a blurred image.
IS Benefits
Lenses with image stabilization offer a number of benefits to the photographer. Chief among these is the ability to capture sharper images more easily. The technology reduces the risk of blur associated with movement. Because Canon's image stabilization technology is built into its lenses another benefit to photographers is the ability to view crisper, sharper images in the viewfinder during composition. Other benefits include more accurate focusing, better panning capabilities when following moving subjects and more accurate in camera framing.
Tags: hybrid technology, image stabilization, sharper images, stabilization technology, angular movement, camera body