before IS was invented...

Congrats, Eryk! I'm about ten minutes away from making the exact same purchase, albeit brand-new!

I've never used IS, so I figure I won't miss it. £630 is enough as it is, thank-you-very-much!

Chiva wrote in post #4921751
people are too fussy these days.

I'll say.

Why, just the other day, a friend of mine insisted on being anaesthetised before his appendectomy, instead of just biting down on a stick like we used to do in the Good Old Days...

As a matter of interest, do you drive a car, or ride around in a horse and cart?

Live in a house, or in a wattle-and-daub hut?

Thought so...

Repeat after me: "progress is sometimes a good thing..."

I got a friend who regulary shoots the 500L non IS hand held... although, he also regulary shoots rifels and hand guns too...lol its all about technique.... which I DONT seem to have so I need IS or a tripod!

Keith R wrote in post #4922467
Repeat after me: "progress is sometimes a good thing..."

Ok, ok, forgive my ignorance/misconceptio​n.
I agree that yes, IS is a good technology that works, otherwise Canon wouldn't be selling so many units.
I agree that IS has helped many people obtain usable photos that otherwise may have been ruined by blur.

But what i was trying to say was that good technique is sometimes lost because of IS. not all the time however. For example, without IS, the photographer needs to utilize the components around him/her, wall, correct stance, correct way to hold the camera, etc, and with IS the photographer can just stand in front of the subject without worrying about their stance and shoot.
So i guess you could see this as convenient, but i sometimes think it ruins the practise and perfection of good technique.

I apologize if I offended you by saying that IS users are all lazy, but this is what i was trying to get at.

and Keith, "progress is ALWAYS a good thing"

I saw a link somewhere on techniques on how to hold a camera. One tip that I remembered was resting a telephoto lens on your left elbow, with your hand resting on the other arm. I tried this with my new 70-300 and it seems like it might work quite well compared to just resting it on your left hand like you would with a standard zoom.

My training and experience in firearms shooting techniques and my use of cameras with long lenses blended quite well in the olden days.

The techniques of creating a solid platform out of one's body and controlling breathing really do apply. I have, for example, very effectively used sitting positions for photography that mirror that used the similar techniques for rifle shooting.

Personally for me IS isn't needed for what I shoot. Sure my muscles are not what they used to be but none of my old lenses had IS, never heard of such a thing back then. Never even thought about it. I primarily used velvia 50 and 100, and sometimes provia 400 if it was darker. For print film I used 100-400 ISO depending on what I needed. I never had blurry images even with low ISO. The only probelm I had was a dark bar where my husbands band played and I used 1600 color film and didn't use a color changing filter for their red lights and everything was thinged, but no blur, now with the 30D and a similar lens (used the 50 1.4FD on the film and the 50 1.4EF on the 30D) my 30D images at 3200 were not as nice as the FD stuff.

I have thought about getting the 70-200 zoom, but I really prefer primes. Maybe that's why I've never needed IS, I shoot with lighter primes not zooms. Sure once I get my 400 I'll need help, but from a monopod, not IS. If that lens comes out with IS I'll have to buy an old non IS version before they sell out.

my IS is working out every day.

that being said, my hands are way too shaky. if i shot more telephoto work, i'd definitely get IS verson of my lens (70-200mm f4L).

holding the camera properly is really important and i find breathing out while shooting is helpful too. i find the "shoot and spray" style of photography causes more hand shake (at least with me.) when I think more about the picture and take the time to compose it properly, i find im more steady. different things work for different people though. IS is really one of the best things that has happened for camera lenses recently. I'm just waiting for lenses like the 35mm f1.4 to have IS (call me crazy) but wouldn't it be insane to shoot f1.4 with ISO pumped up to 800 and shutter speed at... lets say 1/6th hand held with a nice steady shot? you could take pictures in complete darkness!

ed rader wrote in post #4921750
a 16 oz budweiser is worth one stop .

Just as coffee is the anti-IS!

Back in the old days, we shot uphill. Both ways! Barefoot and in the snow. Oh wait, wrong reference...

You know, sometimes I wish that I was alive when people used to travel in horses and carriages.

We've become too lazy...

disboifan wrote in post #4921841
they used this ... http://www.switched.co​m …tabilizer-for-any-camera/

nice. very interesting to see

ed rader wrote in post #4921750
a 16 oz budweiser is worth one stop .

ed rader

One helps! Three 16oz budweisers subtracts from the benefit of IS!

Photos sucked (technically that is) more often than not back in the day.

Double Negative wrote in post #4922984
Just as coffee is the anti-IS!

Back in the old days, we shot uphill. Both ways! Barefoot and in the snow. Oh wait, wrong reference...

hahahaha. thats awesome!

Are you trying to make yourself feel better for buying the non-IS version

J/K...I'm sure you can handhold a 2.8 w/ no problem in daylight and mount it on a tripod at night.