Having just got a dSLR (Nikon D50, rather low-end) with the cheap kit-lens (some Quantaray lens), I had been looking for a better lens. Most of the photos I take are inside, mainly snapshots. I've never seen flash photos that look that great, so I prefer to use the existing light. Of course, indoors, this makes for some really nasty blur in most cases. There's just not enough light inside my house to be able to get a fast enough shutter speed.

I read some reviews about the Nikon VR (Vibration Reduction) lenses, and that they supposedly compensate for 3 full stops. I tried one VR lens out in a store, and it seemed pretty interesting, so I ordered the Nikkor 18-200 VR. Unfortunately, Nikon apparently doesn't know anything about logistics or manufacturing, and this lens is backordered 2-6 months (depending on who you ask). Since I don't want to be taking crappy shots for that long, I grabbed the Nikkor 24-120 VR as a temporary lens. Well, I'm not sure it'll help my crappy shots, but at least they won't be blurry.

I got home, it's dusk, and decided to try it out. For fun, I set the exposure to 1 second, and well, let the results speak for themselves:


VR Off:


VR On:


Ignore the actual value of the image (I'm not a photographer), but just look at the blur. Granted, I was lying against a sofa, so I had a bit of something to lean on, but the difference with VR on == wow! So, given a bit of support, I can take pictures, handheld, with exposures > 1/15, no problem. Worth every dollar.

Yes, I know this is nothing new, but I'm so impressed I wanted to write it down (also helps my rationalization on buying the lens :)).