jradose wrote:
It is recommended that when shooting off hand, your shutter speed should be equal to or greater than the focal length of the lens to avoid blurry pictures due to camera shake. So, if I am using a 200mm lens, with my crop sensor camera, effective focal length is 300 mm. Let's say it is bright sunny out, and I am shooting shutter speed 1/800 sec. Should I turn the VR (or VC or OS, whatever your brand calls it) off leave it on, or does it even matter?
It isn't providing much effectiveness at speeds faster than that, but I'd leave it on.
The formula is 1/(focal length X the crop factor) or faster.
Whether you need to switch it OFF when using a tripod depends on the particular camera, so see your manual. With some models of some brands, it makes no difference. With others, you HAVE to turn it off for sharp photos. If in doubt, do a controlled test both ways.