Canton Tower and Image stabilization
To take a perfectly sharp photo the tripod is the best tool for any photographer. However the tripod can only be as steady as the platform it is standing on. If you are standing on a hanging rope bridge or on a cruise boat the tripod is just as wobbly as the boat or the ropes. The solution is usually higher shutter speed or high ISO setting. High ISO will be a problem for smaller sensor cameras. However we don't normally bring bulky and heavy cameras to dinner cruise or high hanging rope bridge. The answer is Image stabilization or IS. There are three types of IS - a lens base or Optical Image stabilization, the second one is sensor base image stabilization. These two are highly recommended and the results are equally good. The last one is called electronic image stabilization which is not as good as the other two but is better than none. The photographs below were taken by my better half when she was on a Zhujiang dinner cruise in Guangzhou, China during her visit to som