Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting handheld. Even when I’m shooting sports and wildlife with a big and hefty telephoto lens, I much prefer the freedom of movement that handheld shooting gives me. And for some reason that I still don’t fully understand, I’ve never got along with even the best monopods. But things get tricky under low lighting conditions, where shutter speeds slow down and camera-shake becomes an ever-present danger. There’s no point investing in sharp lenses if shaky hands give you blurred pictures. Back in the day, any self-respecting photographer would simply reach for a tripod, but image stabilization has changed all that.
