"Stephen Greenfield" <NotMyEmailAddress@screenplay.com> wrote in message news:bkfabg$v68$1@nntp2-cm.news.eni.net...

> "David Ruether" <rpn1@no-junk.cornell.edu> wrote in message

> news:bkeu83$p24$1@news01.cit.cornell.edu...

> > I agree. I've used cameras with both types, and, depending

> > mostly on the quality of the implementation, the results with

> > either can be excellent, or poor.

> Specifically in the case of Sony's "SteadyShot" or "Super SteadyShot" (they

> tend to be inconsistent in the way they apply that label), I've found the

> Sony optical to be superior to the Sony electronic.

Then we disagree. As I said earlier, "with good versions of both,

they are VERY hard to tell apart in action" - and the good of both

were Sony...;-)

>While I've never

> analyzed blurring during a rapid pan, I'm pretty confident that the

> stabilization on the TRV950 is superior to any of the electronic

> implementations I've seen on Sony cameras.

>Typical camera handling seems

> considerably improved by the stabilization on the 950.

I will soon see...;-)

> I think the smaller cameras are more difficult to hold, too. As a former

> film cinematographer, I'm used to having some weight to the camera, and

> perhaps that helps contribute to the stability of the TRV950. But I also

> ran some unscientific tests with the TRV950 & my wife, who has a lot of

> problems keeping our Sony PC-5 steady. The results were significantly more

> stable with the TRV950.

It is true that generally it is easier to hold fairly steady heavier, longer gear

(at least for a time...;-), though the VX2000 is particularly hard to hold

steady with the lens zoomed long - and I find my PC9 very easy to hold

steady, so the rule of thumb does not always hold...

> So perhaps Canon or other vendors electronic stabilization is excellent, but

> at least in my PC-5 and other Sony cameras, I haven't had that experience.

I would try other gripping approaches with it (and of course hold it in

the right hand and steady it with the left - with fingers along the top edge,

thumb at the bottom edge, and eyepiece finder at eye...). I prefer to hold the

PC9 like a gun handle, with the thumb on the start/stop, the first finger through

the strap and on the zoom control, and the rest wrapped around the camera

(outside the strap).

--

David Ruether

d_ruether@hotmail.com

http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com