Do vibration-resistant lenses need tripods for ultra-sharp landscapes?

Question

Does it make sense to use vibration-resistant lenses for ultra-sharp landscapes?

I mean when the F is 16, we'll have to lower the shutter speed to a great deal.

So, if I use a VR lens, will I still require a tripod or will the VR lens handle the hand shaking on its own to a great deal?

Answer

The rule of thumb is you can hand hold a 50mm lens at 1/50th second, or a 100mm at 1/100th second and have reasonable lack of camera shake. VR extends that a few stops. So it depends on the amount of light.

In bright sunlight, at f/16 and a 35mm lens, you wouldn't need a tripod or VR.

In low light, VR won't be enough, you'll need a tripod

In between there will be a few instances where you could make use of VR, where hand- holding would not really be possible, but there is enough light that with VR you can get a decent image. But as the light fades you'll have to increase to f/8 and f/5.6 because VR won't be enough when the shutter speed drops to 1/8th second.

You can steady the camera against a tree or rock or car window if you don't have a tripod, but as a general rule I'd say a tripod is more useful to landscape photography than VR.

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