my van has a 4.3 liter v6. and all wheel drive, for our winter roads.
that's bigger than some v8's
But I can load up kids, camera equipment, camping gear, and a large dog, drive the backroads across manitoba for a weekend of camping...
when we got all six kids with, we have a camper trailer, too.
we couldn't get by with a car of any sort, much less a compact.

thanx for the trip down memory lane...
when you're partway between banff and jasper...
you'll hit a patch of road where you'll feel like you're going down a winding goat trail...only to hit a hairpin tight loop before following another goat trail up the mountian on the other side....

Gerri and I tore through that strip on my fj1200 at a mind numbing velocity....

last tip...slow down and take some pictures!

also some dessicant for your camera bags.
in vegas you'll have huge swings in temps from day to night, and bc rains alot!

I'm thinking of converting my van to alcohol, and building a still....
Then If I can't afford to travel anywhere, I can console myself, knowing that me an the van run on the same fuel....

Cost me $130.00 cdn last time I filled up (I never let the thing below 1/8th of a tank).

Don't know for sure, I'm not good with numbers and Gerri isn't around to ask.

But for $130.00, I felt cheated, like I got $CREWED, and they didn't even buy me a drink or dinner or anything....

that is one of the most amazing drives in the world!
I'd suggest you add a defibrillator, for when you see the gas prices?
also a polarizer, uv filter, graduated nd filter, tripod, and window mount (bogen superclamp and rubber pad work also).

maybe two more memory cards

My original post was in fact a question based on an observation that I wanted to verify. Not a proclimation of scientific discovery.
But thank you for your time and effort! I do appreciate it.
until I hear others ring in with thier input, I'm done with this.
You did an amazing job with the testing, and if anybody in the future argues with me about sr not causing blur when used with a tripod....I'll refer 'em here.

but you also have me convinced that my solution of turning off sr with wide to normal lenses in low light is right.

we are debating whether or not it is adversely affecting image quality, in an area where it should provide a clear and provable advantage.

if it doesn't provide a clear advantage, where I reach my limits, then I lose nothing by turning it off.

ps
ChrisA said:

(advice against manufacturers warning)

then:
(good thing you tested)

and finally:

javascript:emoticon('')

You did everybody a service with your tests.
you displaced a myth about why the manufacturer recomends not using sr with tripod.
You deserve credit for that.
I think, maybe, you were being a little hard me, personally.
But no harm, no hard feelings.

Don said "my hypothesis was that the camera was inducing shake with the sr on and the camera stable. I accept your results. (well done!). "

So I did listen.

Don also said "ok here's one for all you low light shooters:
if using sr with a tripod causes blur in the images...
what happens if you have good technique, and steady hands....no tripod...will sr induce blur, or improve your shots?
I've been experimenting. With shots in low light, 1/2 sec exp at f2 iso 100, I'm getting sharper images without sr....
any steady handed shooters out there care to try also, and let me know how it works out for you?
I'd like to rule out any problems with my cameras before drawing conclusions."

So I do see that your experiment resolved one issue, but your methods did not replicate the original observations circumstances.

so you did not prove me wrong on my observation, except the hypothosis that a stable camera on a tripod (my hands are not as stable as a tripod, or I wouldn't spend money on three of them) would get shake induced.

that I could see a difference, grab the ds2 and get better results, switch off sr on the k10, and get better results, and grab Gerri's k10 and repeat the same results, proves either that my case study is too small, or both Gerri's k10 and mine have the same glitch, or I have some kind of hand shake that only happens when when I pick up a k10 with sr on...don't forget I also shoot video, shaky hands would manifest there, real good.

if your tests disprove the common belief that sr will induce shake on a tripod mounted camera, I accept that.

I asked if anybody had similar experiance, and thank you for ruling out that variable.
now if nobody else has had similar observations then it would be a safe assumption that what I observed was nothing more than a coincidence.

But so far you have only proven the first part, of a two part question to be based on a misconception...the second half cannot be answered by your test methods...

my method of polling a larger sample will produce more accurate results than your method of using a tripod, to find out if a steady handed shooter without tripod is getting adverse results.

so if we can get a couple dozen shooters that consider themselves steady handed to fire off a couple hundred shots each (as I suggested before, under similar circumstances as described...) and let us know if thier averages improve or decrease or stay the same, we'll know if the original obsevation was correct.

tell that to the eggheads like Einstien and Edison who believed in the existance of radiation, before they devised ways to see it.

questioning your methods does not make one irrational.

I'm suggesting you need to do a statistical analysis.

first finding out where your limits on handheld abilities lay, then working out where the sr is affecting your averages. Ideally you'd want to repeat the test with more than one shooter (100's would be best) to call it "evidence"

I made an observation, (so I did see something, I've spent years practicing handholding in lowlight to make myself much better than average when I walk into a dim church for client, and I did see a drop in my averages when I started using the k10, but not the ds2, with the same lenses) and adapted my shooting for it, and resolved the issue for me. I'm just trying to help you get it sorted for yourself, so if your convinced...I'm good.

my observation was, I was getting sharper images handheld, with the 1.4 and wide angles like the 16-45, with long exposures. I stand by that observation.
my hypothesis was that the camera was inducing shake with the sr on and the camera stable. I accept your results. (well done!).

now to complete your study: (I for one don't have time to thouroghly test this one).

to prove or disprove my original observation, you may want to repeat your tests with the lenses I used (I already pointed out the effect didn't happen wth telephoto/longer focal lengths (thank you for confirming that with the 100mm)) and no tripod.

I'd suggest firing off a 1000 or more shots handheld with sr on and another with sr off, using the wides to standard lenses, after firing off 1000 images with sr off at increasingly long shutter speeds to determine the longest shutter speeds you can handhold.
then analyze your data to determine where the sr helped, by how much, and if the sr hindered and by how much.

Happy Shooting!

I like #1 also