"Again, do not agree!!! Mode ii IS is used for panning!!!" Correct - it is for panning - keeping the subject in the same spot - but the environment will be motion blurred with a longer shutter speed because the environment is moving in the frame - not the subject. Panning is a constant directional move of the camera to keep the SUBJECT in a constant place as you PAN the camera. "Surely, that is due to bad photography skills? Personally, I would be focusing on the band!" Gotta pick one or the other, and that was just an example I gave of how those lenses will work in that situation. Moving stage performers in low light. With a longer shutter speed (needed for handheld work in low light sits), the drummer is moving, the singer is bouncing back and forth, guitarists strumming away - the performers are all moving in DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, and the stage is stationary. Hence, if you're trying to keep your camera still so you won't have camera shake motion blur (which is the only part these lenses really help correct), the performers will still move around in the frame and cause THEIR motion blur. The only way to freeze everything at once is a fast shutter speed. The point of IS/VR/AS is that your aim will not be "jittery" and have camera shake for longer shutter speeds - particularly for longer lenses - think of looking through binoculars, then try and take that memory and equate it with taking a shot at 1/30th sec. Not "focusing better", but less "camera shake" so that your subject, or choice of focus, will not be jittery in the final shot because you don't have a tripod for a longer shutter speed.