I have a Nikon D80 that I love. Unfortunately, I have a problem sometimes with my hands shaking, so I bought a 55-200mm VR lens, hoping this would help. I find that this lens makes noise when focusing, and the image in the viewfinder shifts when you release the shutter. Do all VR lenses do this?

--Denetiza Jones, Alabama

First, some terminology: VR is the name Nikon uses for its "Vibration Reduction" lenses. Canon's "Image Stabilization" (IS) lenses work essentially the same way.

To answer your question, Denetiza, yes: All VR and IS lenses will make some noise and shift the image. Basically, there's an arrangement of gyroscopes in the lens that drives motors to move optical elements around in the lens. All that makes a little noise, but it shouldn't be especially loud. I own a handful of VR lenses and I have used Canon IS lenses. None of them have made significant enough noise to bother me. If yours is really loud, you might want to take it back to the store to get checked out. Likewise, the image will definitely shift when you release the shutter, since the gyros are no longer holding the image still. You should expect this behavior.