> But nothing worse than blurred pictures because the shutter speed > wasn't > fast enough. For that "IS" sure saves your day. But of course, one > can > always request the action to be stopped until the tripod was > properly setup.
To address your concern, I would say the included tripod collar looks gorgeous, and a waste not to use it. So I put that on a Bogen/Manfrotto height-adjustable monopod. The tripod collar is rotating so it is fun to take vertical shots. The tripod collar for the old F* 300/4.5 is equally inviting, or maybe even more so because of the Pentax factor :) When not using those 300mm's, I have a Stroboframe Vertaflip (the light version, hard to find) as monopod head, so that I can rotate 90 degrees very securely just like the tripod collars. The monopod is not that big or heavy to carry, and one such device works for all lenses. The monopod has outstanding backward and forward compatibility, working on all Pentax bodies and lenses with no issues whatsoever with crippled mounts or J series crippled lenses. In fact the monopod is compatible with any brand, any mount, any format and fully digital-ready to boot. :) Thinking about it, we have a standard-size tripod screw hole and we ought to thank God for giving us that. Really, I don't know why anyone would expect to handhold a lens exceeding 1kg in weight (e.g. any 70-200/2.8, or 300/4) and get away with that using "new technology". IS is based on the assumption that you can lift the lens up, because no electro-optical system could provide an anti-gravitational field to help you with that part. After only half a roll or so my arm fatigue would impair my judgement resulting in poor pictures. Admittedly I am quite frail and I am getting older. 10 years ago I was very to happy to lug around those monsterous 2.8 zooms.
