4stops of stabilization to take faster shutter speed-Seven blade aperture-STM Stepping motor for fast quiet focusing!-Full time manual focusCons-Relatively small

IS counteracts the effects of hand shake when shooting at a speed slower than needed.

Also, since you're shooting so wide, speeds like 1/25 or 1/40 will suffice for hand held shots

If you need to use it handheld in low light, the IS should more than make up for the slower shutter speed

Only real complaint is speed, you won't be shooting indoor sports with this, not that you're likely to want to

While I may need to use a flash in limited light situations, the IS allows you to balance slower shutter speeds with higher aperture for great pictures in the majority of situations.

The Image Quality is excellent and with the IS built in, I can take pretty good hand-held pictures even in low light because with IS I can shoot at a slower shutter speed.

The primary negative is the slow speed and the variable aperture--but for the price, what can you expect?

Having only f/4.5 wide open at 10mm indoors (with indoor lighting) means slower shutter speeds or bumping up the ISO to 400, 800, or 1600, which is less than ideal, or even worse, having to use flash.

I just wish I could afford the better lens(s)