Yes—stabilization can be genuinely useful below 200mm, but its value depends on subject motion and focal length.

IS/VR only reduces camera shake; it does not stop subject movement. So for moving people, leaves, or water, it won’t replace a fast enough shutter speed. But that doesn’t make it useless. It helps whenever the subject is fairly static or moving slowly enough that a modest shutter speed is acceptable.

From the shared experiences, stabilization is especially helpful in the mid-range focal lengths (roughly 50–135mm), where handholding limits become more noticeable but subjects may still be fine at 1/30–1/60s. That includes indoor available-light shots, portraits, weddings, architecture, and low-light scenes where you want lower ISO or more depth of field.

At very wide angles, the benefit is often smaller because you can already handhold slower speeds. At fast wide-angle lenses, it may matter less. But even there, stabilization can help for static scenes when you don’t have a tripod.

So it’s not just marketing hype: it has real value, just not for every subject or every lens. The shorter the focal length and the more the subject moves, the less benefit you’ll see.