Peter, using a monopod with the VR turned on is very useful if you have to shoot at something less than camera shake stop motion shutter speed. As a general rule VR only has value when camera shake can enter your shot. If you are shooting at stop motion speeds you should turn the VR off. For camera shake stop motion the general rule is to use a shutter speed that is the inverse of the focal length, i.e. 200mm = 1/200 sec. If you are shooting at less than that speed then turn on the VR, if much less than that speed then use the VR and a monopod. If you are using a tripod with the camera locked down then turn the VR off. You may already know all of this and it's been said before but it's always worth repeating. More shots have been lost because even experienced photographers forget to apply these simple guide lines.