Hi There,

In keeping with what I term "The Tomcat Spirit" :-) I conducted a second test on his copy of the Leica Vario Elmarit 4/3 14-50mm from his L1.

The goal of this test is to see Panasonic's MegaOIS image stabilization technology at work in an available light, flash free, high ISO environment. To get a reasonably realistic test environment, I set the lens at its maximum focal length of 50mm where handshake is most visible.

Normally a 1/90s shutterspeed or faster would be the threshold to counter handshake.

The aperture was kept at its maximum at F3.5. When used at ISO 800 & 1600, shutter speeds of 1/15 & 1/30 seconds were obtained respectively. These shutter speeds are what I consider IMO to be practical compromises when shooting with IS. I was shooting in Manual mode, WB was set to AUTO, AF was in AF-S mode and I kept its focus point at the Olympus logo of my beloved OM4Ti :-) I shot in RAW & converted to JPEG in Olympus Studio "Advanced High Function" mode.

Strangely, the AF-Mode in EXIF indicated Manual which seems to be a bug from my observation.

Here're the samples the first two at ISO1600, the next two at ISO800, for each ISO the first without IS, the second with. To my eyes, the benefits of IS are apparent and practical for the available light shooter at longer focal lengths.

Form your own opinions, and yes, I tried my darnest best to keep my hands steady throughout even tho' coffee is my distant friend :-)

ISO1600, 1/30 sec


IS-OFF, 100% Cropped.



IS-ON, 100% Cropped.

ISO800, 1/15 sec


IS-OFF, 100% Cropped.



IS-ON, 100% Cropped.

Once more, test made possible with lens loan from Tomcat :-)

Cheers,

Hi There,

I've added 100% cropped samples to give a clearer idea of the effects of image-stabilization. Just a note that this is not a topic on E1 noise at high ISOs :-)

Cheers,

Forget the OIS, get a tripod. Cheaper option. Joking only. OIS will help in many shooting situations. Blu was on a night boat/river cruise not too long ago and found that the OIS do help. (not the L1 but a much older P&S from Panasonic.)

Thanks for the test. I find that anything less than 1/30s, it's quite difficult to be corrected with IS. Nevertheless, it does help to provide sharper images than none.

Out of topic:
Chancy, I saw that you have Mario Party 4 for GC. Eh, how's it? I have Party 6! So, you are a fan of GC too?

Blu-By-U wrote (View Post): › Forget the OIS, get a tripod. Cheaper option. Joking only. OIS will help in many shooting situations. Blu was on a night boat/river cruise not too long ago and found that the OIS do help. (not the L1 but a much older P&S from Panasonic.)

Hi Blu, the cheapest option is to practise & breathing techniques handholding techniques, it's free & leads you to the way of zen :-)

ykkok wrote (View Post): › Thanks for the test. I find that anything less than 1/30s, it's quite difficult to be corrected with IS. Nevertheless, it does help to provide sharper images than none. Out of topic: Chancy, I saw that you have Mario Party 4 for GC. Eh, how's it? I have Party 6! So, you are a fan of GC too?

Hi Ykkok, I think you've nailed the point on IS as not a panacea but a helpful hand that leads you to the halfway point, it opens up options to compromises :-)

This test has shown that even for a moderate tele wide zoom, IS has it's place.

I would love to see Olympus adopt IS in its body, following the steps of Sony/KM & Pentax. And give us the option to decide when IS is appropriate to use.

OT : Yup, GCs and the party combo are a family friendly entertainment choice. Now don't tell me, Oly users like Macs, & are Nintendo fans too

Cheers,