Olympus OM-D E-M5 Image 5-axis Stabilization
Just added to my review of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 in DAP is a study of image stabilization. Impressive.
Jon M writes:
Thank you for your work in all your photo publications – incredibly useful for someone who wants to understand what is really happening to their equipment. I am interested in understanding what happens to image stabilization.
Now that we have a truly interchangeable system in MFT, what happens if you combine a optically stabilized lens (I own several Panasonics and a Leica) with a camera stabilized body (Like the OMD-EM5)? Do they help each other? Do they work against each other? Do you have to turn one off?
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I find your comment that OIS is inferior interesting. The manufacturers and salespeople make a lot of effort to try to convince us otherwise. Do you base your comment on the experiment you made with the OMD-EM5 or on other evidence too?
DIGLLOYD: With regards to optical image stabilization (in the lens) vs camera body stabilization, my guess is that turning off optical image stabilization is the way to go on the E-M5. I don’t think they would help each other, but I would think they might interact badly (causing blur in combination as the two systems surprise each other), just as OIS can damage image quality on a tripod. But this is my best guess, not a fact.
My statement about OIS is not a general one but specific to the E-M5— OIS has generally been superior. I am saying that the E-M5 offers the most impressive image stabilization that I have yet used on any camera. Must be the 5-axis thing, and it applies to video as well (VERY impressive).