The Image Stabilizer: Move'n & Shake'n

The Image Stabilizer: Move'n & Shake'n

"Be very nervous of the shaky hands." - Ja Rule

     If you've recently bought a a fancy new camera or lens, you might just have some sort of image stabilization available for use. Different brands all have their own patented & proprietary version, but for the most part, they all do the same thing: they take the shakes out of your pictures.

     Depending on the brand of camera or lens you have, it could be called image stabilization, optical stabilization, steady shot, or vibration reduction. There's even more names than that too! For the simplicity of this article, I'll just call it image stabilization (IS) even though that may not be the correct terminology for all brands. If you find out that your camera or lens has it (go look!), check to see if it's turned on. If it isn't, you're in for a big, beautiful, happy surprise! Image stabilization is the best thing since sliced br...wait. No, gravity. It's the best thing since gravity. 

A Canon Lens With Image Stabilization

     Image stabilization (IS) corrects unwanted camera shake which could be caused by an awkward position while shooting (leaning over a fence), breathing (heavily), shooting in a moving vehicle (as a passenger of course), or just from having shaky hands (put down those energy drinks!). It does this in a number of ways, and can depend on the brand of camera or lens. For Canon , Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, and maybe some others, the built-in IS is performed in the lens. For Sony, Pentax, Olympus, and a few others, the built-in IS is performed by moving the actual sensor in the camera! Both in-camera IS systems work, and both have advantages & disadvantages. There's also the option to use external gyros, and even simple weights!

     For a built-in IS system to be integrated into the lens, the lens must include not only a moving glass element (or group of elements), but it must also include movement sensors, several very tiny motors with gears and a computer to control it all. When the sensors detect some sort of camera shake, they relay the information to the computer which analyzes the info and tells which motors to turn on, what to do, and how much to do it! And all of this happens in a fraction of a second so all you see is a nice smooth image in the viewfinder... Ahh. This type of system does add weight, and unfortunately, it also adds a lot of price.

A Nikon Lens With Vibration Reduction (VR)

Photo by Jastrow (Own work) [CC-BY-2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

The sensor based IS systems do the same thing, but instead of moving a glass element in the lens, they move the actual image sensor to compensate for a potentially blurry image that's passing through the lens. The advantage of this is that there's no need to buy new lenses in order to use image stabilization. You can use image stabilization with a 30 year old prime!

     External gyros were more of a specialty device used on very old or large equipment and were mainly found on commercial movie sets. However, as technology keeps advancing, and consumer grade cameras become more capable in making movies, external gyros are making their way into common use. They're still very expensive to own, but they are available.

     Weights are, well, weights. They're the poor mans gyro...sort of. They work based on the simple idea that the small vibrations created with our hands aren't enough to shake the heavy weight attached to the camera, and therefore, the camera doesn't shake either. They certainly can make a difference, though they may not be as effective as the other methods, and your arms will hate you for not spending the extra money!

In these two exciting pictures, no settings were changed, 

except for turning on the image stabilization.

Handheld, f 9.0, 6th/sec, ISO 1600

     I won't dive into the history of image stabilization, nor all the intricate pros and cons of each system, as that would make this post WAY too long; so I'll post some links below in case your interested in reading up on it. 
 
     To sum up this rather short article, I'll say this: Image stabilization is like air conditioning and automatic transmissions in a car; they used to be very costly options, but now they're standard on nearly every vehicle. I think it's because we've realized that certain "luxuries" are so wonderful and helpful, that having them is not so much an advantage as not having them is a disadvantage. Or think of electricity: it used to be a "plus" if you could afford it, now it's a "neutral" because everyone has it, and it would be a "negative" if you didn't have it. Make sense? Anyway, if you don't have some kind of image stabilization, now you know what your missing. Go buy it. 

     Please, if you have any questions, comments, or corrections, just write them in the comment box below; your feedback helps to improve the content! And, I would LOOOOOVE it if you share my articles using the little icon thingies below!! :) Thanks!




Here's some links, start reading!
Canon
Nikon Explains
Olympus 5-axis sensor shift  
Bobatkins
Kenyon Laboratories