Unscientific IBIS test

Rick M

Senior Member
Below is a casual IBIS test conducted on my messy desk. Both exposures are 1/2 second, the first is one shot with IBIS on (only one taken) and the second is the best of 15 subsequent shots with IBIS off. I shot with IBIS off 15 times to try and get the best I could accomplish hand held. steadier hands might do better, but that would be true of both. The first 2 are the originals downsized, the second are extreme crops (200+ %ish), no editing beyond the crops. The lens is the Nikon Z 50mm 1.8s, pinpoint focus point which I tried to keep in the circle of the 6.

On
DSC_0101.jpg


Off
DSC_0109.jpg


On
DSC_0101-2.jpg


Off (best of 15 continuous shots)
DSC_0109-2.jpg


Despite being unscientific, it is the reality of what I can expect when shooting.
 

Danno

Senior Member
That looks pretty good to me given that you will be rarely shooting at that shutter speed. You have a steadier hand than I do but that IBIS still locks it down.
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
That looks pretty good to me given that you will be rarely shooting at that shutter speed. You have a steadier hand than I do but that IBIS still locks it down.

I've seen some decent 1 second shots on other IBIS systems. Comes in handy if you like the smooth water effect and dont have a tripod with you.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Very interesting to see the results, Rick! Although I don't have a Z body, it's still nice to see what they can do.

Has anyone ever compared IBIS only vs lens VR only?

And this is a question I was wondering myself. That would also be an interesting comparison.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
IBIS works great and its an asset to any camera, what sticks in my craw is the online attitude that to be any good a camera must have it, for the majority of users lens VR will suffice.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Has anyone ever compared IBIS only vs lens VR only?

That is an interesting idea Woody. I have never done it. I feel my photos are sharper, but it is purely anecdotal. The only way to test this though is to compare it to another camera because the setting of the lens determines if IBIS will work if the lens has VR.

The way the system works for the IBIS to work the VR on the lens must be turned on, and if the VR is on you will use VR and IBIS together. I think it would take using two cameras to do that kind of test.
 

Paliswe

Senior Member
That is an interesting idea Woody. I have never done it. I feel my photos are sharper, but it is purely anecdotal. The only way to test this though is to compare it to another camera because the setting of the lens determines if IBIS will work if the lens has VR.

The way the system works for the IBIS to work the VR on the lens must be turned on, and if the VR is on you will use VR and IBIS together. I think it would take using two cameras to do that kind of test.

I have done that test, not intentionally but it just came out that way. I have a 200mm f4 from the early 70' that I mounted on my Z6 with an FTZ. I could clearly see the microshakes on the display when zoomed in ten times. Then, when I got the 24-200mm Z-lens, there were no microshakes at 200mm.
There's a reason why Nikon have VR on the longer Z-lenses, the IBIS just don't keep up with these small shakes, but together they do an excellent jobb.
 

Danno

Senior Member
I have done that test, not intentionally but it just came out that way. I have a 200mm f4 from the early 70' that I mounted on my Z6 with an FTZ. I could clearly see the microshakes on the display when zoomed in ten times. Then, when I got the 24-200mm Z-lens, there were no microshakes at 200mm.
There's a reason why Nikon have VR on the longer Z-lenses, the IBIS just don't keep up with these small shakes, but together they do an excellent jobb.

Thanks @Paliswe, that is very interesting. I had a feeling that might well be the case. Thank you for giving that a try.
 

Paliswe

Senior Member
Having nothing to do (Corona and cold weather, light snow) I did some research and further tests.
One thing that is important, mounting a non-CPU lens on the Z-kameras with IBIS, is to set the proper values in Settings Menu (Tool -> Data for Non-CPU lens) so IBIS get the right information about what lens that is mounted. You can specify up to 20 lenses, it's not only focal length but also the biggest aperture.
When switching non-CPU lens, this has to be changed as well. Only one focal length can be set at a time, how to deal with older zoom lenses, I don't know.

I have one 200mm, when Non-CPU setting is on 50mm the picture is rather shaky, when on 200mm it's much better.
I also have an old 50mm lens, when Non-CPU setting is on 200mm, the picture is very shaky, when on 50mm it's much better.
So this setting is important when it comes to IBIS performance.
All new lenses (Z-lenses) do this automatically. I guess that all F-lenses with an CPU manages this automatically.

I found some descriptions about VR and IBIS, where more info can me obtained
https://photographylife.com/lens-stabilization-vs-in-camera-stabilization
 

Clovishound

Senior Member
IBIS works great and its an asset to any camera, what sticks in my craw is the online attitude that to be any good a camera must have it, for the majority of users lens VR will suffice.

Well, back when all we had were steam powered cameras, nobody had image stabilization, other than a tripod. We seemed to get along alright without it.

Not that I'm willing to go back to the hand me down Argus C4 that I started taking pictures with.
 
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