- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK.
- Name
- Charles
-
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Fuji Showcase How long can you hold OIS?
- Location
- Seattle, WA, USA
- Name
- Keith
This is also a function of focal length as well, right? Here you're shooting at ~27mm-e so handholding at a shutter speed that's the reciprocal of approximately half the focal length. So that's twice as good as the old rule of thumb for the minimum shutter speed that can be reliably handheld.
The other big question is what your success rate is at this shutter speed?
- K
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- Location
- Tanagra
I agree, @DeeJayK. I can successfully handhold shots with the XF 10-24 down to almost 1s, which is very handy when shooting landscape waterfalls without lugging a tripod. The XF 70-300 is easily good for 1/60. And this is OIS alone, with an IBIS-less X-T3. I wouldn’t attempt shooting too much lower than that with such a focal length even on a dual-IS M43.
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- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK.
- Name
- Charles
Thanks for the info guys. I didn't realise it wasn't straightforward!
- Location
- Seattle, WA, USA
- Name
- Keith
Fuji's claims the XF70-300 offers 5.5 stops of stabilization. Presuming the rule of thumb of a shutter speed of 1/"focal length" is accurate, that means that one should be able to handhold that lens down to almost 1/2 second on the wide end* and to 1/10 second on the long end.**
* 70mm/(5.5^2) = 2.31
** 300mm/(5.5^2) = 9.92
Is that the correct math to interpret those "x stops of stabilization" figures?
- K
- Location
- Tanagra
I was told there would be no math!
The way I see it, the “rules of thumb” are practically out the window since stabilization became a thing, as so much can depend on the user, make, and model. Some folks can handhold a EM1 for near 10s. I can do maybe around 6 to 8s. It really comes down to testing, knowing, and using your gear, and finding how you factor into the equation! I don’t want to shoot at the barely acceptable limits, but knowing what those are for me can be quite helpful when it matters.
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- Location
- Tanagra
I just did a test and was able to take the XF 70-300 down to 1/15s at 300mm and get a sharp result. Any lower and my movement blurred the results.
- Location
- Seattle, WA, USA
- Name
- Keith
So based on my (probably incorrect) math, that's just over 2 stops of stabilization you're able to get on either end (over the reciprocal of the focal length rule of thumb). To your point, it would be more accurate to compare with your results with the same lens with OIS disabled.
- K
- Location
- Beaumaris, Melbourne, Australia
- Name
- John ...
Correct usually quoted reciprocal rule formula is SS = 1/(Crop factor * FL) .
So for a 1.5 CF APSC sensor: SS = 1/(1.5 * 300) = 1/450th.
So roughly 5 stops of OIS for 300mm @ 1/15th.
However, I prefer a more conservative reciprocal rule:
SS = 1/(2 * (Crop factor * FL))
Using the more conservative reciprocal rule gives approximately 6 stops of OIS.
This is all highly user dependent, of course.
I have managed a sharp 1.3s image with my E-M1 MkI + 14-42 EZ, on a freezing night, on top of a building, with a considerable wind blowing. That was pretty good for me! Certainly past my normal photographic boundaries ...
I would add that the 1/EFL rule was formulated in the film days, and 135 film translated to roughly 6-10mp in all but the lowest-ASA, highest-contrast, best-scanning scenarios. So for considerably higher megapixel cameras, if you want pixel level sharpness, you'll want to increase your shutter speed.
- Location
- Beaumaris, Melbourne, Australia
- Name
- John ...
Agree. Exactly my point above.
- Location
- Marlow, UK
Presumably the 1/EFL rule was only intended as a "rule of thumb" which you could quickly apply in the field without a lot of mental arithmetic - a reminder to use faster shutter speeds with longer lenses.
Or, as Captain Barbossa might say, it's more what you'd call guidelines than an actual rule.
-R
Or, as Captain Barbossa might say, it's more what you'd call guidelines than an actual rule.
-R
- Location
- Tanagra
It really highlights the overall quality of what we have to work with. I can’t think of a situation where I’d want to shoot at such low light at 300mm and 1/15s in the first place, especially where higher ISO couldn’t help me raise shutter speeds and still get a quality result. The most demanding low light task I can think of is indoor flashless photography of people, and that’s where a single fast prime can make all the difference. I was never a serious film photographer to compare, but we certainly have it really good these days.
