Most people tend to think of image stabilization as being mainly for telephoto lenses. While it's true that their longer focal lengths tend to magnify the effects of camera shake, image stabilization can provde a very useful assist at wider angle focal lengths as well; anyone who's ever tried to blur the image of a waterfall, while keeping the surrounding landsape tack-sharp knows exactly what I'm talking about.
At the wide end (18mm), the Optical Steadyshot (OSS) stabilization provides around 2.5 stops of steadiness, given sharp images down to 1/5 second. Given the small size of the NEX cameras, its much more necessary at the telephoto end (200mm) where unfortunately, it provides only 1.5 stops of steadiness.
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At 200mm, steady images are produced at 1/250 - where you might expect them, with the one-over-focal length rule of thumb. You'll get decently sharp images down to 1/60, but not consistently.
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| Mouse over this chart to show results with IS activated. |
IS systems tend to provide more benefit to less-stable shooters than very steady ones, so most users will see the same or greater amounts of shake reduction as we measured here. You can read more about our IS test methodology here: SLRgear IS Test Methodology, v2.
