![comparison_of_image_stabilisation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Comparison_of_image_stabilisation.svg)
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce
blurring associated with the motion of a
camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with ...
or other imaging device during
exposure.
Generally, it compensates for
pan and
tilt
Tilt may refer to:
Music
* Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992
* Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993
* Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979
Albums
* ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981
* ...
(angular movement, equivalent to
yaw and pitch) of the imaging device, though electronic image stabilization can also compensate for rotation. It is mainly used in high-end
image-stabilized binoculars
Image-stabilized binoculars are binoculars that have a mechanism for decreasing the apparent motion of the view due to binocular movement.
Such binoculars are designed to minimize image shaking in hand-held applications. Higher-power binoculars ...
,
still
A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...
and
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
cameras, astronomical
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
s, and also
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s. With
still camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...
s, camera shake is a particular problem at slow
shutter speed
In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter (photography), shutter is open) when taking a photograph.
The am ...
s or with long
focal length
The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foca ...
lenses (
telephoto
A telephoto lens, in photography and cinematography, is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a ''telephoto ...
or
zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
). With
video camera
A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos (as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film). Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of other ...
s, camera shake causes visible frame-to-frame
jitter
In electronics and telecommunications, jitter is the deviation from true periodicity of a presumably periodic signal, often in relation to a reference clock signal. In clock recovery applications it is called timing jitter. Jitter is a significa ...
in the recorded video. In astronomy, the problem of lens shake is added to
variation in the atmosphere, which changes the apparent positions of objects over time.
Application in still photography
In photography, image stabilization can facilitate shutter speeds 2 to 5.5
stops
Stop may refer to:
Places
*Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Facilities
* Bus stop
* Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...
slower (exposures 4 to times longer), and even slower effective speeds have been reported.
A
rule of thumb
In English, the phrase ''rule of thumb'' refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various t ...
to determine the slowest shutter speed possible for hand-holding without noticeable blur due to camera shake is to take the
reciprocal
Reciprocal may refer to:
In mathematics
* Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/''x'', which multiplied by ''x'' gives the product 1, also known as a ''reciprocal''
* Reciprocal polynomial, a polynomial obtained from another pol ...
of the
35 mm equivalent focal length of the lens, also known as the "1/mm rule". For example, at a focal length of 125 mm on a 35 mm camera, vibration or camera shake could affect sharpness if the shutter speed is slower than second. As a result of the 2-to-4.5-stops slower shutter speeds allowed by IS, an image taken at second speed with an ordinary lens could be taken at or second with an IS-equipped lens and produce almost the same quality. The sharpness obtainable at a given speed can increase dramatically.
When calculating the effective focal length, it is important to take into account the image format a camera uses. For example, many digital SLR cameras use an image sensor that is , , or the size of a 35 mm film frame. This means that the 35 mm frame is 1.5, 1.6, or 2 times the size of the digital sensor. The latter values are referred to as the
crop factor
In digital photography, the crop factor, format factor, or focal length multiplier of an image sensor format is the ratio of the dimensions of a camera's imaging area compared to a reference format; most often, this term is applied to digital ca ...
, field-of-view crop factor, focal-length multiplier, or format factor. On a 2× crop factor camera, for instance, a 50 mm lens produces the same field of view as a 100 mm lens used on a 35 mm film camera, and can typically be handheld at second.
However, image stabilization does ''not'' prevent
motion blur
Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or lo ...
caused by the movement of the subject or by extreme movements of the camera. Image stabilization is only designed for and capable of reducing blur that results from normal, minute shaking of a lens due to hand-held shooting. Some lenses and camera bodies include a secondary
panning mode or a more aggressive 'active mode', both described in greater detail below under
optical image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
.
Astrophotography
Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...
makes much use of
long-exposure photography
Long-exposure, time-exposure, or slow-shutter photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements. Long-exposure photography ...
, which requires the camera to be fixed in place. However, fastening it to the Earth is not enough, since the
Earth rotates. The Pentax K-5 and K-r, when equipped with the O-GPS1
GPS accessory for position data, can use their sensor-shift capability to reduce the resulting
star trail
A star trail is a type of photograph that uses long exposure times to capture '' diurnal circles'', the apparent motion of stars in the night sky due to Earth's rotation. A star-trail photograph shows individual stars as streaks across the i ...
s.
Stabilization can be applied in the lens, or in the camera body. Each method has distinctive advantages and disadvantages.
Techniques
Optical image stabilization
![ISComparison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/ISComparison.png)
An optical image stabilizer (OIS, IS, or OS) is a mechanism used in still or video cameras that stabilizes the recorded image by varying the optical path to the sensor. This technology is implemented in the lens itself, as distinct from
in-body image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
(''IBIS''), which operates by moving the sensor as the final element in the optical path. The key element of all optical stabilization systems is that they stabilize the image projected on the sensor before the sensor converts the image into
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
information. IBIS can have up to 5
axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
of movement: X, Y, Roll, Yaw, and Pitch. IBIS has the added advantage of working with all lenses.
Benefits of OIS
Optical image stabilization prolongs the
shutter speed
In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter (photography), shutter is open) when taking a photograph.
The am ...
possible for handheld photography by reducing the likelihood of blurring the image from shake during the same exposure time.
For handheld
video recording
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...
, regardless of lighting conditions, optical image stabilization compensates for minor shakes whose appearance magnifies when watched on a large display such as a
television set
A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...
or
computer monitor
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls.
The di ...
.
Names by vendors
Different companies have different names for the OIS technology, for example:
* Vibration Reduction (VR) –
Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
(produced the first optical two-axis stabilized lens, a 38–105 mm ''f''/4–7.8 zoom built into the
Nikon Zoom 700VR (US: Zoom-Touch 105 VR) camera in 1994)
* Image Stabilizer (IS) –
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
introduced the EF 75–300 mm ''f''/4–5.6 IS USM) in 1995. In 2009, they introduced their first lens (the EF 100mm F2.8 Macro L) to use a four-axis Hybrid IS.)
* Anti-Shake (AS) –
Minolta
was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...
and
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, including copiers, laser printers, multi-fu ...
(Minolta introduced the first sensor-based two-axis image stabilizer with the
DiMAGE A1
The Minolta DiMAGE A1 is a 5 megapixel bridge digital camera with electronic viewfinder manufactured by Minolta. It was introduced in July 2003, replacing the Minolta Dimage 7 series. It was the first Minolta product to incorporate the Anti-Sha ...
in 2003)
* IBIS - In Body Image Stabilisation –
Olympus and
Fujifilm
, trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.
The offerings from th ...
*
Optical SteadyShot
SteadyShot is the trademarked name of the integrated image stabilisation technologies used in Sony video camcorders, DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras and on Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets. Different versions of these technologies are known as ...
(OSS) –
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
(for
Cyber-shot
Cyber-shot is Sony's line of point-and-shoot digital cameras introduced in 1996. Cyber-shot model names use a DSC prefix, which is an initialism for "Digital Still Camera". Many Cyber-shot models feature Carl Zeiss trademarked lenses, while othe ...
and several
α E-mount lenses)
* Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) –
Fujifilm
, trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.
The offerings from th ...
* MegaOIS, PowerOIS –
Panasonic
formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...
and
Leica
*
SteadyShot
SteadyShot is the trademarked name of the integrated image stabilisation technologies used in Sony video camcorders, DSLR cameras, Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, mirrorless cameras and on Sony Xperia smartphones and Tablet computer, tablet ...
(SS),
Super SteadyShot
SteadyShot is the trademarked name of the integrated image stabilisation technologies used in Sony video camcorders, DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras and on Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets. Different versions of these technologies are known as ...
(SSS),
SteadyShot INSIDE (SSI) –
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
(based on Konica Minolta's Anti-Shake originally, Sony introduced a 2-axis full-frame variant for the
DSLR-A900 in 2008 and a 5-axis stabilizer for the full-frame
ILCE-7M2 in 2014)
* Optical Stabilization (OS) –
Sigma
Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as ...
* Vibration Compensation (VC) –
Tamron
is a Japanese company manufacturing photographic lenses, optical components and commercial/industrial-use optics. Tamron Headquarters is located in Saitama City in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan.
The name of the company came from the surna ...
* Shake Reduction (SR) –
Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporation ...
* PureView –
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
(produced the first cell phone optical stabilised sensor, built into the
Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920 is a smartphone developed by Nokia that runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system. It was announced on September 5, 2012, and was first released on November 2, 2012. It has a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Krait CPU and a 4.5" IPS ...
)
*UltraPixel –
HTC
HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, s=宏达国际电子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t) or High Tech Computer Corporation, (literally ''Hongda International Electron ...
(Image Stabilization is only available for the 2013 HTC One & 2016 HTC 10 with UltraPixel. It is not available for the HTC One (M8) or HTC Butterfly S, which also have UltraPixel)
Most high-end smartphones as of late 2014 use optical image stabilization for photos and videos.
Lens-based
In Nikon and
Canon's implementation, it works by using a floating lens element that is moved orthogonally to the optical axis of the
lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...
using electromagnets. Vibration is detected using two piezoelectric
angular velocity
In physics, angular velocity or rotational velocity ( or ), also known as angular frequency vector,(UP1) is a pseudovector representation of how fast the angular position or orientation of an object changes with time (i.e. how quickly an objec ...
sensors (often called
gyroscopic
A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotat ...
sensors), one to detect horizontal movement and the other to detect vertical movement. As a result, this kind of image stabilizer corrects only for pitch and yaw axis rotations, and cannot correct for rotation around the optical axis. Some lenses have a secondary mode that counteracts vertical-only camera shake. This mode is useful when using a
panning technique. Some such lenses activate it automatically; others use a switch on the lens.
To compensate for camera shake in shooting video while walking, Panasonic introduced Power Hybrid OIS+ with five-axis correction: axis rotation, horizontal rotation, vertical rotation, and horizontal and vertical motion.
Some Nikon VR-enabled lenses offer an "active" mode for shooting from a moving vehicle, such as a car or boat, which is supposed to correct for larger shakes than the "normal" mode. However, active mode used for normal shooting can produce poorer results than normal mode. This is because active mode is optimized for reducing higher angular velocity movements (typically when shooting from a heavily moving platform using faster shutter speeds), where normal mode tries to reduce lower angular velocity movements over a larger amplitude and timeframe (typically body and hand movement when standing on a stationary or slowly moving platform while using slower shutter speeds).
Most manufacturers suggest that the IS feature of a lens be turned off when the lens is mounted on a tripod as it can cause erratic results and is generally unnecessary. Many modern image stabilization lenses (notably Canon's more recent IS lenses) are able to auto-detect that they are tripod-mounted (as a result of extremely low vibration readings) and disable IS automatically to prevent this and any consequent image quality reduction. The system also draws battery power, so deactivating it when not needed extends the battery charge.
A disadvantage of lens-based image stabilization is cost. Each lens requires its own image stabilization system. Also, not every lens is available in an image-stabilized version. This is often the case for fast primes and wide-angle lenses. However, the fastest lens with image stabilisation is the
Nocticron with a speed of ''f''/1.2. While the most obvious advantage for image stabilization lies with longer focal lengths, even normal and wide-angle lenses benefit from it in low-light applications.
Lens-based stabilization also has advantages over in-body stabilization. In low-light or low-contrast situations, the autofocus system (which has no stabilized sensors) is able to work more accurately when the image coming from the lens is already stabilized. In cameras with optical viewfinders, the image seen by the photographer through the stabilized lens (as opposed to in-body stabilization) reveals more detail because of its stability, and it also makes correct framing easier. This is especially the case with longer telephoto lenses. This advantage does not occur on
compact system cameras, because the sensor output to the screen or
electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview sc ...
would be stabilized.
Sensor-shift
The sensor capturing the image can be moved in such a way as to counteract the motion of the camera, a technology often referred to as mechanical image stabilization. When the camera rotates, causing angular error, gyroscopes encode information to the actuator that moves the sensor. The sensor is moved to maintain the projection of the image onto the image plane, which is a function of the focal length of the lens being used. Modern cameras can automatically acquire focal length information from modern lenses made for that camera.
Minolta
was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...
and
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, including copiers, laser printers, multi-fu ...
used a technique called
Anti-Shake
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced mo ...
(AS) now marketed as
SteadyShot
SteadyShot is the trademarked name of the integrated image stabilisation technologies used in Sony video camcorders, DSLR cameras, Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, mirrorless cameras and on Sony Xperia smartphones and Tablet computer, tablet ...
(SS) in the
Sony α
Sony α (the lower case to Greek language, Greek letter Alpha (letter), alpha, often transliterated as ''Sony Alpha'') is a digital camera system introduced on 5 June 2006. It uses and expands upon Konica Minolta camera technologies, inclu ...
line and Shake Reduction (SR) in the
Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporation ...
K-series and
Q series cameras, which relies on a very precise angular rate sensor to detect camera motion.
Olympus introduced image stabilization with their
E-510 D-SLR body, employing a system built around their Supersonic Wave Drive. Other manufacturers use
digital signal processor
A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor chip, with its architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing. DSPs are fabricated on MOS integrated circuit chips. They are widely used in audio si ...
s (DSP) to analyze the image on the fly and then move the sensor appropriately. Sensor shifting is also used in some cameras by Fujifilm, Samsung, Casio Exilim and Ricoh Caplio.
The advantage with moving the
image sensor
An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of curr ...
, instead of the lens, is that the image can be stabilized even on lenses made without stabilization. This may allow the stabilization to work with many otherwise-unstabilized lenses, and reduces the weight and complexity of the lenses. Further, when sensor-based image stabilization technology improves, it requires replacing only the camera to take advantage of the improvements, which is typically far less expensive than replacing all existing lenses if relying on lens-based image stabilization. Some sensor-based image stabilization implementations are capable of correcting camera
roll
Roll or Rolls may refer to:
Movement about the longitudinal axis
* Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis
** Roll (aviation), ...
rotation, a motion that is easily excited by pressing the shutter button. No lens-based system can address this potential source of image blur. A by-product of available "roll" compensation is that the camera can automatically correct for tilted horizons in the optical domain, provided it is equipped with an electronic spirit level, such as the Pentax K-7/K-5 cameras.
One of the primary disadvantages of moving the image sensor itself is that the image projected to the viewfinder is not stabilized. However, this is not an issue on cameras that use an
electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview sc ...
(EVF), since the image projected on that viewfinder is taken from the image sensor itself. Similarly, the image projected to a phase-detection autofocus system that is not part of the image sensor, if used, is not stabilized.
Some, but not all, camera-bodies capable of in-body stabilization can be pre-set manually to a given focal length. Their stabilization system corrects as if that focal length lens is attached, so the camera can stabilize older lenses, and lenses from other makers. This isn't viable with zoom lenses, because their focal length is variable. Some adapters communicate focal length information from the maker of one lens to the body of another maker. Some lenses that do not report their focal length can be retrofitted with a chip which reports a pre-programmed focal-length to the camera body. Sometimes, none of these techniques work, and image-stabilization cannot be used with such lenses.
In-body image stabilization requires the lens to have a larger output image circle because the sensor is moved during exposure and thus uses a larger part of the image. Compared to lens movements in optical image stabilization systems the sensor movements are quite large, so the effectiveness is limited by the maximum range of sensor movement, where a typical modern optically-stabilized lens has greater freedom. Both the speed and range of the required sensor movement increase with the focal length of the lens being used, making sensor-shift technology less suited for very long telephoto lenses, especially when using slower shutter speeds, because the available motion range of the sensor quickly becomes insufficient to cope with the increasing image displacement.
Dual
Starting with the
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 is a digital rangefinder-styled mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera announced by Panasonic on July 16, 2015. The camera features a newly developed 20 megapixel sensor - previously the highest resolution in Micro F ...
, announced in July 2015, and subsequently in the
Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5
The Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 is a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless interchangeable lens camera body announced by Panasonic on 4 January 2017.
It is the first mirrorless camera capable of shooting 4K resolution video with Color depth#Deep Color (30/36/4 ...
, Panasonic, who formerly only equipped lens-based stabilization in its interchangeable lens camera system (of the
Micro Four Thirds standard), introduced sensor-shift stabilization that works in concert with the existing lens-based system ("Dual IS").
In the meantime (2016), Olympus also offered two lenses with image stabilization that can be synchronized with the in-built image stabilization system of the image sensors of Olympus'
Micro Four Thirds cameras ("Sync IS"). With this technology a gain of 6.5 ''f''-stops can be achieved without blurred images. This is limited by the rotational movement of the surface of the Earth, that fools the
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...
s of the camera. Therefore, depending on the angle of view, the maximum exposure time should not exceed second for long telephoto shots (with a 35 mm equivalent focal length of 800 millimeters) and a little more than ten seconds for wide angle shots (with a 35 mm equivalent focal length of 24 millimeters), if the movement of the Earth is not taken into consideration by the image stabilization process.
In 2015, the
Sony E camera system also allowed combining image stabilization systems of lenses and camera bodies, but without synchronizing the same
degrees of freedom
Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...
. In this case, only the independent compensation degrees of the in-built image sensor stabilization are activated to support lens stabilisation.
Canon and Nikon now have full-frame mirrorless bodies that have IBIS and also support each company's lens-based stabilization. Canon's first two such bodies, the
EOS R
The Canon EOS R is a 30.3 megapixel full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera launched by Canon in October 2018.
The "R" in EOS R comes from the first letter of "Reimagine optical excellence", Canon's development concept for both th ...
and
RP, do not have IBIS, but the feature was added for the more recent
R5 and
R6. All of Nikon's full-frame
Z-mount
Nikon Z-mount (stylised as \mathbb) is an interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its mirrorless digital cameras. In late 2018, Nikon released two cameras that use this mount, the full-frame Nikon Z 7 and Nikon Z 6. In late 2019 N ...
bodies—the
Z 6,
Z 7, and the Mark II versions of both—have IBIS. However, its
APS-C
Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 31.15 mm field d ...
Z 50 lacks IBIS.
Digital image stabilization
Real-time digital image stabilization, also called electronic image stabilization (EIS), is used in some video cameras. This technique shifts the electronic image from frame to frame of video, enough to counteract the motion.
It uses pixels outside the border of the visible frame to provide a buffer for the motion. This technique reduces distracting vibrations from videos by smoothing the transition from one frame to another. This technique does not affect the
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...
level of the image, except in the extreme borders when the image is extrapolated. It cannot do anything about existing motion blur, which may result in an image seemingly losing focus as motion is compensated.
Some still camera manufacturers marketed their cameras as having digital image stabilization when they really only had a high-sensitivity mode that uses a short exposure time—producing pictures with less motion blur, but more noise. It reduces blur when photographing something that is moving, as well as from camera shake.
Others now also use digital signal processing (DSP) to reduce blur in stills, for example by sub-dividing the exposure into several shorter exposures in rapid succession, discarding blurred ones, re-aligning the sharpest sub-exposures and adding them together, and using the gyroscope to detect the best time to take each frame.
Stabilization filters
Many video
non-linear editing system
Non-linear editing is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialized sof ...
s use stabilization
filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
that can correct a non-stabilized image by tracking the movement of pixels in the image and correcting the image by moving the frame. The process is similar to digital image stabilization but since there is no ''larger'' image to work with the filter either crops the image down to hide the motion of the frame or attempts to recreate the lost image at the edge through spatial or temporal
extrapolation
In mathematics, extrapolation is a type of estimation, beyond the original observation range, of the value of a variable on the basis of its relationship with another variable. It is similar to interpolation, which produces estimates between know ...
.
Online services, including
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, are also beginning to provide video stabilization'' as a post-processing step after content is uploaded. This has the disadvantage of not having access to the realtime gyroscopic data, but the advantage of more computing power and the ability to analyze images both before and after a particular frame.
Orthogonal transfer CCD
Used in astronomy, an
orthogonal transfer CCD (OTCCD) actually shifts the image within the
CCD itself while the image is being captured, based on analysis of the apparent motion of bright stars. This is a rare example of digital stabilization for still pictures. An example of this is in the upcoming gigapixel telescope
Pan-STARRS
The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS1; List of observatory codes, obs. code: IAU code#F51, F51 and Pan-STARRS2 obs. code: IAU code#F52, F52) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical c ...
being constructed in Hawaii.
Stabilizing the camera body
![Remote controlled TV camera with a Newton stabilized head on rail dolly system](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Remote_controlled_TV_camera_with_a_Newton_stabilized_head_on_rail_dolly_system.jpg)
A technique that requires no additional capabilities of any camera body–lens combination consists of stabilizing the entire camera body externally rather than using an internal method. This is achieved by attaching a
gyroscope
A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...
to the camera body, usually using the camera's built-in tripod mount. This lets the external gyro (gimbal) stabilize the camera, and is typically used in photography from a moving vehicle, when a lens or camera offering another type of image stabilization is not available.
A common way to stabilize moving cameras after approx. year 2015 is by using a
camera stabilizer
A camera stabilizer, or camera–stabilizing mount, is a device designed to hold a camera in a manner that prevents or compensates for unwanted camera movement, such as "camera shake".
For small hand-held cameras, a harness or contoured fram ...
such as a stabilized remote camera head. The camera and lens are mounted in a remote controlled camera holder which is then mounted on anything that moves, such as rail systems, cables, cars or helicopters. An example of a remote stabilized head that is used to stabilize moving TV cameras that are broadcasting live is the Newton stabilized head.
Another technique for stabilizing a video or motion picture camera body is the
Steadicam
Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement ...
system, which isolates the camera from the operator's body using a harness and a camera boom with a counterweight.
Camera stabilizer
A camera stabilizer is any device or object that externally stabilizes the camera. This can refer to a
Steadicam
Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement ...
, a
tripod
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...
, the camera operator's hand, or a combination of these.
In close-up photography, using rotation sensors to compensate for changes in pointing direction becomes insufficient. Moving, rather than tilting, the camera up/down or left/right by a fraction of a millimeter becomes noticeable if you are trying to resolve millimeter-size details on the object. Linear accelerometers in the camera, coupled with information such as the lens focal length and focused distance, can feed a secondary correction into the drive that moves the sensor or optics, to compensate for linear as well as rotational shake.
In biological eyes
In many animals, including human beings, the
inner ear
The inner ear (internal ear, auris interna) is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In vertebrates, the inner ear is mainly responsible for sound detection and balance. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the ...
functions as the biological analogue of an
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...
in camera image stabilization systems, to stabilize the image by moving the
eyes. When a rotation of the head is detected, an inhibitory signal is sent to the
extraocular muscles
The extraocular muscles (extrinsic ocular muscles), are the seven extrinsic muscles of the human eye. Six of the extraocular muscles, the four recti muscles, and the superior and inferior oblique muscles, control movement of the eye and the ot ...
on one side and an excitatory signal to the muscles on the other side. The result is a compensatory movement of the eyes. Typically eye movements lag the head movements by less than 10 ms.
See also
*
Adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of incoming wavefront distortions by deforming a mirror in order to compensate for the distortion. It is used in astronomical tele ...
*
Deblurring
Deblurring is the process of removing blurring artifacts from images. Deblurring recovers a sharp image ''S'' from a blurred image ''B'', where ''S'' is convolved with ''K'' (the blur kernel) to generate ''B''. Mathematically, this can be represen ...
*
Heligimbal
The Cineflex ''Heligimbal'' is a form of Gyro-stabilized camera systems, gimbal technology consisting of a motion-stabilized helicopter mount for motion picture cameras.
The technology, originally developed by the military, provides a high degree ...
*
Hyperlapse
Hyperlapse or moving time-lapse (also stop-motion time-lapse, walklapse, spacelapse) is a technique in time-lapse photography for creating motion shots. In its simplest form, a hyperlapse is achieved by moving the camera a short distance betwee ...
*
Motion compensation
Motion compensation in computing, is an algorithmic technique used to predict a frame in a video, given the previous and/or future frames by accounting for motion of the camera and/or objects in the video. It is employed in the encoding of video d ...
*
Shaky camera
Shaky camera, Mekas, Jonas. "A Note on the Shaky Camera." '' Film Culture'', issues 24-27, 1962. shaky cam, jerky camera, queasy cam, run-and-gun or free camera is a cinematographic technique where stable-image techniques are purposely dispensed w ...
Notes
References
{{Reflist, 30em, refs =
[{{cite web
, first=Steven
, last=Zimmerman
, url=http://www.xda-developers.com/sony-imx378-comprehensive-breakdown-of-the-google-pixels-sensor-and-its-features/
, title=Sony IMX378: Comprehensive Breakdown of the Google Pixel's Sensor and its Features
, publisher=]XDA Developers
XDA Developers (also known simply as XDA; often stylized as xda-developers) is a mobile software development community launched on 20 December 2002. Although discussion primarily revolves around Android, members also talk about many other opera ...
, date=12 October 2016
, access-date=17 October 2016
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