IBIS vs OIS?

Shouldn't be a problem as long as she's willing to learn guidelines of how to avoid blurring due to camera movement. So long as she keeps above a realistic shutter speed for the focal length being used and/or she uses a tripod, the lenses will still deliver great results on any system camera, IBIS or not.

It's perhaps even a worthwhile exercise for somebody learning the basics of photography.

Cheers,

Rick

--
Equivalence and diffraction-free since 2009.
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With these small, light bodies, you tend to lean on IS more because they're harder to hold steady.

GX7 has 2 axis IBIS, and it's going for nice prices today.

Or... the EM5 was just slashed down to $500 on getolympus.com. That's a pretty good deal, and it has the superb 5 axis IBIS that is still state of the art.

I too kind like the idea of having her learn the basics of photography without IBIS--I think it could pay off in the long run as those of us that shot without IS have learned it's not a silver bullet.

I actually think the best deals around are for the Panasonic G5. I picked one up like new for under $200. Pair that with the current Panasonic 14-42mm II kit lens and the Panasonic 45-150mm--which you should be able to pick up with the cost savings from the G6--and she should be good to go for a long time, assuming she can get access to your lens collection of course.

If your step daughter has a steady hand and knows how to use the ISO to her advantage, there should be no problem at all. Panasonic OIS stabilized lenses operate on Olympus bodies...unstabilized lenses do too. The GX7 has both OIS and IBIS capability and I can tell you that it works very well. That Panasonic body will function with all lenses (as will the IBIS Olympus bodies). If she is young and strong and can understand how the camera operates...and also learn to keep her left hand under the longer lens barrels, she will have no problem with any of the modern bodies. Good luck. Teach her well. You are a good step dad.

Ajka said:

Thinking of an M43 camera for my 16 yo stepdaughter who is tired of lugging around her Nikon.

I have an E-M5 and have purchased a number of lenses over the last couple of years none of which have OIS.

I'd like to be able to share lenses with her but I'm concerned about reduced image quality if she has a camera without IBIS.

Should this be a make or break issue or would she be able to use a G6 for example, with a non-stabilized lenses?

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IME two factors:

1. Focal lengths. Up to 45mm, I'd say one can live without stabilization. Keeping shutter speed above 1/100 shouldn't be a huge issue most of the time. (Unless we are talking here about the slowish kit lens. But if you are buying a new body for her, picking one with stabilized kit shouldn't be an issue.) At the longer FLs, some sort of stabilization is highly desired. Luckily, there are cheap stabilized lenses too (e.g. Pana 45-150mm).

2. Steady vs. unsteady hands. Camera holding technics can make for a huge difference. (That is the main reason for conflicting reports about IS performance on new cameras between different users). If your daughter has unsteady hands, or just can't learn to hold camera steadily (or holding camera steadily somehow interferes with the shooting style), then the IS is very highly desirable.

To see if lack of the OIS would be a problem, simply test it with your E-M5: disable IBIS and send her out for a shoot, then check the results.

TrapperJohn said:

With these small, light bodies, you tend to lean on IS more because they're harder to hold steady.

GX7 has 2 axis IBIS, and it's going for nice prices today.

Or... the EM5 was just slashed down to $500 on getolympus.com. That's a pretty good deal, and it has the superb 5 axis IBIS that is still state of the art.

Click to expand...

Good advice, both of these cameras have an EVF which is important for students to get some appreciation for. It helps stabilize the camera when pressed against your head.

I paid around $1600 for my first EM5 with kit 12-50 lens and am actually quite shocked at the price drops for what I see is still very current technology. Bought my second which inlcuded the 14-42 and 45 lenses for around $900. If it's going for $500 now it's truly a bargain. Also have seen the G7 go for around $750 which is half what they started out for.

Whatever camera tou get her, do give some thought to picking up something other than the kit lens. A fast prime like the 45/1.8 or a sharp wide-angle like 9-18 opens up a lot more range to experiment with.

--
There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen

i dont think u learn any more or any less by having stabilisation. what satbilisation does is allows you much more flexibility in shooting without having to lug around a tripod or monopod.

i have shot non stabilised body/lense and frankly, it didnt help me at all. if anything it worked against me. my form is good but i have shaky hands. being restricted to 1/60 is very limiting. if i'm out and about and light isnt so good, i cant just stop to take a low light flower shot. i have to crank up the iso. ibis allows me to keep my iso low and my shutter speed slow.

stabilisation is a feature. it's an extremely nice feature bordering on necessity for certain shooters. it's also extremely useful for telefoto shots. for example, i hate taking ground level shots without stabilisation because the alternative is to get my clothes dirty to stabilise myself for the shot. squatting down and lowering the camera may not be stable but ibis resolves that problem. you get the shot, your shirt and trousers are clean. you can walk back to class or to the office with lunch hour photos and not have to worry about dirty clothes.

when u consider that ibis/ois comes in many modern bodies and lense, it seems to me an artificial restriction to purchase something explicitely withoit it.

A $500 EM-5 would be hard to beat. I don't consider IS to be a crutch; it's just another tool in the bag. I prefer natural light, indoor photography and it's nice to be able to shoot 1/15 handheld. She can learn plenty about photography theory without hamstringing her with an unstabilized body. IBIS is the main reason I've always preferred Oly over Panny, because I like to shoot legacy glass more than the modern lenses.

I has some IBIS that should do most often and it certainly qualifies quality wise. It can be bought for less money these days.