Image stabilization quality with Olympus 40-150 2.8 PRO at 150. EM5 vs EM1

Hello,

I have just got my long awaited 40-150 2.8 PRO. I live with OM-D E-M5 and do not think about changing it at the time being. First thing that I noticed is that image stabilization at the long end is not as efficient as I expected. It looks like the body is not able to absorb minor high-frequency jitter.
The shaking is quite heavy + sharp and what is interesting it is mostly horizontally oriented. I tried all IS modes 1-3, Shutter button half pressed - No difference. I turned off IS and I can say that the jitter in this mode even less than when IS on! I wanted to show you the video but surprisingly when shooting video the shaking goes away almost completely. I start thinking about problem with camera but with my 12-40 at 40mm it displays very impressive stabilization. Incompatibility 40-150 with EM5? Problem with 40-150? The firmware is updated to 2.1  Please help to find the clue.

Can anyone describe how it behaves with your similar equipment in this regards. Especially I would be interested in EM5 - 40-150 2.8 combination but with EM1 would be great to know too.

Appreciating your kind help,

Sergey.

Since I don't have the lens, all I can offer is a preliminary question - is this with the E-M5 shutter delay set to 1/8s, or not?    (many found a 1/8s shutter delay necessary to avoid shutter shock blur on that model).

I don't have either the 40-150 or E-M5, but with the E-M1 there is no jitter with any of my lenses, including the 50-200 SWD with and without the EC14 and none with the EC14 with the FTs 70-300 (425mm and lighter than the 40-150).  Do you have the latest firmware for the E-M5?

Thank you Bob,

It happened that your reply being not about the "problem" I asked of still has brought me to the solution I googled for this "1/8 sec" delay - Anti shock function and found this article.

http://thumati.com/chronicle/2013/4/7/setting-up-olympus-omd-em5

And somehow the sentence: "Also set Half Way Rls With Is to On so that image stabilizer will continue to work while you're holding the shutter button down, which is useful when shooting continuously, and keeps the image in the viewfinder stabilized when holding the shutter halfway down.

This let me know how stupid I was - I mean that all this year I simply did not know that "stabilization" effect I can quite clearly see on both LCD and VF when shooting (I really see it when shake camera) is not OMD's IS in action   It appeared that real stabilization with default settings is not visible - it happens only during the shot itself. This explains why IS works perfectly in video mode.
I have changed this as above and was greatly impressed how strong it is even on 150mm. Fantastic, I love my OM-D even more now.

I have set 1/8 sec delay too, the first impression - it is a bit annoying, it is quite noticeable and I probably need some time to get used to it. In the head it is similar to an old smartphone lag and it irritates. I do believe that for 150mm in MFT it can be very useful.

Appreciating your kind hint,

Sergey.

Bob Tullis wrote:

many found a 1/8s shutter delay necessary to avoid shutter shock blur on that model.

Wow! I was wondering why I've never experienced shutter shock in any of the thousands of pictures taken with my OM-D e-m5. I've just checked: I have a 1/8s shutter delay in its settings.

Thanks God our cameras don't have a mirror that flips when taking a shot; otherwise how would that be...