How do you handle optical stabilization on Olympus cameras for zooms?

Dave Andrade wrote:

Olymore wrote:

M43 lenses tell the camera what focal length they're on.

This would be a problem with legacy zoom lenses that have no electronic contact with the camera, used via an adapter.

Yes, you are both correct.

I guess, now that I think about it, it's a moot point.

I have a 80-200mm 2.8 lens, and I guess there's not much of a choice. Either set it, and use that ONE length, or just hope you have steady hands if you zoom around.

FWIW, trying to shoot birds with a legacy lens might be quite the feat anyway (not that no one photographed birds before the stabilization technology appeared though, I know that)

Yes, that's the rub with adapted legacy zooms although for BIFs and sports the shutter speed should render IS moot. It's critical however to make sure you don't have IBIS on with a bad FL entered--I think my E-M1ii came set for the body cap fisheye or somesuch, which would make IS go nuts with a tele.

For experimentation sake, maybe pick the zoom's midpoint as the IS value and do tests across the range so see how it does. My hunch is that accurately matching the FL becomes less critical as the FL gets longer. If it still buys you a stop or three of handholding then it's worth having it engaged, otherwise switch it off.

Cheers,

Rick

So, I was playing with my 45-200 and a set of extension tubes that have the electrical contacts.

The problem is that the camera still sees the lens as 45-200 rather than the, lets say,  "equivalent" focal length - i.e. the higher magnification. The IBIS was totally useless.

There does not seem to be any way to adjust the focal length setting for this combination.

Any suggestions other than taping over the contacts?

If taping over the contacts, anyone know which one?

I used to tape over contacts with my Pentax Kx and some lenses.

Allan

Allan Brown wrote:

So, I was playing with my 45-200 and a set of extension tubes that have the electrical contacts.

The problem is that the camera still sees the lens as 45-200 rather than the, lets say, "equivalent" focal length - i.e. the higher magnification. The IBIS was totally useless.

There does not seem to be any way to adjust the focal length setting for this combination.

Any suggestions other than taping over the contacts?

If taping over the contacts, anyone know which one?

I used to tape over contacts with my Pentax Kx and some lenses.

Allan

Oly or Panny body? Is it possible the IBIS and OIS were "fighting"? What happens when you select either IS system by itself?

Have use the Oly EX25 tube with various 4/3 lenses and IBIS has no issues with the close focusing distances--focal length remains the same of course.

Good luck!

Rick

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Allan Brown wrote:

So, I was playing with my 45-200 and a set of extension tubes that have the electrical contacts.

The problem is that the camera still sees the lens as 45-200 rather than the, lets say, "equivalent" focal length - i.e. the higher magnification. The IBIS was totally useless.

There does not seem to be any way to adjust the focal length setting for this combination.

Any suggestions other than taping over the contacts?

If taping over the contacts, anyone know which one?

I used to tape over contacts with my Pentax Kx and some lenses.

Allan

Oly or Panny body? Is it possible the IBIS and OIS were "fighting"? What happens when you select either IS system by itself?

Have use the Oly EX25 tube with various 4/3 lenses and IBIS has no issues with the close focusing distances--focal length remains the same of course.

Good luck!

Rick

It is an EM5 II and I have it set to ignore OIS and use IBIS all the time. Also, the OIS switch on the lens was OFF.

I realise that the lens focal length remains the same with the tubes but the magnification increases. Setting the IBIS to, say, 500mm, probably would work.

I do this all the time with my Nikkor 105mm f2.5 and close-up lenses and it works. However, this is an all-manual setup with no electrical contacts.

Allan

Dave Andrade wrote:

Olymore wrote:

M43 lenses tell the camera what focal length they're on.

This would be a problem with legacy zoom lenses that have no electronic contact with the camera, used via an adapter.

Yes, you are both correct.

I guess, now that I think about it, it's a moot point.

I have a 80-200mm 2.8 lens, and I guess there's not much of a choice. Either set it, and use that ONE length, or just hope you have steady hands if you zoom around.

FWIW, trying to shoot birds with a legacy lens might be quite the feat anyway (not that no one photographed birds before the stabilization technology appeared though, I know that)

If your 80-200/2.8 is a new AF type, there may be adapters/focal reducers that would let it AF on mFT. If this is the case, the focal length might also be conveyed through the adapters or at least the lens' OIS should work on its own if switched on, because the lens would be supplied with electric power.

If it is a manual lens then you need to set the FL on camera each time you change FL, in theory. In practice, this is not as onerous as it sounds, because the worst thing about this is you might forget about it. However, with half-press IS on, you can see whether the IS is working correctly or not. If the change of FL does not affect the IS too badly you would see nothing to object to when aiming. If it's bad, the effect could be clearly seen and you can then change the FL setting on camera in response.

Most people work way better in 'responsive mode' than in 'having everything planned and remembered mode'. And this is a case of the former, fortunately.

Allan Brown wrote:

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Allan Brown wrote:

So, I was playing with my 45-200 and a set of extension tubes that have the electrical contacts.

The problem is that the camera still sees the lens as 45-200 rather than the, lets say, "equivalent" focal length - i.e. the higher magnification. The IBIS was totally useless.

There does not seem to be any way to adjust the focal length setting for this combination.

Any suggestions other than taping over the contacts?

If taping over the contacts, anyone know which one?

I used to tape over contacts with my Pentax Kx and some lenses.

Allan

Oly or Panny body? Is it possible the IBIS and OIS were "fighting"? What happens when you select either IS system by itself?

Have use the Oly EX25 tube with various 4/3 lenses and IBIS has no issues with the close focusing distances--focal length remains the same of course.

Good luck!

Rick

It is an EM5 II and I have it set to ignore OIS and use IBIS all the time. Also, the OIS switch on the lens was OFF.

I realise that the lens focal length remains the same with the tubes but the magnification increases. Setting the IBIS to, say, 500mm, probably would work.

I do this all the time with my Nikkor 105mm f2.5 and close-up lenses and it works. However, this is an all-manual setup with no electrical contacts.

Allan

I understand what you are trying to do. You still want the AF, aperture, etc. to function properly, but want to disable the auto-IS but instead set the IS focal length manually.

Then it is natural to think that by selectively taping off some of the pin(s) this might do the trick.

However, data comms between lens and body tends to share wires/pins esp. for digital information, kind of like a serial connection with data sent in packets. If that is the case, this tack would not work. See link below for the non-micro FT as a reference (mFT has more pins). All lens comms protocols I have seen have shared single wires in the same transfer direction. In that case, you need to chip your adapter to selectively interpret the data. If you can chip your adapter, you might as well program it so that the right correction is always translated anyway.

This kind of smart adapter to maintain IS correctness only for macro is not worth building commercially, because it's too much hassle to license the IP from Olympus just to gain such a very small market.

http://preamp.org/revenge/four-thirds-communication-protocol

I'm now very tempted to just get a real macro lens so that IS can work properly.