IBIS and OIS

[Gaber]

Please don't beat me up on this if the answer is too obvious. I'm sure this has been answered many times already, but since IBIS is more common now and may be in all new Fuji's from now on, I'm going to ask this just to clarify. I understand that if a lens doesn't have OIS it will now be stabilized because of the IBIS, but if the lens already has OIS does it just make the effect OIS+IBIS , hence that much proportionally better. I mean, is it just that simple an equation?

 

[yayatosorus]

Please don't beat me up on this if the answer is too obvious. I'm sure this has been answered many times already, but since IBIS is more common now and may be in all new Fuji's from now on, I'm going to ask this just to clarify. I understand that if a lens doesn't have OIS it will now be stabilized because of the IBIS, but if the lens already has OIS does it just make the effect OIS+IBIS , hence that much proportionally better. I mean, is it just that simple an equation?

Sadly no, as of now, the highest stabilization rating one can get from Fuji's most performing IBIS unit, the one in the X-T4, is 6.5 stops. Most of Fuji's primes as well as some select zooms are rated at 6.5 stops.

When pairing an OIS lens, with the X-T4 you'll get an advantage of about 0-1.5 stops over the standard 5 stops you get with OIS.

Here's are official Fuji figures

 

[Gaber]

Please don't beat me up on this if the answer is too obvious. I'm sure this has been answered many times already, but since IBIS is more common now and may be in all new Fuji's from now on, I'm going to ask this just to clarify. I understand that if a lens doesn't have OIS it will now be stabilized because of the IBIS, but if the lens already has OIS does it just make the effect OIS+IBIS , hence that much proportionally better. I mean, is it just that simple an equation?

Sadly no, as of now, the highest stabilization rating one can get from Fuji's most performing IBIS unit, the one in the X-T4, is 6.5 stops. Most of Fuji's primes as well as some select zooms are rated at 6.5 stops.

When pairing an OIS lens, with the X-T4 you'll get an advantage of about 0-1.5 stops over the standard 5 stops you get with OIS.

Here's are official Fuji figures

That's very interesting yayatosorus. The benefit is much less than I imagined, especially in regards to some lenses that I have, such as the 80mm macro and the 100-400mm, in which there is no benefit at all, since stability is most critical for them...unless I'm misunderstanding. Still, it looks like it's an improvement overall.

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[Keithpictures]

Can we get a chart that replaces that useless “Axis” column (for which every single lens is listed at “5”) with the X-T3 or X-Pr3? To see what a non-IBIS body provides? (I imagine 0 for non-stabilized lenses, but idk what the OIS alone is for the stabilized ones.) Such a comparison would be useful.

 

[yayatosorus]

It is 0 stops with unstabilized lenses and unstabilized sensors. To my understanding, OIS is rated at 5 stops, so any improvement over that is thanks to the IBIS unit.

 

[Keithpictures]

1. Nyayatosorus wrote:

It is 0 stops with unstabilized lenses and unstabilized sensors. To my understanding, OIS is rated at 5 stops, so any improvement over that is thanks to the IBIS unit.

Surely it varies. I heard the 10-24 *was* 2.5 stops and now it’s 3.5 stops. That’s an example.

Would be nice to see a chart of every actual score, comparing stabilized zooms on IBIS bodies vs older bodies. Maybe, if you mostly use the 16-80 for instance, IBIS is much less important.

 

[yayatosorus]

You're right, my bad.

 

[Doug Pardee]

Some background theory that may help.

You hear about "5-axis" stabilization. The five axes are:

1. Left-right swing (yaw)
2. Up-down tilt (pitch)
3. Rotation about the lens axis (roll or twist)
4. Left-right shift (slide)
5. Up-down shift (lift)

An OIS is only able to handle the first two axes directly. If it had sensors for them, it might theoretically be able to handle the last two axes, by taking into account the current focal length (Fuji OIS is pretty much limited to zooms), but I'm not aware of any OIS that actually does that. An OIS has no way at all of handling #3 -- rotation about the lens axis.

An IBIS is very good at handling the last three axes -- the ones that OIS doesn't or can't handle. So combining the two gives the best of both worlds.

Most recent IBIS systems, including Fujifilm, can try to stabilize the first two axes, but calculating the right amount of sensor movement requires knowing the current focal length setting. Getting the focal length isn't a problem with native lenses, but it can be an issue with, say, adapted manual lenses.

BTW, a sixth motion axis -- fore/aft motion (push/pull) -- isn't currently compensated by any IBIS or OIS I've ever heard of, but probably isn't of much concern except perhaps to macro photographers.