Panasonic FZ1000, OIS Effectiveness

After a few thousand frames I am finding photos from the FZ1000 very agreeable in appearance with good presence on the screen or print. I do not feel I am giving up any significant picture quality to cameras with larger sensors and I have gained a great deal in size, mass, cost and portability. By the way in the 1990s I used 4x5 inch large format cameras so I am very familiar with the characteristics of the larger formats. The foreground/background relationship in this photo is worth note. The walkers in the foreground are sharply drawn by the lens with strong color and contrast. The bridge in the background retains abundant detail but is rendered more softly providing good visual separation between foreground and background while retaining informational integrity in the background.

 

In it's promotional material  for the FZ1000, Panasonic announced a 5 axis optical image stabiliser system, promising greater effectiveness than OIS systems previously seen in Panasonic cameras and lenses.

In my early  outings with the camera the OIS did indeed seem effective with a steady EVF image at E400mm focal length and plenty of nice sharp pictures.

So I ran some systematic tests  My method was to photograph a page of newsprint, standing, hand held, viewing through the EVF at a range of shutter speeds from 1/400 to 1 second, with and without OIS engaged.  I used normal type OIS.

I ran the test with the lens at the wide end, focal length E25mm, at the mid part of the range  E100mm and at the long end, E400mm.

I viewed the resulting files at 100% on screen and recorded the result as sharp, slightly soft or obviously soft.

Results:

Focal length	Slowest shutter speed giving a sharp picture		OIS advantage in EV steps
	OIS Off	OIS On
E25	1/15 sec	0.3 sec	2.3
E100	1/40sec	1/5 sec	3.0
E400	1/250sec	1/40sec	3.0

 In the past when I ran this test with Panasonic M43 zoom lenses I found about 1 stop advantage from OIS.

Clearly FZ1000 OIS is more effective than that in Panasonic M43 lenses.

Discussion: 

Safe hand held shutter speeds.   The table above might tempt you to try for some very low hand held shutter speeds. By all means give these a trial.  there are two issues to consider however:

1. OIS does nothing to minimise subject movement. If you are photographing people at 0.3 seconds they are not going to be sharp.

2. The results reported here are an accurate statement of the shutter speeds which I was able to achieve in my OIS test. However the test session was in a quiet room, with plenty of time to make each shot. I have steady hands. I was calm and was able to use optimal technique on each frame, namely doing mini meditation, controlled breathing, squeezing the shutter button smoothly at the end of an exhalation.

Out in the real world these ideal conditions will often not be available. As a result I would not expect such low shutter speeds to be routinely associated with sharp pictures.

In fact I have found it more realistic to use the following as slowest shutter speeds likely to reliably produce sharp results if the subject is reasonably still and I use  good camera technique.

Wide, E25mm, 1/25sec

Middle, E100, 1/100sec

Long, E400, 1/400sec

Many readers will immediately recognise these shutter speeds as the old inverse of focal length for 35mm cameras. I have repeatedly found that with everyday use, slower shutter speeds, for instance 1/125sec at E400mm will not reliably deliver sharp photos.

If the subject is moving I have found it necessary to at least double the (1/focal length) shutter speeds, and to go faster if there is enough light.

I have noticed on user forums a tendency for contributors to post photos with the notation "sharp, hand held at half a second" or similar, with pride and a few exclamation marks. Indeed one of my shots at E25mm and 1 second was quite decently sharp. But such wonders are flukes, not a realistic guide to user expectations.

FZ1000 Programme Auto Exposure  (P on the Mode dial. iA has a very similar, possibly the same algorithm)  On this camera the P Mode algorithms have a characteristic which I have not found in M43 cameras.  A Mode is the same with respect to shutter speed and Auto ISO. Indoors as the light level falls, the camera will allow the shutter speed to fall to a very low speed before shifting Auto ISO above 1600.

That shutter speed is

E25mm, 1/4 sec

E100mm, 1/6 sec

E400mm 1/8 sec

When using the FZ1000 indoors I find I need to be constantly aware of the shutter speed being selected by the camera in P or A Mode and  either switch to S Mode or use a bit of flash when light levels are low.

Summary  The new 5 axis FZ1000 OIS is a definite improvement over previous implementations of Panasonic OIS technology. I believe OIS is essential if a camera such as this is to be hand held at the long end of the zoom range. But it is not a panacea for poor technique and it cannot achieve the impossible.