Table of Contents

Main News

01. E-520 Home Page
02. Press Release
03. Specifications
04. Image Stabilization
05. Live View/ Face Detection
06. Body Images
07. Dials/ Buttons/ LCD
08. SAT/ E-420 videos
09.Wireless flash sys.
10.Olympus 9-18mm Lens
11.First Opinion

A. E-520 Samples Gallery
B. E-520 Thread

Image Stabilization

"Image stabilization (IS) is designed to reduce small camera motions induced by the photographer during exposure, allowing you to use longer exposure times than the rule-of-thumb for maximum hand-held exposure time and still get acceptably sharp photographs.

The rule-of-thumb for hand-holding a camera was developed by photographers using 35mm film and is dependent upon image magnification: the rule is that you should use an exposure time that is at most 1 divided by the focal length of the lens. So, for instance, if you had a 50mm normal lens on your camera, you should use an exposure time no longer than 1/50th second when hand-holding the camera (speeds 1/50th to 1/4000th are available for use, in other words).

The 4/3 System format is smaller than that of 35mm film with an approximate magnification factor of 2x by comparison. So the rule-of-thumb is modified to read 'you should use an exposure time that it at most 1 divided by two times the focal length of the lens, e.g.: if you use a 25mm normal lens on your Olympus DSLR, you should set an exposure time no longer than 1/(2 x 25) or 1/50th second. (Note: the rule-of-thumb is shown to be consistent because a 50mm lens on a 35-film camera shows the same FoV or magnification as a 25mm lens on a 4/3 System camera.)

Another example: consider the Olympus ZD 50-200 set to 200mm. Without IS for hand-held shooting, you would strive to keep the exposure time maximum at 1/(2x200) or 1/400 second for sharp results without camera motion blur.

With IS you can use longer exposure times. Olympus models like the E-510 and E-3 allow you to extend the exposure time by up to two or three stops, which means with the 25mm lens you could likely use 1/15 second (sometimes 1/8 second) and still get reasonably sharp results, and with the 50-200 set to 200mm you can use 1/100 or even 1/50 second with good results. Remember that IS only helps to reduce the camera motion during exposure: it can do nothing to stop subject motion. Setting too long an exposure time allows a subject's motion to become another source of blurring. For typical people photos, you normally need 1/30-1/50 second as a minimum to get sharp results. " -Godfrey So here you can see the example: Image on the left 1/125 at 60mm (120mm 35mm equiv.), second 1/60, third 1/30, fourth 1/50, fifth 1/8. 1/60th of a second is 1 stop slower than recommended, 1/8th of a shutter stop is at 5 stops slower. These images are taken from my E-3, but I assume that the IS abilities of the E-520 will be similar. On the E-3 Olympus claimed 5 stops of IS, where as with the E-520 they are claiming 4 stops is IS capabilities.

In Body IS

In camera IS has many advantages over in-lens IS, because any lens can be stabilized, this leads to smaller, and sharper lenses, simply lens mount image stabilization systems place constraints on lens designs. With the Olympus body-mounted IS system, lens designs are not compromised and in fact are optimized for performance, functionality, and image quality based on their respective focal lengths/applications.
With this type of system lenses are more compact, and the cost of adding image stabilization to individual lenses is not passed along to the photographer. With the Olympus body mounted IS system the benefits of image stabilization can be utilized with any lens.

The 3 Axis IS Modes

The E-520 does carry 3 IS modes. IS 1 stabilizes both the X and Y axis. IS 2 Stabilizes for horizontal panning, and IS 3 stabilizes for Vertical panning of shots.

This is an example of when IS mode 2 comes in very handy, I wanted to blur the world around the car to show the car in motion. I was using the E-3 with the 35-100mm and shooting at 1/45 of a second (well below the minimum recommended shutter speed).

Any Lens IS

The E-520 allows for any lens to be used with IS. You simply plug in the focal length between 8mm and 1000mm, and the IS system will work with the E-520.

Support this site

The only Magazine dedicated to the system,
Issue #2 is coming soon.