Reviews |Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Image Stabiliser test

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Image Stabiliser test

OM System OM-1 review
Review

During the recent shooting tour with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II I had the chance to shoot a series of short video clips from a moving trailer. The aim was to film a couple of horses galloping alongside the trailer and test the Image Stabiliser (IS).

The trailer was pulled with varying speed along a bumpy farm track. We only had a few attempts and as the trailer bounced along it was very hard to sit still or hold the camera steady.

It took a little while to become familiar with the pace of the horses, the speed of the trailer and the framing that was needed, so the footage is quite crude in some respects, but it clearly demonstrates the benefit of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s IS system for movie shooting.

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The squeaking of the trailer in the video convey helps to convey the speed of movement and the unevenness of the ground.

I shot using the new Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS Pro lens which when mounted on the E-M1 Mark II is claimed to give up to 6.5EV of compensation, meaning that you can hand-hold the camera and get sharp images at shutter speeds up to 6.5stops slower than normal.

That’s the difference between 1/250sec and around 1/6sec. In earlier tests I’ve found that this to be true.

Furthermore, with the IS activated it is possible to hand-hold the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II for 2 seconds with the 12-100mm f/4 lens at the widest point and get consistently sharp images.

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