Image Stabilisation ON vs OFF with a tripod - TESTED - Sony A7iii photography from a tripod

[@SloggerVlogger]

Great test. Thank you.

[@mikesphotography]

And thank you for watching!! 😀👍

[@coleheiden2429]

Videos are so well done and interesting! Hope you see success!

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks Cole! Really appreciate the support! 😁👍

[@NARC4K]

Thanks Mike , I’m saving for an A7iii and been wondering about the little details like this.

[@mikesphotography]

No worries, I'm glad I could help. Keep saving and you'll be there before you know it...and it's well worth it! 😁👍

[@tiwarijikivines4983]

We nust bought one. A beast in short

[@mikesphotography]

They're great cameras aren't they. 👍

[@edwardbarbieri5283]

Mike; you provide excellent tutorials. Clear and precise. Thank you. Ed

[@mikesphotography]

No worries, they are fun to make! Thanks for watching Ed!

[@AtterJay]

Very helpful video Mike. I’ve just bought an A7 iii and forgot to turn IBIS off. The images (at around 25 seconds) still seemed sharp, this got me wondering if IBIS played a part or not and if I can simply leave it set to on. I think you’ve answered my question and saved me some time doing my own tests. Thank you :)

[@mikesphotography]

Excellent! I’m glad I could help Jay. I was convinced it would make a difference going into this one so was surprised when it didn’t. I was talking to another guy about this and he was convinced they’ve programmed it to stop moving when it doesn’t detect motion. Make logical sense. 👍

[@giannimoisson4000]

thank you Mike great review, by dint of reading articles on the ibis web on or off, I didn't see any difference when I took pictures at night, I thought that it was perhaps me who was missing a setting on my a7 iii.

[@mikesphotography]

Glad it was helpful! Yeah, it was really interesting to see how much of a difference it makes...the otherone I'd like to try is "will ibis help on a tripod in high winds?" Thanks for watching 😁👍

[@JimMakosCom]

Finally, I will have no regrets anymore for having forgotten to turn stabilization off on a tripod - I haven't remembered it once in the 4 years of my photography career! Lol, thanks for the time you spent on this, much appreciated.

[@mikesphotography]

Haha! No worries Jim, glad I could help!! 👍 Every now and then I’d forget and then at home I’d ask myself if I’d turned it on or not....with the clean images I figured I must have.....now I know I probably left it on. With the canon IS lenses, I only forgot a couple of times and I learnt my lesson!! There are a few things I miss about the canons.....but these newer breed cameras have so much more to offer! 👍

[@miniatureshot]

Great video. BTW I wonder how about video shooting ?

[@mikesphotography]

It all depends on the lens. If it is a long lens, IBIS really helps with those micro jitters but on the wider lenses, it is less important.

[@solarsynapse]

3:10-3:20 color difference. Changing light?

[@Steve-br7wt]

Great Experiment Mike, I was wondering the same thing. I also decided to test this. I guess the real answer is, "It depends" Other factors that come into play may be camera resolution and focal length. I tried this with my 70-200 GM at 200mm on an A7rIII at f/11 ISO 100 with a 3.2 second exposure. My findings were at 1:1 with no sharpening in LightRoom that the photo with no stabilization was definitely sharper. I feel at shorter focal lengths, shorter exposure times and less resolution the difference would be negligible, but if your going for a tack sharp image on a tripod, I would still leave it off. My problem is I forget to turn it back on when it's off the tripod lol.

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks Steve! Did you find that the timelapse twitched a little when you had stabilisation on? I had a couple where that happened to me and was thinking it was the ibis.

[@chryseass.5143]

Thanks Mike, I was just playing around with this subject this afternoon trying to test out the relative sharpness of my Sony 70-200f4 lens on the tripod with all the stabilization off and also testing it against the 85f1.8 and the 90 f2.8 plus the Tamron 28-75 f2,8. I will try again but this time with the stabilization on and off and see if there is any difference, I suspect maybe not!

[@mikesphotography]

Great to hear you're trying the test out for yourself. It's always good to give it a go and it will get you trying different things with your camera and lens combos! Let me know how it goes!! 😁👍

[@DjVojto]

let us know what you found out!

[@Vintageologist]

Great test - very helpful!

[@FilippoMasoni]

Good to know since the first long exposures I've done on the a7III I forgot to turn that off. I think the reason why it's so good is due to software. Nowadays on mirrorless cameras software play a huge role then before with dslrs. They can get more accurate readings from the sensors on the camera. I bet the software automatically detects the camera is still and on a tripod, especially if you're doing exposure of multiple seconds so it locks the sensor in place by itself. That's probably why you got mixed results with the 1/4s which was an in between situation.

[@mikesphotography]

Good point! Yeah, there must be some kind of movement sensor in there somewhere....they’re basically computers that take photos nowadays....so far removed from the good ol’ days of 24 and 36 exposure rolls of film!! 😆

[@tebs2]

I always wanted to know about this, thank you Mike! I made one timelapse that I found out after shooting it that I had IBIS on, but when I look the photos, it was just fine. :)

[@mikesphotography]

Awesome....I’ve had a few times where I couldn’t remember if I’d left it on or not....I just figured from the clean images that I must have turned it off....now I know differently! 😆

[@alpinewonders]

I also did a long night timelapse recently with ibis on. Good to know I couldn`t have gotten a sharper image by turning ibis off. Makes me think to leave it on all the time and forget about it.

[@tebs2]

Alpine Wonders it will consume more power, so it's better to leave it off if you don't intend to use it :)

[@alpinewonders]

Otávio Carvalheira good point, espescially with winter approaching

[@alpinewonders]

Otávio Carvalheira on the other hand, Otavio, check this, along with the tester`s second test further to a poster`s comment: blog.kasson.com/the-last-word/is-ibis-costing-you-battery-life-in-your-sony-a7rii/ I presume the A7iii is the same, not sure though

[@CarstenBruhn]

Does this conclusion apply as well for a6500?

[@mikesphotography]

As it is using the same sony system, I'd say it would produce the same results. I don't worry about turning it off with my A6600 and I still get sharp images. Thanks for watching 😁👍

[@TURST67]

Thanks for this video and the long work you put into it. I was always a bit worried when shooting long exposure time lapses (like 150 shots 3 second exposures of traffic going through a city) that the stacked result would look shaky because of sensor trying to stabilize nothing, making each picture slightly mis-aligned with the previous one, but apparently I can leave IBIS on!

[@mikesphotography]

No worries, It was a fun one to make and I learned a lot form it as well. In stacking the images, I'd probably still switch IBIS off, just so you know that sensor will be completely static. In saying that, whether you have it on or off, you'll probably still have to run an auto align command to make sure they all perfectly line up. Thanks for watching. 👍

[@TURST67]

@@mikesphotography I'm testing this right now, and it's 100% better without IBIS. If I leave IBIS ON I can already see the shaky result between each shots by looking at them on the lcd screen.

[@mikesphotography]

OK. Sounds like your sensor is acting differently to mine then. I couldn't see any difference between the two when getting on a big screen with varying settings and conditions. A few times I have been out shooting and forgot to turn ibis off and I've still been able to get perfectly sharp images. What lens are you using?

[@TURST67]

@@mikesphotography yes, the weather was a bit windy (but not that much) so maybe it was enough to trigger the IBIS stabilization a'd male the sensor move.

[@firesmaug3214]

thank you so much bro you really helped me with this

[@mikesphotography]

That's great to hear. Thanks for watching 😁👍

[@Strengthoftenmen]

Great video, thank you and subscribed. How about long exposure NR, would you switch that on or off for long exposure astrophotography?

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks so much for watching and subscribing, much appreciated! 👍 With long exposure noise reduction, I turn it off for astrophotography. It’s more of an annoyance and you can reduce the noise when editing as well. I’ve made a few videos on it...check them out if you have a few minutes spare: kzbin.info/www/bejne/haa5qZ17ZrKGmbs kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmbRf6t9pNiMZrM I also have an astrophotography tutorial as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/joG5dnifjr-Eeas I hope that helps. 👍

[@brucewiebe6490]

What about the stabilization in the lens on a Sony. I have the a7iii with the Sony 24-105 with lens stabilization.

[@mikesphotography]

Good question Bruce....the best bet would be to go and do the test I did. Then you’ll know for sure. I don’t have that lens at the moment, just got three primes....although it looks like a great all in one solution with a nice zoom range. 👍

[@Yayasister57]

Thanks Mike. That was really useful.

[@mikesphotography]

No worries, I'm glad I could help. 😁👍

[@salazarmauricio2011]

Awesome video as always 💪🏽

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks Mauricio! Appreciate it!! 👍

[@YashKaman]

Such a useful test. Thank you!

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks Yash, I’m glad I could help! 👍

[@AnilPrabhakaran]

Well done. This cleared my doubt. Thanks.

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks very much Anil, I am glad it has helped. 😁👍

[@yoreleel]

You should do this test using adapted Canon lens on various adapters. Would like to see if there are different results.

[@mikesphotography]

Leroy, that’s a great idea! I’ll definitely put that on the list of videos to film in the new year. 👍

[@gabewrsewell]

very interesting, i would've expected sony's IBIS to 'hunt' around for movement just like the stabilized lenses do but i guess not!

[@mikesphotography]

I know, I was really surprised as well....I’m out shooting at the moment under the milkyway and haven’t switched it off!! Feels weird!! 😆

[@gabewrsewell]

Mike Smith Lucky you, photographing the milky way isn't really possible up here in Canada. Do you think the IBIS would have any effect on if you happened to lightly bump your tripod, or if your camera's being shaken by the wind a bit? Or do you think those movements are too small to be picked up and countered by the camera.

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks! Although it has its downsides.....I’ve been up for 26 hours now!! 😴 I’m not sure if it would make a difference, .....I feel another video might have just been added to the list so I can try it out! 😁👍

[@mikesphotography]

Are any of these places near you? www.google.co.uk/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/4316556/stargazing-canada-best-places-astronomy-summer/amp/

[@gabewrsewell]

Mike Smith haha what we go through for astrophotography. Dark sky sites are definitely in no shortage up here, I do have quite a few locations not far from my city. The real problem is that I live in Edmonton, 53° North. This means that for a 2.5 month stretch from mid May until August the sun doesn't go far enough below the northern horizon for astronomical night to begin, I tried some Milky Way photography in June but it was as if I were shooting 30 minutes after sunset with a full moon up. August I was expecting to be my best chance but literally every single clear moonless night was worthless because of the constant thick forest fire smoke drifting in from the west. This next moon cycle may be my last chance to get a Milky Way photo, because night starts right now with the Milky Way core well past the meridian and 3/4 below the horizon. Even at its maximum height, only about 1/3 of the Milky Way core is ever above the horizon from my location. I'd love to visit the Southern Hemisphere someday!

[@bioliv1]

Wow! No EOS R now. I thought about the 24-105 RF, but better not having to worry about the IS when changing to tripod.

[@mikesphotography]

It’s good not having to worry about IS. Although in a timelapse, you still have to switch it off otherwise it makes your timelapse a little twitchy.

[@jgsmachine1776]

but how is the ibis turned on/off? is there a menu setting?

[@mikesphotography]

It’s in the menu: tab 2, page 4/9 and it’s called SteadyShot. 👍

[@jgsmachine1776]

Thank you Mike! But of course, why should the ibis function be labeled “ibis on/off”... Noooo.... Let’s call it something different and bury it deep in the 4,000 page menu... 👍🏼

[@mikesphotography]

Haha!! If only we could delve into the minds of the engineers...then we might understand the illogical decisions they sometimes make!! 😆

[@aenosfox3658]

But you have to turn ibis of when you do video on a tripod and you move the camera very slow from one side to an other like wedding details! Ibis trying to correct the camera motion!

[@mikesphotography]

That is a good point. No need for ibis when shooting video from a tripod when doing nice slow panning shots. Thanks 😁👍

[@aenosfox3658]

@@mikesphotography 😃

[@mikesphotography]

👍👍

[@Lareo1964]

I shot using a manual Nikkor 300mm lens. In the background bokeh I got circular blurred regions with IBIS. Looked as if the IBIS was shaking - under investigation - I would turn it off

[@mikesphotography]

Hi Hans, That sounds like a situation where I would definitely turn it off. Did you set the ibis to manual and then put in the focal length? That might help the situation as the ibis will not know what focal length the lens is.

[@twoscoops2]

Perfect, I was just wondering this. :) Thanks for the video!

[@mikesphotography]

No worries, glad I could help. 😁 There’s a lot more to come as well so make sure you check back for more. 👍

[@johnwang2680]

Hi Thanks! Very clear explanation.

[@mikesphotography]

Excellent John, I’m glad it made sense. 👍

[@YoZZgAtLiii66]

Hi Mike, one thing seems not clear to me: 1. Factor: IBIS doesn't effect the Quality at all on Sony A7III' 2. Facto: IBIS ON and OSS ON on stabilized Sony lenses. -> Will This Effect Sharpness when used on a tripod? With my A7III and 70-200 f4 Sony, I really Couldn't see any difference here. I Will test this out with my 200-600 though.

[@ralphfrank1984]

So you’re basically saying just leave the ibis on because it doesn’t really matter on a73?

[@mikesphotography]

Hi Ralph, Basically, yes...I could not see a difference like I used to get in my old canon DSLRs when I left IS on in the lens. Thanks for watching.

[@trustlang_ua]

when you are using the sony camera (my a7 III) on the gimbal do you disable IBIS? Because when I record a video, for example when I walk in a forest, objects (trees) in the video are very torn, and jerky, such an impression that the eyes seem to be double. I use 1/50 shutter speed, 24 frames. I try to disable and enable internal IBIS in sony but the results were the same. When I record some static scenes video is amazing but only I move the camera - my eyes are bleeding. Gimbal also are correctly balanced.

[@mikesphotography]

When I had the A7iii, I would keep ibis on as it would get rid of the micro jitters for me. You also need to make sure it is set right for the focal length you have. Now with the A7C and a7iv, I just use the giro data and stabilise it in post ... this means I don't even use my gimbal any more.

[@trustlang_ua]

@@mikesphotography thanks. I found a lot of the same issues on dji ronin sc forum page, so the main problem - dji. So sad, because for 2 years dji can’t fix it. Probably will sell my gimbal

[@MarttiSuomivuori]

Thank you. Very clear.

[@mikesphotography]

No worries Martti, I hope it helped! 😁👍

[@gavinmillar1215]

Very helpful. Thanks!!

[@mikesphotography]

No worries Gavin, I’m glad I could help. 😁👍

[@jalexanderevans]

I can't find how to turn off OSS but leave on IBIS. Is this possible?

[@mikesphotography]

Hi John, I think when you have a lens with OSS in, the IBIS function works with the OSS, so when you turn off/on IBIS, you turn off/on OSS. The only lenses you have the option to just turn the OSS off are the ones with the OSS switch on the side. Thanks for watching.

[@TommyMacTube]

Urban and nature landscape are one thing, more important are people portraits. Deff had issues with my g master 70-200 stabilization on and has a bad effect to. Where I had to shoot manual so their eyeball is sharp as hell

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks for letting us know Tommy.

[@parijatcinematics4584]

How to turn off oss in sony 16-35 f4?

[@mikesphotography]

When you turn off ibis, I’m guessing it turns the oss off too. I’m meeting with some people from Sony on Friday so I’ll ask them to find out for sure.

[@parijatcinematics4584]

@@mikesphotography thank you..I will wait for your reply

[@JeniaFabisuk]

Thanks so much! Very well explained. Thumbs up!

[@mikesphotography]

Thank you!! I’m glad you like it! 👍

[@wannamontana4130]

Does anyone know if it makes sense to turn off image stabilization on the Canon or Sigma lenses, when shooting on Sony cameras? My understanding is that the Sony uses "in camera" IBIS stabilization (A7r3). So what is the optimal setting on the lens? Certainly it uses battery to have IS on. But is there any contribution to image quality?

[@mikesphotography]

I'd turn it off in third party lenses when on a tripod, but then see how it goes handheld. When I had the 70-200mm 2.8 I used to turn off IBIS but keep the IS in lens on...that seemed to work for me and the copy I had, but you should test it out to see what works best for you and your set of lenses. 👍

[@deced123]

Oh no way, i asked about this a few weeks ago on another video. Thanks for getting me an answer :). subbed :D

[@mikesphotography]

Awesome! Glad I could help and thanks so much for the sub! I’ve got lots more to come so make sure you keep checking back for new content. 👍

[@stilmotionpicture]

thanks again for this find!!

[@mikesphotography]

No worries. I was always curious as to how it affected the outcome so I decided to test it out. I’m glad it helped. 👍👍

[@stilmotionpicture]

@@mikesphotography I will continue to watch your content!

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks so much Misael, I really appreciate the support. 👍

[@TheLostKuma]

Very useful, thank you! I do also feel like Sony's IBIS is so limited in ability it doesn't matter to leave it on/off. I wonder how this would behave on a Pany S1/R/H.

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks! It would be an interesting test to do with the Panasonic...😁👍

[@JensChrStrandos]

Great and interesting video. Subscribed!

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks so much, glad you found it interesting! 👍

[@mikesphotography]

And thanks so much for the sub! 👊

[@CodyCha]

The test needs to be performed at various focal lengths, especially at the long end. Image stabilization is designed to work differently at different focal length. A longer focal length will induce more vibration forcing image stabilization will work harder.

[@prashantshrestha699]

How to off ibis in Sony a7iii

[@mikesphotography]

Menu 2, page 4, it’s called steadyshot. 👍

[@nebula_M42]

The sony a7ii user guide explicitly says "We recommend that you set [SteadyShot] to [Off] when using a tripod." I have a Memory setting for landscape and night shooting for which I always use a tripod and I've the SteadyShot off for those configurations. That way is easier! no need to remember

[@wugamlo]

Nice videos! Answering real questions with real answers. Good work.

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks Joachim, i really appreciate the your kind words! I’m learning so much about my camera doing these, I hope you are too. 👍

[@wugamlo]

Thanks for your feedback. What I like especially is that you pick a very specific question and then answer it precisely. I also have an A7 III and I am generally very happy about it. What I am sometimes struggling with is the continuous autofocus and when to use which mode. Wide mode vs. Lock On AF. How to set it up and which mode to use in which situations - also in combination with touch focus. Maybe an idea for a future video :-)

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks dude. Yeah, the autofocus video is going to be a beast!! So many different options to choose from and settings to tweak and tune! 👍

[@Okay_Okay123]

Great

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks for the comment! 😁👍

[@inthevortexphotography5520]

Good to know, I never turned IBIS in camera or lens off. :)

[@mikesphotography]

Interesting! So it seems as though the IS in lens works differently to the DSLRs as well. 🤔

[@inthevortexphotography5520]

Question: do you know when both camera and lens have stabilisation, do they interfere with each other?

[@mikesphotography]

If they are native lenses, it seems like they work together. With different fittings and adapters I think they can sometimes compete against each other. When I used to have the canon 70-200mm 2.8 mkii I’d never have them both on. Either the lens IS or ibis .....might be a good test to do though....

[@inthevortexphotography5520]

Makes a lot of sense. I only have native lenses, so I can't share any experience with adapters. That will be a nice test, especially for long exposures.

[@mikesphotography]

Native lenses do make much more sense. 👍 I slowly transitioned across from canon but I mostly shoot with manual lenses or native ones now. It really does make life easier!! 😁

[@gabrielecaredda2283]

Top shirt mate! 606

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks very much...it's all about the Foos!! 😁👍

[@gabrielecaredda2283]

@@mikesphotography great video btw! U took a big question mark out of my head being a new sony user! Thanks

[@mikesphotography]

Awesome! Great to hear I was able to answer that question. 😁👍

[@PatrickGuerrisi]

410 likes 3 dislikes, 3 people must be canons users

[@mikesphotography]

Haha!! Or even worse...Nikon users!! 😆

[@eksine]

I would just leave it off, in case witches are nearby and hex my photos

[@mikesphotography]

Hahaha!

[@louieanderson2847]

Leave it ON and you'll be fine everytime!

[@mikesphotography]

Thanks for your input Louie.

[@stevebbkny2394]

I gave u 3 thumbs down.. lol jk

[@mikesphotography]

Haha! Only 3!? I was expecting at least 6!! 😆