Sigma FP L Stabilization

[mikeLD]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Everywhere in writing, including the User Manual "suggests" that the FP L does NOT have image stabilization in the Still Mode.  So, I submitted an inquiry to Sigma USA Support online and got a reply that "image stabilization does work in still mode"!  After lots of shooting, especially with my 90mm lens using crop zoom at 5X I find it to be true!!!!  One thing I notice when shooting at what would be a shaky shot, that I can see the image shaking UNTIL I press the shutter button, then for the briefest of a second it appears to freeze!!!!  The subsequent image is rock solid with no distortion even when I zoom in to the finest detail.   The attached images give an example.  C1.jpg was taken with a 45mm lens and SDIM0102-90rsaz.jpg with a 90mm.  The subject Pikes Peak is 15 miles line of sight distant from the camera which was handheld...  So, what do you think, was this stabilized???

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[mikeLD]

I forgot to mention that the top image C1.jpg was taken with the 45mm lens set to 2x crop zoom (90mm equivalent) because I was comparing the image results to the uncropped 90mm.  Needless to say, the C1.jpg image was about a third the size of the uncropped 90mm shot.  However, on examination of the two jpg files no apparent detail was lost..

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[BernardC]

What was the shutter speed? It's a blue-sky day at high altitude, so it should be high enough that you wouldn't get any blur.

Video IS works by shifting the image slightly between frames, to compensate for high-frequency movement. The same strategy is also used by high-end Canon and Sony cinema cameras. The advantage of doing this is that you don't get any image distortion like you would with sensor IS or lens IS. This effect is especially noticeable in video because the background seems to morph, while the main areas of focus stays still. Obviously not something you want audiences to experience on a big screen (unless you are going for that effect). The main disadvantages are that it requires multiple frames, it doesn't make individual frames sharper, and it's limited to a few pixels of movement.

[mikeLD]

Thank you for the feedback.  I am not sure what method the FP L uses to achieve the stabilization but over the few hundred shots taken with it so far, I've seen no evidence of shake.  At my age that is pretty good!  I've attached a pdf containing the Exif data from the original images.  I did find it interesting that the 2X crop zoom setting of the 45mm shot on the first picture is not recorded that way...  As an aside I recently found an article about the unusual pixel layout of the Sony sensor used in FP L and wonder what effect that may have on the resolution of the crop zooms, see attached pdf. 

FPL C1 45az & C1 90an Exif Data.pdf Sigma FP L Sensor.pdf

[BernardC]

The exposure times are 1/250 and 1/200, which should be sharp regardless of stabilization with a 90mm lens. I think that the stabilization that you noticed was just used for preview. The new M11 does the same thing: the EVF view is stabilized when you zoom-in, but captures are not.

[nicci78]

Nothing beats fast enough shutter speed. 
IS is only just useful for still subjects in low light. 
 

Don’t trust marketing too much. We got more than a century of photos without image stabilisation other than a sturdy tripod. 
Guess what ? images come out sharp. Even with slow ISO films.