Leica Q3 OIS tests

[Miltz]

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This is more of a public service announcement because everything I’ve read says the opposite and I think people should know. I have a photoshoot tonight and I’m planning on shooting 1/60 the entire time. So I did multiple tests with IOS on off and auto to make sure everything is setup properly. 

My findings are the camera does not use OIS at 1/60 in auto mode. There is a big difference between having it on and off at 1/60. Literally every shot I took was sharper with 1/60 on. I’m glad I tested this before the shoot as it would have affected my images. Keep in mind this is for the Q3. The Q2/Q might have different limits. If you’re like me and read that OIS lowers image quality and are worried about this on your Q3, it’s simply not true. I will leave it on all night tonight and report if the battery life is really affected with it always on as I’ve also read. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Miltz

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[SrMi]

1 hour ago, Miltz said:

This is more of a public service announcement because everything I’ve read says the opposite and I think people should know. I have a photoshoot tonight and I’m planning on shooting 1/60 the entire time. So I did multiple tests with IOS on off and auto to make sure everything is setup properly. 

My findings are the camera does not use OIS at 1/60 in auto mode. There is a big difference between having it on and off at 1/60. Literally every shot I took was sharper with 1/60 on. I’m glad I tested this before the shoot as it would have affected my images. Keep in mind this is for the Q3. The Q2/Q might have different limits. If you’re like me and read that OIS lowers image quality and are worried about this on your Q3, it’s simply not true. I will leave it on all night tonight and report if the battery life is really affected with it always on as I’ve also read. 

Thank you for the PSA.

Do you know at what shutter speed OIS turns on in Auto mode? The problem with Auto OIS mode is that the hand-holdable shutter speed depends on the photographer. It would be nice if it were configurable.

 

 

[Miltz]

I took 184 images with OIS on the entire time and battery went from 100% to 90%. Based on that, OIS has no real world effect on battery life. Another myth busted.

[Miltz]

17 hours ago, SrMi said:

Thank you for the PSA.

Do you know at what shutter speed OIS turns on in Auto mode? The problem with Auto OIS mode is that the hand-holdable shutter speed depends on the photographer. It would be nice if it were configurable.

 

 

Based on my testing image stabilization when on auto turns on at 1/30 and slower. Unfortunately since it’s clearly needed at 1/60 for 100% sharpness I think we should be allowed to configure when it activates. Keep in mind when shooting at 1/60 with no OIS images still look good, it’s only when you turn on OIS can you see how much sharper they can be. And after last night I’m keeping it on all the time like I have with every other camera I had, since battery life isn’t really affected to a measurable degree. 

[FusionX.Photo]

5 hours ago, Miltz said:

Based on my testing image stabilization when on auto turns on at 1/30 and slower. Unfortunately since it’s clearly needed at 1/60 for 100% sharpness I think we should be allowed to configure when it activates. Keep in mind when shooting at 1/60 with no OIS images still look good, it’s only when you turn on OIS can you see how much sharper they can be. And after last night I’m keeping it on all the time like I have with every other camera I had, since battery life isn’t really affected to a measurable degree. 

That makes sense as I guess they are assuming anything around 1/30 on a 28mm lens is the starting point for needing OIS but in the real world as you say it's very different, some people have far steadier hands than others.

[LocalHero1953]

I haven’t investigated this on the Q2, but have never felt the need to do so. I can’t remember images with shake blur. The leaf shutter helps a lot, IMO, so if the cut off is 1/30 then either a vibration-free shutter or my hands are also helping get stable images in crops. 
To the OP, did you test at no-crop, or with a cropped image? Selecting a crop makes AF and metering work differently; in principle the OIS limit could be derived from the crop size (ie the effective “focal length”). 

[mocha117]

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I've just taken my Q3 and did some tests as well. Done at 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s and 1/250s. And on tripod for comparison as well. Comparing shots taken w/ the same settings except switching OIS to auto/on/off. 

I've found that images taken at 1/60s when OIS is on auto does not have actually activate OIS. OIS on at 1/60s and slower handheld is an appreciable benefit to the clarity of the image. It appears that at 1/125s and faster, the benefit is not visible at all. This might change depending on the shooter's ability to steady their shot.

The best settings for image clarity are OIS off when on tripod. OIS on when 1/60s and slower. OIS on/auto when 1/125s and above. I wish there was a way to change when OIS would kick in because 1/60s should really activate OIS.

[Miltz]

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I haven’t investigated this on the Q2, but have never felt the need to do so. I can’t remember images with shake blur. The leaf shutter helps a lot, IMO, so if the cut off is 1/30 then either a vibration-free shutter or my hands are also helping get stable images in crops. 
To the OP, did you test at no-crop, or with a cropped image? Selecting a crop makes AF and metering work differently; in principle the OIS limit could be derived from the crop size (ie the effective “focal length”). 

All images were tested at 28mm in raw viewed at 100% in adobe camera raw. 

[LocalHero1953]

16 minutes ago, Miltz said:

All images were tested at 28mm in raw viewed at 100% in adobe camera raw. 

It might be worth seeing if the cut-off is the same if you set the crop to the smallest (longest 'focal length')

[Miltz]

5 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

It might be worth seeing if the cut-off is the same if you set the crop to the smallest (longest 'focal length')

I can’t shoot past 50mm in camera anyway. Those dam frame lines get ridiculous at 75 and 90mm. I always shoot 28mm and crop in my head. 😂

[Miltz]

On 10/4/2023 at 2:47 PM, Miltz said:

This is more of a public service announcement because everything I’ve read says the opposite and I think people should know. I have a photoshoot tonight and I’m planning on shooting 1/60 the entire time. So I did multiple tests with IOS on off and auto to make sure everything is setup properly. 

My findings are the camera does not use OIS at 1/60 in auto mode. There is a big difference between having it on and off at 1/60. Literally every shot I took was sharper with 1/60 on. I’m glad I tested this before the shoot as it would have affected my images. Keep in mind this is for the Q3. The Q2/Q might have different limits. If you’re like me and read that OIS lowers image quality and are worried about this on your Q3, it’s simply not true. I will leave it on all night tonight and report if the battery life is really affected with it always on as I’ve also read. 

Update: After extensive testing I can now confirm the auto image stabilization turns on at 1/50 which is good news. Unfortunately the camera still produces some images with camera shake even at 1/50. The behavior is very odd as I can get sharp images up to .5s when I “try”. Regularly 1/8 is no problem. But how is 1/50 not giving me 100% success rate is odd. Typically with my Olympus or Nikon, once I know the limit, anything above that is 100% sharp. On the Q3 it appears the OIS isn’t as reliable, or perhaps it’s because the camera is lighter? I’m not sure yet. I’m not a fan of checking my images in the field to make sure they are sharp. I shouldn’t have to at 1/50 on a 28mm lens with OIS on. At least the rear LCD is sharp enough to check unlike the Q2. 

[Dr. G]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:01 PM, Miltz said:

I can’t shoot past 50mm in camera anyway. Those dam frame lines get ridiculous at 75 and 90mm. I always shoot 28mm and crop in my head. 😂

I wish Leica would give us the option to either use the fame lines for the crop, or fill the screen completely at each cropped focal length equivalent.  

[Miltz]

7 hours ago, Dr. G said:

I wish Leica would give us the option to either use the fame lines for the crop, or fill the screen completely at each cropped focal length equivalent.  

Write them. I did and I hope everyone else does too. It’s ridiculous that Leica thinks we can compose 50, 75, and 90mm with frame lines, rather than a zoomed in preview. We just want the option, that’s all. 

[hedleyw]

7 hours ago, Miltz said:

Write them. I did and I hope everyone else does too. It’s ridiculous that Leica thinks we can compose 50, 75, and 90mm with frame lines, rather than a zoomed in preview. We just want the option, that’s all. 

As it’s a digital crop I wonder how the reduced resolution would look in the viewfinder/lcd? Is this what’s stopping them or are they just wanting to hang onto the rangefinder frame line mimicking for heritage sake alone?

[Dr. G]

16 hours ago, Miltz said:

Write them. I did and I hope everyone else does too. It’s ridiculous that Leica thinks we can compose 50, 75, and 90mm with frame lines, rather than a zoomed in preview. We just want the option, that’s all. 

Just sent a message.  I think part of the concern (speculating here) of filling the frame completely is that there is the opportunity to forget that you've selected a crop and that you're not back at 28mm.  I think this would pretty much only happen at the 35mm crop - and even then it would mostly be for those who aren't experienced in differentiating between 28 and 35mm at a glance.  A possible solution would be to use a thin colored border or informational border at the edge of the frame to easily recognize you're in one of the crop modes.