What are the types of camera optical image stabilization? Which one is better?

More and more DC and DSLR (including lens technology) on the market are hyping the imaging anti-shake function as a hot selling point. It is true that the emergence of anti-shake function is very beneficial to the current popularity of digital cameras, because it is one of the important factors that help many beginners take clear photos, but it also means that everyone has to pay more money when purchasing. . Therefore, we need to have a clear understanding of the development, principles and efficacy of anti-shake technology.

Lens built-in optical anti-shake system

Nikon VR (Vibration Reduction) anti-shake system

Canon IS (Image Stabilizer) anti-shake system

Panasonic O.I.S (Optical Image Stabilizer) anti-shake system

Sigma OS (Optical Stabilizer) anti-shake system

Sony Super Steady Shot optical anti-shake system

Built-in anti-shake system

Electronic anti-shake system

Japanese Nikon Company was the first to introduce the anti-shake concept. In 1994, it launched a pocket-sized camera with vibration reduction (VR) technology. camera. The following year, Japan's Canon Company launched the world's first lens with an image stabilizer, EOS 75~300mm f/4~5.6 IS, where IS is the abbreviation of Image Stabilizer, which is what we are used to referring to. "anti-shake system".

In fact, in actual shooting, the shake of the photographer's hand during the film or CCD/CMOS photosensitivity process is objective and cannot be prevented. It can only be reduced by special mechanisms. The image is blurred due to the shaking of the photographer's hands. Anti-shake, so far, is divided into three major types: optical anti-shake, electronic anti-shake and photoreceptor (CCD) anti-shake.

[Optical image stabilization]

The representative manufacturers of optical image stabilization technology are Canon and Nikon. Let’s take Canon as an example to talk about the principle of optical image stabilization. Canon's optical image stabilization technology detects small movements with the gyroscope in the lens, and transmits the signal to the microprocessor to immediately calculate the amount of displacement that needs to be compensated, and then uses the compensation lens group to adjust the lens according to the direction and displacement of the lens shake The amount is compensated to effectively overcome image blur caused by camera vibration. Canon's IS system only takes a very short time to complete the movement of the IS lens group, so the effect is still very good. It is usually effective in preventing jitter when the shutter time is shorter than 1/60s.

After Canon was the first to install an image stabilization system in its lens, Nikon also developed its own SLR anti-shake lens system. Later, Canon also successively added image stabilization systems to its other telephoto lenses. An image stabilization system has been added to speed up the anti-shake process of its EF series lenses.

The "DMC-FX1" and "DMC-FX5" launched by Panasonic Industrial in November 2003 were the first compact digital cameras equipped with optical shake compensation devices. The optical shake compensation device "shake compensation gyroscope" equipped with the 12x zoom "LUMIX FZ" series products that has been on the market for a long time has been miniaturized. The company's technology uses a shake-compensating lens device in the middle of the lens barrel that moves according to the optical axis shift. Vibration compensation lens using magnetic sliding suspension. Not only photos, but also videos can be compensated for shake. The entire process of Panasonic's anti-shake system, including detection, calculation, and lens calibration, only takes 1/10 of a second, which is too fast to be noticed. The disadvantage of this approach is that in the past the lens barrel was always very large due to the necessity of having a shake compensation device in the camera barrel.

In addition, Sigma and Olympus also have their own products with optical anti-shake technology. Judging from the rush for this technology, anti-shake will also be a technology competition between various manufacturers in the future. direction.

〔Electronic anti-shake〕

It performs image analysis on about 2/3 of the area on the CCD, and then uses the edge image to compensate according to the jitter. Most All cameras use this method (there are exceptions). However, this method first reduces the utilization rate of the CCD. Secondly, it is not very helpful for static images.

[CCD anti-shake]

Some people also call CCD anti-shake technology electronic anti-shake, and its representative manufacturer is Konica Minolta. After entering the digital age, Konica Minolta began to develop a unique CCD anti-shake technology (CCD Shift Anti-Shake) in 2001 for those digital cameras that used large zoom ratio lenses. It did not put the shake reduction device on the lens. , but designed on CCD.

The principle of its CCD anti-shake is to place the CCD on a bracket that can move up, down, left and right, and first detect whether there is jitter. Since it uses a gyro sensor, the jitter detection is basically the same as other companies. The sensor then detects the direction, speed, and amount of movement of the jitter... The detected signal is processed and the amount of CCD movement that is sufficient to offset the jitter is calculated. However, the accuracy of horizontal movement is the most important.

In this way, as long as the lens is slightly tilted during operation, the focus will immediately become clear. When the CCD is moving, the horizontal line sometimes feels a little shaken. This is caused by the drive regulator. The regulator of this drive device is composed of two regulators for the X and Y axes. When the drive regulator vibrates, it presses the movable parts tightly while sliding back and forth. After being powered on, this part can expand and contract by 0.1 micron, and there are about 65,000 vibration cycles per second. Such pressing will generate friction, and the braking performance will be good, and you can stop whenever you want. Compared with optical image stabilization, this structure avoids the spherical aberration problem caused by the optical image stabilization compensation method, and also solves the various problems that plague SLR interchangeable lenses in terms of volume and resulting degradation in imaging quality. The application of CCD anti-shake technology means that using any lens can enjoy the anti-shake function without increasing the cost. The disadvantage is that due to the high-precision mechanical requirements, it is difficult to ensure the manufacturing technology of such requirements. Correspondingly, the cost of the fuselage also increases.

Moreover, after the CCD is offset, the actual imaging area will increase, which may cause the edge imaging to decrease.

Summarize the benefits of anti-shake. Below a certain shutter speed, anti-shake technology can solve the problem of hand shake very well. I have used OLYMPUS and CANON anti-shake, and I feel that using CANON EF70-200mm F2.8L IS can slow down the shutter by 3 steps. The anti-shake on the small DC is especially important for novices, so that they can get more clear photos. However, at the same time, anti-shake technology will also cause a reduction in imaging sharpness. After all, there is an extra floating lens in the lens. This is also difficult to accept for photography enthusiasts with higher requirements, so this is why all anti-shake systems have a switch, and users can choose to cancel or turn on anti-shake. In addition, the anti-shake system consumes a lot of power, so I usually don't turn on the anti-shake switch, but only turn it on when I need to use it.

Therefore, don’t be completely superstitious about anti-shake. The key is to use a safe shutter or a faster shutter as much as possible. If possible, try to use a good tripod.