How important is lens stabilization for a 40–150mm lens on a Panasonic Micro Four Thirds body?
Asked 3/7/2013
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I use a Panasonic G3 with the 14–42mm kit lens and want an affordable telephoto zoom in roughly the 40–150mm range. I’m considering the Olympus 40–150mm f/4–5.6, but since Panasonic bodies like the G3 rely on lens-based stabilization, I would lose IS with that lens. How much does stabilization matter at the long end on Micro Four Thirds, and is a stabilized Panasonic lens a significant advantage in this focal-length range?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
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In general, lens based optical stabilisation ought to work very well with a 150mm lens. Modern designs are capable of three stops (8x increase in exposure time) or more. As to whether it will make a large difference to what you can shoot, that depends on how much light you have. Of course image stabilisation does nothing to help you with moving subjects, so if there's something else constraining your shutter speed IS could be irrelevant.
To get stable images without IS at 150mm you will want to keep your shutter speed to 1/250s minimum unless you have particularly good technique. At f/5.6 this corresponds to EV13 which means you'll need ISO 200 on an overcast day during daylight. Indoors you're looking at ISO 6400 and up.
So if you primarily shoot outdoors in daylight you should be fine without IS, as the sun starts to go down you'll be able to increase the ISO sensitivity to compensate, but indoors you're going to struggle for light.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
13y ago
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Stabilization is generally more useful as focal length gets longer, so it can matter quite a bit at 150mm on Micro Four Thirds.
A common handheld rule is to use a shutter speed at least as fast as the effective focal length. On Micro Four Thirds, 150mm behaves like 300mm full-frame for this rule, so about 1/300s is a sensible target without stabilization. With good technique, some people may do a bit better, but IS can buy you roughly 2–3 stops, which can bring that down to around 1/80s to 1/40s, sometimes even lower.
That’s a meaningful advantage in lower light. Outdoors in daylight you may not miss IS much, but indoors or on overcast days it can be very helpful.
Important limitation: stabilization only reduces blur from camera shake. It does not freeze subject movement, so if your subject is moving, you may still need a fast shutter speed regardless.
So: if you mostly shoot static subjects outdoors, a non-stabilized Olympus 40–150mm can be fine. If you expect lower light or want more handheld flexibility at the long end, a stabilized Panasonic lens is a real benefit.
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