Mirrorless: IS v No IS

chrism_scotland

chrism_scotland

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Chris
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Hi folks,

Looking for a little advice from users of any of the mirror less systems (NEX, M4/3, NX)
I'm currently looking to purchase a Compact System and really on price I've been drawn to the Micro 4/3 system and two bodies in particular, the Olympus EP1 which is very cheap brand new now and a used Panasonic GF1.

Having read around generally the GF1 seems to come out on top with far better Autofocus, a better LCD and generally good camera, however against the Olympus the one thing it is lacking is in body image stabilisation.

I know that there are lens that contain OS for the Panasonic (14-42, 14-45) but what I really want to use are the pancake lenses (14mm, 17mm, 20mm) which are not stabilised.

I know that Olympus is the only manufacturer which does currently put stabilisation into their Compact System bodies v Sony, Samsung and Panasonic who don't but what I'm really wondering is whether I would really miss IS on the shorter focal lengths I'm intending to use.
 
At the smaller focal lengths, I don't think is is important. I have a Leica X1 with 24mm lens and no IS. I very rarely see a need for any stabilisation. The lens is fast enough to let me use a high shutter speed or high iso so I get nice clear images.
I would think it more important to have clean high iso capability rather than IS with these small f l lenses

Allan
 
I don't think it makes a blind bit of difference, I've used an Oly with on board IS and a Panasonic with the same old manual lenses. I also use film cameras wth no IS at all. It really doesn't matter in the real world. There are far more important considerations.
 
I'm a big fan of IS and I'd like every body or every lens to have it.

All lenses / images will suffer from the same camera shake effects but the size of the image or the size of the subject within the image will either make it more or less obvious. With a wider lens the chances are that the subject will be relatively small within the frame and smaller looks sharper but zoom in or blow up and the effect will probably be visible.
 
I guess at least the lack of IS might spur me to improve my handholding technique! And maybe make me use a tripod a bit more (Gorillapod)

I do think there are bigger advantages with the Panasonics that outweigh the potential benefits of IS on the EP1 (Nice LCD, Nice UI, Ability to use the Panny EVF if I want)
 
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