Casio EX-V8 Anti-Shake
Extracted form the DPReview pages are these notes on anti-shake tests that I did some time back.
The test was to keep taking 5 shots at each shutter speed with
anti-shake on and then off to try and determine the advantage and
reliability of the V8 anti-shake. Then closely examine the results full
screen and accept or reject the image based on the fact that it may be
printed to 4"x6" size or a little larger. There's no hard and fast
reject or accept borderline, it is a bit of personal fuzzy logic
applied when looking at images to judge the quality. When I first see 5
out of 5 acceptable then I call that the low shutter speed limit for
that situation.
Here's the anti-shake ON test at 44.1mm (=266mm) Tested on overcast day to get the shutter speeds needed.
1/8 sec 1 shot out of 5 is acceptable
1/10 sec 1 shot out of 5 is acceptable
1/20 sec 2 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/25 sec 2 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/30 sec 3 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/40 sec 3 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/50 sec 3 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/60 sec 4 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/80 sec 4 shots out of 5 are acceptable (underexpose)
1/100 sec 5 shots out of 5 are acceptable (underexpose)
Number 2, here's the anti-shake OFF test at 44.1mm (= 266mm) Tested on sunny day to get the shutter speeds needed.
1/30 sec 0 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/40 sec 2 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/50 sec 2 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/60 sec 1 shot out of 5 is acceptable
1/80 sec 3 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/100 sec 3 shots out of 5 are acceptable, repeated 3 of 5
1/125 sec 3 shots out of 5 are acceptable, repeated 3 of 5
1/160 sec 4 shots out of 5 are acceptable, repeated 4 of 5
1/200 sec 4 shots out of 5 are acceptable, repeated 4 of 5
1/250 sec 4 shots out of 5 are acceptable, repeated 4 of 5
1/320 sec 5 shots out of 5 are acceptable, repeated 4 of 5, repeated 5 of 5
1/400 sec 5 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/500 sec 5 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/640 sec 5 shots out of 5 are acceptable
1/800 sec 5 shots out of 5 are acceptable
The repeats are when I retested at a closer distance of about 5 metres instead of 10 metres, and also to test consistency.
The anti-shake OFF tests are way more scattered
because human body shake is way more scattered. The anti-shake on tests
were less scattered because the anti-shake is working but has limits.
It's strange that I got the same results when repeating the 1/100 to
1/320 results, but judging quality is at times a bit of a "how long is
a piece of string" type question. The varying 1/320 result reassured me
that things were working.
So that's my results, the next person who does that test may be completely different.
Conclusions with the V8 anti shake.........
#1. It does work.
#2. Improvement for reliable shots at max tele seems
to be from 1/320 without anti-shake to 1/100 with anti-shake. About 3
times the shutter speed improvement.
#3. The old rule for avoiding shake to use the
shutter speed to match the 35mm equivalent of lens focal length seems
to hold true when anti-shake is off. That is, for 266mm equivalent try
and make sure you use 1/266 sec or faster. Maybe divide by three for
anti-shake on. But I would still take multiple shots under borderline
situations.
#4.
Always turn off camera anti-shake for tripod use. Some simple tests
with maximum tele on a tripod and using 2 second delay showed me that
anti-shake on almost always caused shake in the image. With anti-shake
off then the images were always sharp.