2 Second Delay vs. IBIS - a test of the X2D on a tripod

[MGrayson]

Since the X2D currently has no wired shutter release, and the phone apps are unpopular as a replacement, I wanted to see if IBIS made any difference to "2 second delay vs. mashing the shutter button". For many images, split second timing isn't necessary, but for others it is. Since a remote release is, I think, rarely used with the camera handheld, I did all this with the X2D mounted on a tripod.

Well, here's the results of the test. The bits are pretty self-explanatory. I took four images at every stop from 1/500 to 4 sec (messed up 1/250, sorry), with and without 2 second delay, and with and without IBIS. These crops are 622 pixels on a side. On a meter high print, these would be about a 2 inch square (how's that for mixed units!)

X2D, 135/2.8 shot at various apertures from f/4 to f/8. Gitzo 5, Acratech panning head... There was no wind to speak of.

Here's a full image - buildings are 2 miles away, except for the Empire State Building, which will appear in the crops, and it's 3 miles away.



And now the (possibly useless) results. I'm not showing every stop, as the one stop changes are subtle to non-existent until we get to 1/5 second and longer. It looks like 1/2 second and 1 second are affected, and that 2 second delay is better than IBIS, but either one helps. The 1/2 second image is shot at f/11, but the sharpness differences are clear. I used a set of H&Y ND filters in 3, 6, and 10 stop denominations.



















The moral of the story is that 2 second delay is always sufficient (with this camera and lens), and that a wired release would be a Good Thing. IBIS does NOT render it unnecessary.

Once again, testing is hard, and all honor and admiration to those who do it well.

Matt

 

[jng]

Since the X2D currently has no wired shutter release, and the phone apps are unpopular as a replacement, I wanted to see if IBIS made any difference to "2 second delay vs. mashing the shutter button". For many images, split second timing isn't necessary, but for others it is. Since a remote release is, I think, rarely used with the camera handheld, I did all this with the X2D mounted on a tripod.

Well, here's the results of the test. The bits are pretty self-explanatory. I took four images at every stop from 1/500 to 4 sec (messed up 1/250, sorry), with and without 2 second delay, and with and without IBIS. These crops are 622 pixels on a side. On a meter high print, these would be about a 2 inch square (how's that for mixed units!)

X2D, 135/2.8 shot at various apertures from f/4 to f/8. Gitzo 5, Acratech panning head... There was no wind to speak of.

Here's a full image - buildings are 2 miles away, except for the Empire State Building, which will appear in the crops, and it's 3 miles away.



And now the (possibly useless) results. I'm not showing every stop, as the one stop changes are subtle to non-existent until we get to 1/5 second and longer. It looks like 1/2 second and 1 second are affected, and that 2 second delay is better than IBIS, but either one helps. The 1/2 second image is shot at f/11, but the sharpness differences are clear. I used a set of H&Y ND filters in 3, 6, and 10 stop denominations.



















The moral of the story is that 2 second delay is always sufficient (with this camera and lens), and that a wired release would be a Good Thing. IBIS does NOT render it unnecessary.

Once again, testing is hard, and all honor and admiration to those who do it well.

Matt

Thanks, Matt. This is a well-designed and well-executed experiment (I won't bother asking about replicates - oops, I guess I just did). Glad to see your inner experimentalist breaking free...

TBH, I am pleasantly surprised by the sharpness found in *all* conditions. If I look very, very closely I might detect better sharpness w/2 sec delay (and maybe with IBIS) at some shutter speeds , but absent a direct comparison I'm not sure I'd be dissatisfied with any. Am I about to have my pixel-peeping license revoked or am I just getting lazy about my standards?

John

 

[MGrayson]

Thanks, Matt. This is a well-designed and well-executed experiment (I won't bother asking about replicates - oops, I guess I just did). Glad to see your inner experimentalist breaking free...

TBH, I am pleasantly surprised by the sharpness found in *all* conditions. If I look very, very closely I might detect better sharpness w/2 sec delay (and maybe with IBIS) at some shutter speeds , but absent a direct comparison I'm not sure I'd be dissatisfied with any. Am I about to have my pixel-peeping license revoked or am I just getting lazy about my standards?

John

Yes, didn’t take multiple shots. I think it’s pretty clear that 2second delay helps a lot at 1/2 and 1 seconds, even with IBIS. I could post some 400% crops…

but if one shot is perfectly sharp, that probably doesn’t need a repeat. I’ll retest in the 1/4 to 2 second range with multiple shots. (Ugh!)

 

[Ben730]

With my GFX100s I always turn IBIS off and use the cable release when I'm shooting with a tripod.

 

[MGrayson]

With my GFX100s I always turn IBIS off and use the cable release when I'm shooting with a tripod.

Of course. But there IS no cable release for the X2D (yet). The experiment was to see if IBIS ameliorated the problem of getting precise timing instead of using a 2 second delay. The answer is “not really”.

 

[SrMphoto]

I always turn IBIS off when on a tripod, especially with longer exposures (wandering sensor). I almost always use a timer instead of a wired release unless an instant reaction is needed. I prefer a BT remote to a wired one as I dislike cables dangling, swinging in the wind, and having the ports open to inclement weather.

 

[Ben730]

I had to remake half a shooting day when I realized that IBIS + tripod doesn't work with the GFX...
The GFX has a cable release and quite good video functions, but it's not as beautiful as the X2D.
Beauty comes at a price.

 

[MGrayson]

BT would be good - any dedicated button would be. A phone app has the intermittent connection and finding the damn button problems.

 

[buildbot]

It would ruin the beauty, but a hack like this may work?

A Mechanical Shutter Release For A Digital Camera

Most digital cameras these days come with some kind of electronic remote shutter release. Various solutions exist, using USB cables, smartphone apps, or dedicated remotes. [Steloherd] wasn’t …

hackaday.com

 

[jng]

Yes, didn’t take multiple shots. I think it’s pretty clear that 2second delay helps a lot at 1/2 and 1 seconds, even with IBIS. I could post some 400% crops…

but if one shot is perfectly sharp, that probably doesn’t need a repeat. I’ll retest in the 1/4 to 2 second range with multiple shots. (Ugh!)

Right, I squinted a little harder and can see some differences now. In some cases, IBIS actually seems to degrade the image by just a hair, but I'd want to know whether this is a consistent result (back to testing, Matt!).

The conventional wisdom (and as noted by others here) is to turn off IBIS when shooting from a tripod. However I've often wondered whether IBIS can actually help in circumstances where the support is less than rock-solid, for example under windy conditions or when using a light-weight travel tripod. So far I have not seen much degradation when using IBIS on the tripod (using lenses with focal lengths ranging from 55mm to 490mm) and with exposures of varying lengths, all with 2-5 second delay.

I suppose the take-away for me is to continue using a delay but not worry too much about turning on IBIS and just pressing the shutter button w/no delay if timing is critical. Or trigger remotely via Phocus Mobile2.

John

 

[vjbelle]

A fascinating post Matt. I have always wanted to have the benefit of IBIS during windy conditions but it really doesn't work with my 100s. There is a definite difference between using IBIS on or off on a tripod. Fuji recommends not using it while on a tripod and the results that I have seen bear that out. It would be interesting to see how well it works for you in windy conditions.

Victor B.

 

[TimothyHyde]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm pretty sure the manual is explicit about turning IBIS OFF when the camera is on a tripod as it produces unsharp images. That being said, even I wouldn't attempt a 4-second shot handheld, and I'm a passionate believer in the new IBIS.

 

[vjbelle]

That is also what my manuals recommend (100s, R7M5). I don't know what the X2D manual recommends but Matts posts show that there is no difference with IBIS on or off on a tripod. My results are very different.

Edit: The Hasselblad manual is very explicit that IBIS 'Should' be turned off when the camera is on a tripod.

Victor B.

 

[MGrayson]

I think long lens shooters, say Canon 600/4, leave stabilization on even on tripod. The camera really doesn’t care where the shake is coming from. The purpose here is not to show if IBIS improves a 1 second tripod exposure. It won’t. But will it ameliorate the shake due to the button press when a 2 second delay won’t work.

This would all be beside the point if we had a remote release!

The weather has been terrible. I’ll go out soon to do multiple trials in the 1/2 to 2 second range and see.

Matt

 

[TimothyHyde]

"This would all be beside the point if we had a remote release!"
Not really. As I mentioned elsewhere, I carried the release for both earlier versions of the X camera and didn't use it once in six years. The delay was always adequate for my needs. The more relevant test, for me at least, would be the X2D handheld between 1/500 and 1/5 or even 1/2 with IBIS vs 2 second delay on tripod without IBIS. I think the results might surprise some. Again, I emphasize that I'm talking about my workflow, not judging others' workflow.
Tim

 

[MGrayson]

"This would all be beside the point if we had a remote release!"
Not really. As I mentioned elsewhere, I carried the release for both earlier versions of the X camera and didn't use it once in six years. The delay was always adequate for my needs. The more relevant test, for me at least, would be the X2D handheld between 1/500 and 1/5 or even 1/2 with IBIS vs 2 second delay on tripod without IBIS. I think the results might surprise some. Again, I emphasize that I'm talking about my workflow, not judging others' workflow.
Tim

It depends on the focal length if the lens, of course. A factor if 10x is a bit over 3 stops, and so well inside the claimed IBIS improvement. I’ve found it to work perfectly. So shooting the 135/2.8 at 1/15 sec or even 1/8 is not hard. I haven’t tried the 21mm at 2 seconds. But it might work.

 

[Godfrey]

I'm surprised that the Hasselblad Release Cord X does not work with the X2D as well. To me, the lack of a wired remote release is an egregious omission for a professionally oriented camera.

BT would be good - any dedicated button would be. A phone app has the intermittent connection and finding the damn button problems.

Hmm. When I use the Hasselblad 907x/CFVII 50c as a copy camera, I often use the Hasselblad app "Phocus 2" with my iPhone 11 Pro as a remote release and have had no issues with it being intermittent, and the shutter release button is very apparent. This has difficulties with the X2D? That's disappointing.

G

 

[MGrayson]

I'm surprised that the Hasselblad Release Cord X does not work with the X2D as well. To me, the lack of a wired remote release is an egregious omission for a professionally oriented camera.



Hmm. When I use the Hasselblad 907x/CFVII 50c as a copy camera, I often use the Hasselblad app "Phocus 2" with my iPhone 11 Pro as a remote release and have had no issues with it being intermittent, and the shutter release button is very apparent. This has difficulties with the X2D? That's disappointing.

G

There isn’t even a place to plug in the release cord. And, while I haven’t done much testing, others are unhappy with the consistency of the X2D - phone connection.
I’m hoping these are teething issues. The X1D took a long time to stabilize. But we’ll see…
Matt

 

[Shashin]

If you really what to see the subtly, I probably would not shoot though so much air. At that distance, you will have turbulence. You need something close, still, with fine detail. A cat perhaps? Still, I think it is very illustrative.

 

[MGrayson]

If you really what to see the subtly, I probably would not shoot though so much air. At that distance, you will have turbulence. You need something close, still, with fine detail. A cat perhaps? Still, I think it is very illustrative.

You make a good point. The antennae, although wavy, do have pixel-level width. The problem with closer targets is focus. I'll set up some fine-print at 50 feet right after this batch of coffee roasts.

Now if I could get the cat to stay still without tranquilizers ...