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LUMIX Global TOP > Optical Image Stabilizer

Reason of Adopting O.I.S.

  • Causes and mechanism
  • Main reasons of jitter
  • MEGA O.I.S.
  • POWER O.I.S.
  • Active Mode

Situations Examples

  • Night scenes
  • Telephoto shots
  • Dimly lit rooms
  • Close-up shots
  • Underwater
  • Video recording

Optical Image Stabilizer

Why does your compact camera need the O.I.S.?

Causes and mechanism of hand-shake

What is hand-shake?

Hold your hands out in front of you and look closely. See how they shake a little? Even the steadiest hands are never perfectly still.
Because the camera shakes a bit, the axis of the light reaching the CCD or MOS sensor does not remain stable. This effect, called jitter, can make pictures look blurry.

O.I.S minimizes jitter while maintaining the picture quality

The O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) corrects a jolt of light axis to offset it. Some cameras compensate for hand-shake using methods such as D.I.S. (Digital Image Stabilizer) or increasing sensitivity. However, Panasonic uses the more technologically advanced optical system. The reason is simple: With optical systems, the image is not electronically processed so there is minimal degradation and higher quality.

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Completely different from this kind of system.

D.I.S. (Digital Image Stabilizer)

With the digital image correction, the image is affected digitally and deteriorated.

High Sensitivity

High sensitivity lets you capture clear photos without blurring in low light situations. As ISO sensitivity increases, resolution significantly decreases.

* Simulated images.

Three main reasons why hand-shake causes jitter

When using a slow shutter speed

In dark conditions, the camera requires time to receive a proper amount of light. As a result, the jitter appears to the CCD or MOS sensor as vibrating light and ruins the image.

Night scenesDimly lit rooms

When the angle of view is narrow

When taking telephoto shots and close-up shots, only a small area fits into the limited space of the frame, and the angle of view is narrow. This magnifies the effect of any hand-shake.

Telephoto shotsClose-up shots

An awkward stance

Hands are more likely to shake a little when shooting with a compact camera. The hands are also more likely to shake in certain shooting styles, while walking, or while shooting underwater.

UnderwaterVideo recording

LUMIX corrects hand-shake with advanced technology

MEGA O.I.S.

The MEGA O.I.S. accurately detects even slight hand-shake movement by a sampling frequency of 4,000 times per second, and compensates to produce sharp, clear images. The Venus Engine controls the shifting of the blur-stopping lens with even greater precision to further increase the detection accuracy and correction effect of MEGA O.I.S.

POWER O.I.S.

The POWER O.I.S. features a great performance improvement – twice the shake suppression capability of MEGA O.I.S. The hand-shake component, which is physically generated when pressing the shutter button or when shooting at night with a slow shutter speed, is recognized as a low-frequency vibration, for which the POWER O.I.S. is particularly effective.

MEGA / POWER O.I.S. with Active Mode

For more effective countermeasure against blur, the Active Mode is equipped with some models for an option of image stabilization in video recording. This mode is especially effective in active video recording such as shooting while walking.

* The firmware must be updated to ver. 2.0.

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