How the Image Stabilizer Works

The shake of the camera is one of the significant factors affecting the quality of the footage. Before the image stabilizer appeared, photography was possible only using a tripod. Only in this way was it possible to guarantee an excellent result. However, very often the use of a tripod deprives us of mobility and efficiency. Canon has developed a unique system of optical stabilization, which allows to circumvent this limitation.

It should be noted that gyroscopes are used in this system, however they are rather tiny and are used exclusively as sensors to fix the movement of the lens, there are not any massive swirling metal pancakes associated with the use of a huge battery and an electric motor for their twisting. There is an opinion that such devices require a large amount of energy, but this is fundamentally not true. Of course, if it will work for hours, then there will be a noticeable energy consumption.

Image stabilizer: the principle of operation

Let's look at the most important points about the operation of the device. The image stabilizer shifts the objective lens in a plane parallel to the film. If the lens moves due to shaking, the light rays from it move from their positions relative to the optical axis, which is the reason for the appearance of the blurred image. If you shift the stabilization lens in a plane that is perpendicular to the plane of the film, within the limits needed to compensate for the movement of the lens, it is possible to achieve an effect when the rays that reach the plane of the film remain practically stationary. The center of the image is shifted down the film. If the group of stabilization lenses moves in a vertical direction, the rays that are intended for image formation are refracted, after which the center of the image is in the center of the frame. Similar parasitic movements occur in both directions, so the lenses can also move in both directions, perpendicular to the axis of the lens and parallel to the plane of the film.

The image stabilizer is not just the movement of the lens. Any camera movement is necessarily captured by two gyroscopic sensors. They determine the angle and speed of camera shake, which is typical of situations when shooting is performed with hands. The sensors are in a special block, which allows them to be protected from errors related to the shutter release or reaction to the movement of the mirror.

The stabilizer block lenses are directly driven from the core. Such a device is small, light, consumes a small amount of energy, the time of its response is very small. The optical image stabilizer is very effective in compensating for vibrations with a frequency of 0.5-20 Hz.

You can step through the work of the device:

- if the release button is not fully pressed, the stabilization lens group and the gyroscopic sensors are activated to determine the movement of the camera;

- sensors determine the angle and speed of vibration, after which the information enters the microcomputer;

- this information is processed by the microcomputer into the commands for controlling the stabilization device, after which they are transferred;

- the image stabilizer displaces the lens group perpendicular to the axis;

- during such a shift, the sensors process the information, and then transfer it to the microcomputer;

- a microcomputer compares the control signals with the signals from the detection device, monitoring the feedback received. This increases the degree of accuracy in the work of the stabilization lens group.

An excellent stabilizer function can be seen when working with the Canon DM-XL1.