Understanding IBIS in the Nikon Mirrorless Cameras

One of the most interesting features in the full-frame Nikon Z-series cameras such as the Z6, Z7, Z8, and Z9, is the in-body image stabilization—a feature not present in any Nikon DSLR. Although other brands have had IBIS for years, including Sony, Olympus, and Pentax, the two big DSLR manufacturers (Canon and Nikon) have only used optical image stabilization in their lenses instead. Does IBIS add anything new? The answer is, absolutely yes!

IBIS and OIS Explained

Today, there are three main vibration reduction systems you’ll find on the market: in-body image stabilization, optical image stabilization, and digital image stabilization. The last one is just software tricks and most just used for video applications. Instead, the two we are interested in here are in-body and optical stabilization – IBIS and OIS respectively.

• IBIS works by moving the sensor inside your camera in order to compensate for the camera movement. The camera has built-in accelerometers to measure lateral motion, correcting the sensor by moving it left/right and up/down. Some cameras also have gyroscopes built-in to detect rotational movement, including the Nikon mirrorless cameras, which have five-axis image stabilization (horizontal, vertical, yaw, pitch, and roll).
• OIS is a feature of lenses rather than camera sensors. It goes by different names depending upon the manufacturer: vibration reduction, image stabilization, vibration compensation, and so on. OIS works by moving the elements within a lens to counteract any vibration detected by its sensors.

Which Stabilization System Is Better?

Neither IBIS or OIS is necessarily better than the other, as we have covered before. It depends upon your needs, as well as the lens in question.

One of the huge benefits of IBIS is that it works with any lens you use, including adapted lenses that may be several decades old. This is a huge deal for photography, especially if you have a collection of non-stabilized glass that you want to use handheld (think something like the Nikon 85mm f/1.4). It’s an even bigger deal if you’re a video shooter, since you now have a much, much wider range of lenses that are usable handheld. The IBIS in Nikon’s mirrorless cameras injects some life into all its old manual focus lenses, because almost all of them work with Nikon’s FTZ and FTZ II adaptors.

Remember, too, that Nikon is announcing a 35mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.8 lens with their new cameras, which means this is also the first time you’ll ever be able to use a Nikon 35mm or 50mm prime on a native camera with vibration reduction. That is a big deal for many Nikon shooters, since those two lenses are already on-the-go primes, ideal for handheld shooting.

Another benefit, is that cameras with IBIS can still use lenses with OIS with both systems engaged simultaneously. This allows the camera to provide even more stops of stabilization instead of using just OIS or just IBIS separately.

However, OIS has some benefits of its own, including that it can be optimized for the particular lens in question. Moreover, longer lenses benefit from OIS especially because the sensor can only move so much to stabilize a longer focal length, whereas lens OIS designers can choose the optical groups to move to optimize for the given focal length. Thus, lenses of 300mm and longer still benefit from having OIS (called VR on Nikon lenses), which is why you will still see lenses like the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 VR with OIS or stabilization built in.

Pros of IBIS

• Works with any lens on the market, from ancient manual focus primes to modern wide-aperture lenses
• Reduces the complexity of a lens design, saving weight, size, and price. This is especially applicable to shorter focal lengths like 50mm lenses.
• One less moving part in the lens that can become decentered or break
• Easier to upgrade when higher-quality stabilization systems are invented – replacing one camera immediately versus replacing all your lenses over time
• Allows for other sensor movements, leading to additional useful features: resolution improvements via sensor shift, as well as star tracking abilities
• Doesn’t make a sound that your microphone can pick up during video

Pros of OIS

• Can be tailored to the particular lens in question, including features like Active vs Normal VR on a lens, potentially making it more effective
• Can be switched on and off via a physical switch rather than a menu
• Better for longer focal lengths
• Stabilizes the image coming into your camera on DSLRs, which may have slight benefits for autofocus tracking in dark environments

Which Nikon Camera’s Have IBIS?

All of Nikon’s full-frame cameras have IBIS:

• Nikon Z9
• Nikon Z8
• Nikon Zf
• Nikon Z6 / Z6 II
• Nikon Z7 / Z7 II
• Nikon Z5

Unfortunately, so far, none of Nikon’s APS-C cameras (Z50, Z30, Zfc) have IBIS.

When Should You Use IBIS and OIS?

If your camera has IBIS or your lens has OIS when you should use it? The answer is, almost all the time when you are handholding. In this case, these stabilization systems will make it much easier to take sharp shots because stabilization counteracts camera shake.

With some lenses and IBIS systems (but not all), it is recommended to turn them off when you are on a tripod, although many modern IBIS systems do work well on a tripod. Still, if you want every frame to be as aligned as possible, such as when you are bracketing or stacking, it is better to turn stabilization off, because both IBIS and OIS will cause successive frames to be slightly shifted.

Also, some older lenses do not work so well with OIS and high shutter speeds. Thus, if you’re shooting at 1/2000th of a second or higher, it might be worthwhile to turn off your lens OIS or camera’s IBIS. Still, on modern systems, it’s not much of a problem.

Personally, for most of my shooting on mirrorless, I keep both IBIS and any OIS on all the time. Even if you don’t need stabilization for getting rid of camera shake, it can help stabilize the viewfinder which makes shooting a bit more pleasant.

Conclusion

Even in the mirrorless camera word, both IBIS and OIS are important. Although the majority of shorter lenses will rely on IBIS in mirrorless cameras, longer lenses still benefit from a dedicated stabilization OIS system in the lens, and of course older Nikon and Canon lenses on a DSLR can only be stabilized if they have an OIS system.

IBIS and OIS can also work together, providing even more stabilization, and sometimes IBIS alone can be useful even if you have OIS for video, because IBIS makes a bit less noise.

At any rate, on most mirrorless cameras, you can turn off IBIS when necessary, such as when you’re shooting on a tripod and you want every frame to be as aligned as possible.