This is why electronic image stabilization is not a good choice

The camera is sitting on a solid surface. The surface is not moving. But watch the background. The camera has electronic image stabilization turned on, and it’s getting confused by my bouncing – it thinks that it must be bouncing, so it tries to compensate. Fail.

10 thoughts on “This is why electronic image stabilization is not a good choice

  1. That’s hilarious. Somehow I should have thought it to be an obvious yet inevitable consequence, but I didn’t. I think there’s still hope in improving it, but it would only be for future devices that can integrate electronic gyroscopes, because the example shows relying on the image picture can be bad.
    Something that electronic gyroscopes might be able to add to EIS is compensate for roll – something I don’t think optical image stabilization can do as easily.

  2. Hi, Colin!
    I think you’re missing the point of image stabilisation. With your setup, you’d usually turn the stabilizer off. The camcorder is fixed, so why use an image stabilizer?
    In real life (that is: with your hand shaking) I doubt that the effects you found are relevant.
    That said: I’d rather have an optical stabilizer – but for the more obvious reasons (potentially better lowlight performance etc.).

  3. I actually posted the video because I noticed this effect while shooting handheld in the real world. Watching some bikers ride by, the camera would try to pan to follow the bikers, and then snap back to center frame. Very distracting.

  4. Oh, I see. That does sound critical. I second JeffDM’s idea about the gyroscope. However, I’m amazed that any manufacturer can rely on anything else for image stabilizing. My impression is: They (what camcorder is it, anyway? Panasonic?) must have had the idea to save a few cents by using the video processor to do this job.
    Good point!

  5. Aha – one of those Wannabe camcorders. Not that I could supply any hard facts – but since electronic image stabilisation has been around in camcorders (And I mean camcorders!) for some years, I’d be truly amazed if Panasonic, Sony and the like could offer nothing better than this.
    Again: I, too, would prefer optic stabilizers, if available. But this problem appears to be a specific flaw of said Sanyo model, not electronic stabilizers in general.
    For your review of this camcorder: Try to play back or (very daring!) edit the clips with the software player/editing software of your choice 🙁

  6. Great. I’ve got an HD1000, too. I noticed the snapping, too. Very disappointing as I largely take sports shots and the camera I was coming from had superb image stabilization.

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