Canon’s camera image stabilization is still unbelievable! I can take sharp shots handheld with shutter speeds of 2 secs – with non-IS lenses!

In-body image stabilization (IBIS) was an incredible spec upgrade when it appeared in mirrorless camera bodies – four years ago in Canon’s case with the EOS R5 and R6 – but it quickly became taken for granted, and now almost forgotten about today.

But I believe it’s 100% something photographers should be utilizing – especially with how amazing IBIS can work with old non-IS lenses to enable you to capture sharper shots, even when you’re shooting handheld with super-slow shutter speeds.

I’m beginning to think, will I ever need my tripod again!? I’m only half joking.

I’ll let Canon explain the IBIS tech: “The EOS R5 and EOS R6 (in 2020) were the first Canon cameras to include sensor-shifting in-body image stabilization (IBIS), which also features in the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II. This technology compensates for motion in five axes and can deliver up to 8.5-stops of compensation, depending on the lens being used. When you use a lens with optical IS, the two IS systems work in tandem, giving enhanced performance against a wider range of vibrations than one system alone would correct.”

However, it’s how IBIS works when you’re using non-IS lenses that I’ve been really impressed by. Canon again explains: “With lenses with a large image circle, such as the RF 28-70mm F2L USM and RF 85mm F1.2L USM, the system can deliver up to 8-stops of IS even though the lenses do not have built-in optical stabilization… The in-body image stabilization tech in cameras, such as the Canon EOS R5, has the imaging sensor ‘floating’ magnetically so that it can move to compensate for camera movement.”

To access IBIS (In-body image stabilization), in the Canon’s EOS red shoot menu, scroll to the tab with the IS (Image Stabilizer) mode; this enables you to switch on the camera’s IS mode when you’re using a non-IS lens.

If you’re using IS lenses, this in-camera IS (Image Stabilizer) mode is unavailable. Note that for IS-equipped lenses, simply setting the lens’s IS switch to on combines stabilization by the lens and camera.

With IBIS, I found I can get sharp shots when shooting handheld with very slow shutter speeds. If you’re an experienced photographer, you can tell by the lagging shutter speed sound if it’s going to be too slow for a sharp shot. When you know it’s waaaaay too slow to be shooting handheld, and usually you check the image and, yep, it’s awfully blurry and unusable.

I’ve used IBIS with a variety of older non-IS EF lenses, but I really put the EOS R5 Mark II to the test with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L. Shooting in early evening when it was dark outside, I started at 1/2 sec, then 1 sec, then 2 secs... amazingly I was able to use a shutter speed as slow as 3.2 secs, and the images are damn-near as sharp as if I’d used a tripod!

I then really pushed the Canon EOS R3 to its image-stabilization limits with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. With IBIS I could confidently take photos handheld at 35mm and shutter speeds as slow as 2 secs without any camera shake problems.

Two seconds feels a long time when you're hand holding and the camera's shutter is open! I tried to keep as still as possible during the long exposures. As you can see from these example before and after images, trying to shoot with a 2 sec shutter speed without IBIS ends in disaster.

To put that in perspective, when you’d usually need a shutter speed of 1/30sec or faster to match the 35mm focal length, a 2 secs shutter speed is 6-stops of image stabilization thanks to the power of IBIS (ie 1/30sec - 1/15sec - 1/8sec - 1/4sec - 1/2sec - 1 sec - 2 secs).

Even more impressive, I have been able to extend my exposures to 4 secs, and even a ridiculous 6 seconds, and shoot handheld and capture acceptably sharp images. When I say ‘acceptably sharp’, by which I mean they’re certainly sharp enough to use and post online, but obviously they’re not as sharp as if I’d used a tripod.

6 second exposures is 7.3-stops of IBIS, with lenses that are nearly 20 years old, in the case of the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM launched in February 2007.

These long exposures are great for really blurring this fast-flowing river in this local scene.