Low Light

FOR MY final challenge I took an evening saunter along the River Thames, where I’d get a chance to explore how each system copes with the demands of shooting in low light.

My first stop was Tower Bridge, where the effectiveness of each camera’s image-stabilisation (IS) system was put to the test.

First out of the bag was the D7200 which, unlike the OM-D E-M5 II, doesn’t employ in-body stabilisation and uses an optical vibration reduction (VR) system built in to the lens to allow users to shoot up to 4 stops slower than is otherwise possible. In my case I had the Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR coupled to the front of the D7200. This VR optic is designed to compensate for three forms of movement (vertical, horizontal and diagonal) with its angular-velocity sensors detecting camera movement every 1/1000sec.

Lining up between the hordes of tourists and their tripods, I worked my way from 1/30sec to 1sec to find out how slow I could shoot a pin-sharp handheld shot, half expecting camera shake to creep in at around 1/10sec. A magnified review on-screen revealed that with a steady hand shooting at the widest end of the lens (equivalent to 24mm), I was able to get away with shooting shake-free shots down to 1/8sec. Could the OM-D E-M5 II better this?

Comparing image stabilisation