Another test of the anti-shake system to offer some more information for those who are interested.
The test shots below were taken at a focal length of 70mm , which is the equivalent of 105mm on a full frame 35mm camera. Again, these are unsharpened, RAW images and a 100% from the center of the image.
1/15 second
Off
On
1/8 second
Off
On
1/4 second
Off
On
What this test shows is what I said in the previous article, that anti-shake does not guarantee a sharp image but rather increases the odds of it. At 1/15 of a second the shot with anti-shake off is just slightly softer than that with it on. At 1/8 of a second the anti-shake shot is sharper but clearly not enough, indicating that there was camera movement beyond that which the technology could deal with. Yet at 1/4 of a second we are back to a reasonable sharp image with anti-shake turned on. So this test demonstrates the 2 stop improvement I taked of in the first article.
The anti-shake technology clearly works. What it does is increase your chances of a sharp image at any shutter speed. What I would say it is it bumps your chances about 2 stops lower. This effect happens at all focal lengths, not just at the longer ones.