This is one of my favorite test subjects: Kindergarten Rock in Garden of the Gods. I wanted to try the 18-55mm kit lens again. Yesterday, I’d seen some soft results when compared with my Nikon 24-70mm. Of course, the Nikkor is one heck of a lens, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Fujinon wasn’t quite as sharp. But after reading many online reviews of the 18-55mm, I was wondering why my results were soft when others gushed about the sharpness. It turns out that the image stabilization system (OIS) can introduce softness at fast shutter speeds, just like Nikon’s VR system can.
I went back to Garden of the Gods, turned OIS off, and got this result. It’s pin-sharp and holds its own against my D4/24-70mm combo (I use this comparison because both are 16MP cameras).
So there you have it. The 18-55mm f/2.8-4 Fujinon is one heck of a lens for outdoor photography! Just be sure to only use OIS if you absolutely need it, like indoors with slow shutter speeds.
Jason,
At what shutter speeds does Nikon’s VR system introduce softness? Why would this system introduce softness?
What shutter speed did you use with the Fujifilm X-T1?
Thanks.
Allan
Hello Jason,
Thanks. I didn’t know about that effect.
Standard advice with some of Nikon’s lens is to turn off motion damping when the camera is on a tripod or monopod. Does the same apply to the Fuji lenses, do you know?
Regards,
Roger
Allan-
In theory, anything faster than 1/500s has the potential to be soft with Nikon’s VR. It’s not something I’ve seen consistently on my newer (VRII) lenses, though. It definitely was noticeable with the Fuji 18-55. Turning the stabilization off was like night and day.
I assume so, but these were hand-held shots so I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything. I was wrong!
Fuji doesn’t say much about using OIS, but I’ll be keeping it off unless I’m shooting indoors hand-held without a flash.