Is it better to have an EOS camera with IBIS or a lens with image stabilizer, and is the effect of both added together?

Matt Wickendon, Tebay

BRIAN SAYS… In-body IS (IBIS) moves the camera sensor to keep the image steady in the frame, and it does so by shifting the sensor left, right, up and down. This makes it good for dealing with shift movement of the image, which is more problematic with wider lenses and when shooting macro. Optical IS in the lens also shifts a glass element, but is better for correcting angular movement that occurs with a longer lens photographing subjects quite distant from the camera. A small number of lenses feature hybrid IS in the lens – this corrects both shift and angular motion. Hybrid IS was first introduced with the EF 100mm f/2.8l Macro IS USM lens and is also found in the EF 24-70mm f/4l IS USM.

IBIS, first seen in the EOS R5, R6 and R3 mirrorless cameras, is designed to work in combination with lens IS, but the combined effect is not a direct sum of the stabilization of lens and body. The combined amount of IBIS and lens image stabilization varies depending on the lens in use. Combination image stabilization is broadly effective for both angular and shift motion, making it suitable for most subjects.

One of the most important things to remember about image stabilization is that it can only stabilize movement of the camera, not of the subject. If you are taking an architectural photo inside a church and cannot use a tripod, stabilization allows very slow shutter speeds to be handheld. By contrast, working in low light with moving subjects, fast shutter speed is the only way to freeze subject movement.

Without using a tripod, the combination of lens and IBIS allowed a 1/5-sec exposure to show movement in the water flowing over the weir

A 1 second exposure handheld with EOS R6 showing that in-body stabilization eliminates camera shake but not subject movement