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10-24-2013, 06:17 AM - 1 Like   #1
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The SR system is much more than just image stabilization...

The Shake Reduction system is at the heart of many Pentax innovations. It's much more than just image stabilization for every lens:
  • It can correct for tilted horizons.
  • It can be used to simulate a shift lens (Composition Adjustment).
  • It can be used to reduce or eliminate star trails for astrophotography (Astrotracer).
  • It can even be used to simulate the effect of an anti-aliasing filter!
It's simply stunning how many uses they've devised for the SR system. Pentax never ceases to amaze me.

--DragonLord

10-24-2013, 06:21 AM   #2
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They have even used it for sensor dust shaking before...
10-24-2013, 06:39 AM   #3
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There was also a discussion here a while ago about possibly using the SR system to achieve an image resolution boost via doubling the number of pixels exposed on the sensor at exposure via sensor vibration (or something along those lines).
10-24-2013, 07:48 AM   #4
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It is, perhaps, the one technical advantage they have that the major players cannot duplicate easily. Good to see them capitalizing on it.

10-24-2013, 07:57 AM   #5
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Sony also has it. Same can be said of in lens stabilization
10-24-2013, 07:59 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by DragonLord Quote
The Shake Reduction system is at the heart of many Pentax innovations. It's much more than just image stabilization for every lens:
  • It can correct for tilted horizons.
  • It can be used to simulate a shift lens (Composition Adjustment).
  • It can be used to reduce or eliminate star trails for astrophotography (Astrotracer).
  • It can even be used to simulate the effect of an anti-aliasing filter!
It's simply stunning how many uses they've devised for the SR system. Pentax never ceases to amaze me.

--DragonLord
other than the AA filter simulator, the shake reduction has been doing those other features for a couple years now.
10-24-2013, 08:02 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by rajubhai55 Quote
Sony also has it. Same can be said of in lens stabilization
Sony's implementation relies on physical rails to move the sensor. It's not as flexible as Pentax's electromagnetic implementation, which allows more freedom of motion than SteadyShot INSIDE.

--DragonLord

10-24-2013, 08:50 AM - 1 Like   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by rajubhai55 Quote
Sony also has it. Same can be said of in lens stabilization
There are things which in lens stabilisation can do as well as in body (sensor shoft) stabilisation bet there are things it cannot do as good or even at all.

In lens stabilization:
- can most definitely not correct for tilted horizons.
- can be used to simulate a shift lens (Composition Adjustment). - but is only an approximation and will introduce some distortions
- can most definitely not be used to reduce or eliminate star trails for astrophotography (Astrotracer).
- can even be used to simulate the effect of an anti-aliasing filter - but will be a poor implementation applying a different level of filering over different parts of the sensor

the above is valid for any in lens stabilization - it is due to the principle of how it works rather than any specific implementation.

The easiest disadvantage to undersatand is the inabiliaty to do the horizon correction and astrotracer functions. In lens stabilisation works by moving a lens baout halfway through the optical path. This can shift the image left/right and up/down (and in most cases also any diagonal combination of that) but what it cannot ever do is rotate the image. Horizon correction is entirely about rotating the image so cannot be done. The astrotracer function requires shifting of the image (combination of up/down left/right) which in lens stabilisation can do but also image rotation - which in lens stabilisation can never do.

The issues of in lens stabilisation related to using it for moire reduction and composition adjustment are less obvious but are due to the different optical geometry of the two systems. This difference however make in lens stabilisation better in one particular area - in wide angle shots it is more accurate than sensor shift over the entire sensor area. Sensor shift would require the sensor to move a different distance to correct for shake at the perimeter of the picture from what it needs at the centre whereas lens shift more closely approximates the correct shift over the entire picture area. The effect is more evident the wider the filed of view (shorter focal length) but is typically negligible above 50mm or so.
The converse applies for moire reduction. At long focal lengths lens shift can work almost as good as sensor shift but at shorter focal lengths it would make a mess of it. WIth sensor shift moire reduction performance is independent of the focal length.
10-24-2013, 11:06 AM   #9
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Imagine, it's 2004-2005 in the Pentax design lab:

Pentax design lead: "Ok, it's agreed, then. In 2013, we'll introduce a remarkable new camera with a user-selectable anti-aliasing function. We'll implement it mechanically."

Pentax engineer: "Hmmmm... We'll need to design some sort of mechanism in the body.... hmmm... I know - let's forget about that silly in-lens vibration reduction system. Let's put in our own 'shake reducer' in the body. Then, in 2012, we should have sufficiant experience to be able to do the AA thing and we can use the same SR mechanics"

Brilliant!

- Craig
10-24-2013, 12:53 PM   #10
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And so it transpires that SR stands for "antialiaSing bluR"
10-24-2013, 01:26 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by c.a.m Quote
Imagine, it's 2004-2005 in the Pentax design lab:

Pentax design lead: "Ok, it's agreed, then. In 2013, we'll introduce a remarkable new camera with a user-selectable anti-aliasing function. We'll implement it mechanically."

Pentax engineer: "Hmmmm... We'll need to design some sort of mechanism in the body.... hmmm... I know - let's forget about that silly in-lens vibration reduction system. Let's put in our own 'shake reducer' in the body. Then, in 2012, we should have sufficiant experience to be able to do the AA thing and we can use the same SR mechanics"

Brilliant!

- Craig
Obviously a little sarcasm there. It is pure serendipity that in body stabilization has worked out as well as it has. I think in the long run that it has a lot more uses and just as much ability to stabilize (which is its ultimate purpose) as SR in the lens.
10-24-2013, 02:08 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by jaad75 Quote
They have even used it for sensor dust shaking before...
Is this feature still available?
10-24-2013, 02:14 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by tabl10s Quote
Is this feature still available?
In older bodies. I believe all the newer ones use a high frequency filter vibration.
10-24-2013, 02:28 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by jaad75 Quote
In older bodies. I believe all the newer ones use a high frequency filter vibration.
K-30 still uses the SR mechanism for dust removal. Since the K-50 and K-500 are practically the same camera they probably also do.

I think it would actually make sense to shake the SR mechanism even if there is also the ultrasonic device. Some of the stickier oily types of dust barely move with ultrasonic and will still need a good high amplitude shake, even if at much lower frequency, to let go of the surface.
10-24-2013, 02:49 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by lister6520 Quote
I think it would actually make sense to shake the SR mechanism even if there is also the ultrasonic device.
The K-5 may possibly do both, by accident or design.

I notice if I have the dust reduction set to run at camera startup, my K-5 makes a certain sound and I feel a slight vibration from the body. But when I initiate 'Dust Removal' from the camera menu, I hear and feel nothing from the camera at all.

Maybe that initial vibration is just the SR system starting up. But that, combined with the ultrasonic dust reduction I told the camera to perform at startup, may mean I get the benefit of both dust reduction approaches at camera startup - a physical sensor shake plus an ultrasonic vibe.

Whatever is happening, it seems to work well. After two years of use, dust remains a rarity on my K-5.
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