I'm OIS really important?

[JimmyVi]

PS - "Meant Is OIS really important?"

Current Setup: Micro Cinema Camera + Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8
I shoot handheld/tripod for most scenes (I FEEL that OIS helps with handheld).

What I was thinking of picking up would be the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 with a speedbooster. My dilemma is that I want to shoot better in low light, but I want optical image stabilization.
Is it worth it to keep my lens for the OIS? Or am I just too attached to the idea of OIS and it really isn't that great?

[The HRHM]

It's not important. Just use it when it's needed. There's plenty of ways to get stable handheld shots. Plus, it wouldn't be smart to cripple yourself just for that feature.

[tyger11]

Everyone will experience micro-jitters shooting handheld. The problem is, until you see the footage on something the size of a tablet or monitor, you often can't tell. IS is important. The only downsides to IS are cost and heavier lens. Some lens designs skimp on max aperture when they incorporate IS. You'll never NOT want IS when shooting handheld, from a technical, image quality standpoint. That's if it's true IS; this is often (usually?) NOT true of "EIS" (electronic image stabilization) - that stuff is usually to be avoided at all costs; it's often the cause of a weird watery distortion I see in footage.

[EYu]

For handheld I prefer OIS but the choices are very limited to mostly the Pannys. If I'm just doing walk-about discrete shoots, I just use the Panny on the BMPCC. Makes shooting while walking a breeze. The Sigma 18-35 is a heavy lens so you'll need to stabilize using other means (bracing, wider FOV, etc.). The jitters on the Sigma is slightly prominent due to the sharpness of the lens (compared to a non-OIS Tokina or Olympus for example). If you're able to manage with having just slight [micro-]jitters, you can always stabilize it nicely in Post.

[voxndot]

I like the Canon 35mm F2 IS combo with the speedbooster. Still with the normal POV rangel but you can still do head and shoulders/neck up with nice bokeh. Or if you don't need the IS the Pana 20mm which sits on my BMPCC 90 percent of the time.

[tclark513]

What's your guys opinions on using OIS with shoulder rigs? Even with shoulder rigs you have shaky movement at times. Do you think it looks better with OIS ON with shoulder rigs?

[kbmjkeys88]

What's your guys opinions on using OIS with shoulder rigs? Even with shoulder rigs you have shaky movement at times. Do you think it looks better with OIS ON with shoulder rigs?

I use IS even on the shoulder.

I'm really curious how big productions do handheld on presumably no IS, PL lenses. Are the operators just way steadier people than me? Is it a function of total rig weight? Global Shutter / Rolling Shutter? I'm totally ok with the handheld I see in TV and Film productions, but I can never get anything that I'm ok with myself unless its with an IS lens, and even then I frequently add stabilization.

[JimmyVi]

For handheld I prefer OIS but the choices are very limited to mostly the Pannys. If I'm just doing walk-about discrete shoots, I just use the Panny on the BMPCC. Makes shooting while walking a breeze. The Sigma 18-35 is a heavy lens so you'll need to stabilize using other means (bracing, wider FOV, etc.). The jitters on the Sigma is slightly prominent due to the sharpness of the lens (compared to a non-OIS Tokina or Olympus for example). If you're able to manage with having just slight [micro-]jitters, you can always stabilize it nicely in Post.

The Sigma 18-35 is actually a contender for me when swapping lenses. It's something that could help me a lot in terms of working with low light. But I do have the trade-off of OIS, I'll be shooting a lot of run and gun style shooting so I'm trying to keep handheld or at most small gimbal.

Everyone will experience micro-jitters shooting handheld. The problem is, until you see the footage on something the size of a tablet or monitor, you often can't tell. IS is important. The only downsides to IS are cost and heavier lens. Some lens designs skimp on max aperture when they incorporate IS. You'll never NOT want IS when shooting handheld, from a technical, image quality standpoint. That's if it's true IS; this is often (usually?) NOT true of "EIS" (electronic image stabilization) - that stuff is usually to be avoided at all costs; it's often the cause of a weird watery distortion I see in footage.

This was actually super helpful information on the EIS I've always wondered what the difference was between the two types of stabilization.

[Denny Smith]

They use larger, well balanced camera rigs, designed for shoulder work, with the weight of the camera balanced on the operator's shoulder.
The operator, then has to only balance the camera, steady the lens/focus with the left hand, and has their right hand forward of the camera body (close to where lens mount point is) to steady the camera and have swing control. You learn to make the camera an extension of your body, all camera movements are made with the entire body, not just your hands. Your body becomes the tripod!

Think slow motion martial arts movements. The only exception here is ENG camera shooters tend to move faster to get, or keep,upmwith the subject, and the fast jersey movements are edited out, so you rarely see them. This takes practice and experience, to become smooth and steady. My first attempt with an ENG camera rig was not very good either, but with time and practice I got there. Also, these camera operators tend to be larger framed, fit people.
Cheers

[kbmjkeys88]

So if i'm using Blackmagic's ursa mini shoulder rig do i have a fighting chance? Or do I need an upgrade there? Along the same lines as what JimmyVi is asking, I'd love to break my addiction to IS lenses, but