A while back I had my hands on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II for a full test. While using the camera I was keen to test out one of its headline features, its unmatched image stabilisation.

Up to 6.5EV image stabilisation seems to good to be true. Rather audaciously an Olympus spokesperson even claims that image stabilisation is limited to 6.5EV by the rotation of the earth. Say what?

What does this mean in plain English?

Well, there's the old camera settings guide for sharp handheld shots. It's shutter speed = focal length. That means when shooting at 30mm, a shutter speed of 1/30sec should give you sharp results. Should.

If you factor in 6.5EV to this equation, you should be able to get a sharp handheld image up to 3 seconds with the E-M1 Mark II. Ridiculous.

That 6.5EV is for select Olympus lenses only, though 5.5EV is possible for other lenses, which is still amazing. On the same calculations as above for 5.5EV, I can get a sharp image at 1-2 seconds.

Does the camera deliver? Yes, yes it does. Oh and by the way it transforms shaky handheld video footage into silky smooth loveliness.

I've heard the term witchcraft being thrown around about this image stabilisation by level-headed camera nerds (yes tongue in cheek, but paints a picture of how this technology has been received by those in the know).

This is camera technology at its very best.

You can read the full piece on the hireacamera.com website.