Canon announces new Hybrid Image Stablization technology

Canon has developed optical image stabilization technology that compensates for angle camera shake and shift camera shake. The Hybrid Image Stabilizer (IS) technology will be incorporated in interchangeable single lens reflex (SLR) camera lens planned for commercial release before the end of 2009. The company says this is the first lens of its kind to incorporate technology that addresses both types of camera shake.

The new Hybrid IS technology has an angular velocity sensor that detects the extent of angle-based shaking and is found in all previous Canon optical image stabilizer mechanisms Now this is combined with a new acceleration sensor that determines the amount of shift-based camera shake. Hybrid IS also uses a newly-developed algorithm that synthesizes information from the two sensors to make optimal adjustments.

Sudden changes in camera angle can significantly affect images taken during standard shooting, whereas shift-based shaking, which occurs when a camera moves parallel to the target, is more pronounced in macro photography and other close-range shooting.

Canon says photographers can expect to see the enhanced effects of image stabilization from its new system, especially macro shots, which had proved difficult to achieve in the past.

Much R&D has been invested over the years by camera lens manufacturers in an attempt to prevent errors caused by camera shake, which occurs when a camera moves while its shutter is open and its image sensor is exposed to light.

Canon’s own efforts began in the 1980s. And while preventing optical camera shake is not new (Canon launched the world’s first interchangeable SLR camera lens to feature the technology in 1995 – the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM) the company says this is the first time a lens has been able to perform both functions.