Zoom sample - 10x and 14x

[Mike Beckett]

Just a quick video to show the difference between at full wide angle and telephoto with Active Steadyshot on and off:

Sony NX70 - Zoom Test #2 on Vimeo

You do get some extra reach with the Active Steadyshot on, and I don't notice any drop in quality.

The pre-Vimeo .mp4 file can be downloaded for best quality comparisons.

[Bob Magill]

Thanks for the zoom sample. The results are very interesting.

[Bill Hollinger]

Mike, what is happening to cause this difference in focal length? Can you see a difference in image quality?

Thanks,

Bill

[Ron Evans]

Active Steadyshot is EIS on top of the OIS so it needs to crop the image to create a margin around the area to use for its image stabilization. This scaling looks to be about 1.4 hence the 14x at max zoom but I think this is from the standard wide angle. There are plenty of sensor sites to interpolate a 1920x1080 image so quality should not change much if at all. I have noticed on my CX700 that large movements will result in the image re-centering at times but it is very effective for a lot of movements.

Ron Evans

[Mike Beckett]

I didn't notice any loss of quality when Active Steadyshot was on.

One thing, and maybe I'm confused. If it is effectively magnifying by approx 1.4, then the zoom will still be 10x! It just starts a bit less wide, and finishes a bit tighter. Maybe it is a 14x zoom, but it is hard to measure.

Not that it matters much for me!

[Matt Sharp]

Here's Mike's Active Steadyshot sample overlayed in red on top of the steadyshot off shot. Based on the size it was after scaling down to fit (1844x1038) it starts at 1.04X zoom. Doing the same thing with the full zoom sample it we assume the 941x530 snapshot is at 10X then the scaled down to fit (658x369) active snapshot is 14.45X.

Hope this helps!

[Mike Beckett]

Thanks Matt, I hadn't thought of running that comparison.

In that case it isn't a linear 1.4x magnification over the entire range, which makes sense.

[Bill Hollinger]

So, with active steady shot on, the focal length range (26,3mm to 263mm x 1.445x) = 38 mm x 380 mm?

I often use the longer focal length range on my EX1R ( 31.4 mm - 439 mm), and the 100-300 on the GH2 in ECT mode for an equivalent 1560 mm at 1080P,

American Goldfinch on Vimeo

GH2, Film modes, 100-300, ECT on Vimeo

[Matt Sharp]

Originally Posted by Bill Hollinger

So, with active steady shot on, the focal length range (26,3mm to 263mm x 1.445x) = 38 mm x 380 mm?

Based on my calculations, the active steadyshot starts at 1.04(26.3)= 27.35 and goes to 14.45(26.3)=380.03. And 380.03/27.35=13.895X (or the advertised 14X)


*edit.. I was just looking at the specs for the CX700 on SonyStyle, they list the Active Steadyshot focal length. "Steady Shot Mode:Active : 27.4mm - 383mm"