What are good examples of situations to use the Optical Image Stabilisation function?

Is it best for hand-held work where there is minimal camera movent? I was doing some hand-held work at the weekend while walking along and ended up switching the function off (along with Frame mode) to try to get the footage to look smoother.

The XM-2 user manual is very sparse - pretty much all it says about it is how to turn it on and off and not to use it for tripod shots...

Can anyone shed some light on when it is most practical, and when it is not, to use this function?

Thanks

When shooting from a tripod, it's very important to turn OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) off, otherwise you'll encounter a serious problem: OIS wants to dampen movement (that's what it's designed to do). If your camera is mounted on a tripod, the only movement you have is that movement which you intend to do, such as a pan. Lacking any other extraneous movement, OIS will try to fight your panning, resulting in an undesirable stuttering pan. Likewise, when you do a zoom, OIS wants to counteract that change and you'll see a jump in the image at the end of your zoom. Therefore, be sure to switch OIS to the off position whenever your camera is mounted on a tripod. And don't operate the camera in Green Box (easy recording) mode from a tripod, as OIS is always on in this mode (even when the OIS switch on the lens is set to the off position). Hope this helps,

OIS does not adversely affect image quality (except when misused, as described in my post above). OIS is an optical process working through a mechanical var-angle prism; this doesn't degrade the image. EIS (electronic image stabilization) definitely results in a hit in resolution, although recent next-generation EIS systems found in newer camcorders such as the Optura 20 are much cleaner than their predecessors. Hope this helps,

Thanks for the replies - but I'm still not clear about WHEN I should actually use OIS.

I know not to use it when on a tripod (as it says in the manual) - does that mean that it's advisable to use OIS for EVERY shot that is not tripod mounted?

Ok dont use it on the tripod=) but I think you should use it when you shoot handheld and it's many moves, maybe unpredictible moves and stuff like that.

I think you should use OIS for any handheld shots. Besides- you can only keep your arm so still- especially in the telephoto range.

Tripod: Never use OIS
Handheld: Always use OIS

I use a rolling tripod with image stabilization on and I get great moving shots around my subject as long as the floor is smooth.

I like the rolling tripod so much that I am having a custom one made with big locking wheels

as they all say...using a tripod turn off the OIS
going handheld turn it on unless you are confident with your shooting.......

There is a certain shooting situation where you should not use OIS, and that is at night with streetlights, floodlamps or stadium lights present. The vari-angle prism will show reflections appearing as "dancing fireflies" around these light sources. Commonly, this issue is mistakenly attributed to a UV filter (if you're using one), but usually it is indeed caused by OIS. This is an unfortunate by-product of the otherwise excellent vari-angle prism technology within OIS. Hope this helps,