EVIL cameras live view comes from the sensor, so lens based IS/VR is not really needed, because the effect will be seen in the electronic viewfinder anyway.

mb said:
The principal advantages of lens VR is that it freezes the image in a optical viewfinder, allows faster and more accurate AF and metering because camera meters static image.
Sensor VR should also be cheaper.
On an EVIL camera on the other hand in lens VR has no advantages at all.

What's wrong with in lens VR on an EVIL camera?

The principal advantages of lens VR is that it freezes the image in a optical viewfinder, allows faster and more accurate AF and metering because camera meters static image.
Sensor VR should also be cheaper.
On an EVIL camera on the other hand in lens VR has no advantages at all.

So Canon is looking at sensor-based image stabilization. Meanwhile Sony has a PA for optical image stabilization. I guess the other guy's technology always looks better.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2010/0003023.html

I think the principal advantage is that it works with any lens. I've already go VR on most of my lenses so for me, I don't care. Older photog's might like it though as they probably have more legacy lenses.

It would also enable smaller cheaper lenses... that's cool and all, but I've got all the lenses I need for the foreseeable future (still lusting after the 14-24, but my 11-16 tokina will suit me just fine until I get an FX body). In fact, since I'm already on my third camera body with plans to buy a fourth, I'm not convinced that its any cheaper.

NikoDoby said:
So what if canon is on the verge of being able to use both lens and sensor based image stabilization as one? That would be a very big thing!

I am still not convinced that sensor-based VR/IS has advantages, except for the possibility to compensate for "roll" motion (as opposed to "yaw" and "pitch"). Imagine a 600mm lens. If the photog pitches the lens up by 1/4 of a degree, the image moves by 2.5mm on the sensor. The same pitch with a 100mm lens only generates a movement of the image on the sensor of 0.4mm. You can easily see how difficult this gets for a tele-zoom lens. The VR/IS element inside the lens can be placed in such a way that it compensates for the focal length by virtue of its position inside the lens. If you let sensor-based IR fight it out with lens-based VR in the same camera, you add a whole new complexity to the system.
What I can imagine, though: Pitch and yaw compensation in the lens, roll compensation (which is independent of zoom position) by counter-rotating the sensor. Nikon's famous backward compatibility would allow this. Your new camera would have roll-compensation, but your old VR lenses would fit both your D700, and your D777 (I hope this does not start a rumor ;-))

I'm with you on VR, willis. The current technology is spectacular but I think if you go any further you get decreasing returns, or maybe we've already turned that corner.

I've seen video of tests with some IS lenses on Olympus cameras with built in image stabilization, the results were less than appealing, ending with more apparent camera shake than without IS.

I'd be curious to know if both could be used at the same time, and if that would lead to any kind of improvement.

Honestly, as good as the VR is in my newer Nikon's I can't imagine it getting much better. Handholding at 1/8 is unbelievable. Where do you go from there? 1/4th? 1/2? That's useful I suppose, but for anything that moves, your going to get subject blur.

The hybrid viewfinder... now that's a juicy rumor!

Unfortunately they're from canon :^(

The first is for a "dual image viewfinder" patent which allows the photo you just took to be projected though the optical viewfinder! So you can review your photos without having to look out of the viewfinder and at the back of your camera to see the LCD screen.
http://www.photographybay.com/2010/01/25/canon-dslr-dual-image-viewfinder/

The next is for a canon sensor-based image stabilization!!! Holy crap if that shows up in future canon DSLRs!

http://www.photographybay.com/2010/01/25/canon-patent-application-shows-sensor-based-image-stabilization/

Not sure what I think of the first patent since a good electronic viewfinder will be able to do this. I guess this would be a hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder. The best of both worlds?

So what if canon is on the verge of being able to use both lens and sensor based image stabilization as one? That would be a very big thing!