It has been almost 30 years since Canon started research and development to compensate for camera shake and about 14 years since the release of the first EF lens with image stabilization (IS), the EF 75-300 f/4 - 5.6 IS USM.

That was the first version of Canon's OIS (optical image stabilization) that detected handheld motion and optically corrected it, but was not suitable for on-tripod work or panning. Two years later, with the release of the EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, Canon added IS Mode 2 that detected whether panning was taking place horizontally or vertically, compensating only for vibration in the plane perpendicular to the plane of panning. In 1999, with the release of EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, it included tripod detection. The latest version of IS was added with the release of EF 200mm f/2L IS USM that can stabilize up to five stops of light.

Today, July 22, Canon made public the development of a hybrid image stabilizer, the world's first optical image stabilization that compensates for both angle and shift camera shake. Unintended modifications in camera angle can clearly alter images taken during standard shooting, whereas shift-based shaking, which occurs when a camera moves parallel to the imaging scene, is more pronounced when taking macro pictures and other close-up shooting.

This new IS technology has a built-in angular velocity sensor that detects the extent of angle-based shaking and is found in all previous optical image stabilizer mechanisms, as well as a new acceleration sensor that determines the amount of shift-based camera shake. Hybrid IS also sports a newly developed algorithm that synthesizes information from the two sensors to make optimal adjustments, thereby dramatically enhancing the effects of image stabilization during shooting, including macro shooting, which had proven difficult for conventional image stabilization technologies.

Canon is actively engaged in ongoing research and development of interchangeable SLR camera lenses incorporating Hybrid IS technology, and is aiming for the early commercialization and inclusion of the lenses in a wide range of products and also announced the release of several lens by the end of 2009.


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