Experimenting with low light & long exposure handheld shots

[groundloop]

I took my camera wandering around my yard last night to experiment with low light / long exposure shots. All of these are hand held using my OM-1 mk ii with a 12-40 f2.8 ii lens.

Besides amazing image stabilization this camera has a nice feature called "handheld assist" where it displays a small box in the viewfinder with a wandering dot to show you how much you're moving. So long as you can hold the camera still enough to keep the dot within the square you can take exposures as long as you like.

All of these are from RAW files and processed with Lightroom Classic.



f2.8, ISO 800, 2.5 seconds






f2.8, ISO 5000, 2.5 seconds







f2.8, ISO 5000, 2.5 seconds There was a thunderstorm around 20 miles away.






f6.3, ISO 5000, 8 seconds

[Walleye]

1. Good pictures, I love shooting at night

[mike_c]

2. that's extraordinary

I struggle to hold still enough for 1/30s. That's amazing in camera image stabilization. Wow! I especially like the image with the distant lightening flash-- great timing!

[groundloop]

5. Olympus / OM Systems has what I believe is a unique stabilization scheme.

The in-body stabilization communicates and works in conjunction with the lens stabilization to provide even better than what's possible with in-body or lens stabilization alone. This camera is a beast.

And "great timing" is almost always just pure dumb luck, I took over a dozen images trying to time one with the lightning.

[George McGovern]

8. Great photos groundloop! Olympus' IBIS is outstanding.

"Olympus (now OM System) features some of the best, most robust In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) in the camera industry. Their flagship models use advanced 5-axis sensor-shift technology that consistently rivals or outperforms top stabilizers from brands like Sony, Canon, or Nikon."
google.com

[amazona10]

3. where?

beautiful but where are we here?

[groundloop]

6. I live on Lake Weiss in Alabama

Living on a lake is what makes things tolerable.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. These are amazing photos! Beautiful with great clarity. Wow.

My camera is also an Olympus, but a Mark IV. I wish mine had the handheld assist! But it doesn't. It does have image stabilization which works well.

Thanks for sharing these stunning photos!

[sir pball]

7. Night junkie here, so jealous!

The best I get with my setup is 1s or so…that last 8s shot is amazing!

[groundloop]

9. It took a few attempts to get it right.....

Sitting down, hold breath, elbows pressed into body, etc. etc. ...... it was quite a challenge to hold still enough for that long.