Problems with In-Camera Anti-Shake

[David Eichler]

With certain Sony cameras with IBIS (anti-shake built into the body) the mechanism is prone to malfunction, rendering the camera inoperable. The temporary solution is to bang the camera, which apparently knocks the mechanism back into place. It seems there are enough people experiencing this problem to suggest bad design. I am wondering how prevalent this problem is with Sony models and whether other brands also have a similar problem.

[degrub]

Never had the issue with any of my OMDs.
Does Sony have lens IS available on telephoto lenses along with IBIS ?
I wonder if that is part of the issue as i would expect ibis to have to work harder for longer lenses.
I do turn ibis off when using my long manual lenses. I remember reading somewhere that anything above 300mm may not compensate reliably, but that doesnt sound like the Sony issue.

[Martin Kristiansen]

Never heard of this problem until now. Googled it and came up with 3 youtube videos on the subject so it seems to be a thing. Not sure I would go as far as saying that the system is "prone" to failure but it seems it can fail, hardly surprising, everything fails eventually. There was an issue raised by Lens Rental a year or so back where they found fractures where the sensor mounts onto the IBIS system on some Sony cameras. I think that is correct but Im working from memory here. 

On the question about Sony having lens stabilisation, yes of course it does. Not sure which lenses exactly but my 90mm macro, 24-105, 70-200 and 200-600 all have lens stabilisation. When using a lens with stabilisation it is in fact impossible to use IBIS on its own, the system will not allow it. The IBIS and lens stabilisation works together in this case. I have two sigma lenses, 14-24 and 85 f1.4 and they work with IBIS only not being stabilised internally. The tiny Sony 28-60 kit lens is obviously also not stabilised. When using old manual lenses it is necessary to manually input the focal length of the lens into the IBIS system in order for it to work correctly. I do this with an old 500mm Minolta mirror lens and it has worked well except on one occasion when I accidentally entered 50mm instead on 500mm, nothing broke but it didn't stabilise effectively.

The stabilised bodies I am currently using are the A9 and the A7C. I have also owned the A7Rii, A7Riii and A6500. Never had a problem in about 4 years of busy commercial use.

I don't know how prevalent IBIS failure is with Sony, above is simply my experience and also some information on how Sony has implemented stabilisation regarding conjecture that Sony lenses do not have stabilisation and all stabilisation is done using IBIS.

[sbay]

I've never heard of this issue but I shoot almost exclusively from a tripod. Maybe related to the sensor mount fracturing:

 https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2020/06/the-great-flange-to-sensor-distance-article-part-ii-photo-cameras/

When the dust settled, we found that actual lens mount problems occurred in under 2% of our Sony camera stock, about the same rate as our Canon cameras. In the early days of Sony mirrorless, there were problems with the lens mount; that has obviously been fixed. Eight other Sony cameras (1.6% of all Sony or 2.8% of A7xxx cameras) had a sensor mount issue.

[D76]

... The temporary solution is to bang the camera, which apparently knocks the mechanism back into place...

This should be noted in the owner's manual.  Under FAQ:  "If camera freezes up, bang on table top 3 times to reset."

[wcarlew]

This should be noted in the owner's manual.  Under FAQ:  "If camera freezes up, bang on table top 3 times to reset."

The technical term is a "Calibrated Tap"     

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I've never had such a problem with my Sony RX10-3. The excellent non-removable lens zooms from (full-frame equivalent) 24mm to 600mm, and is easily hand-holdable at the 600 end. And I never have to clean the (inaccessible) sensor.

At my age I really appreciate no longer having to haul a truckload of lenses with me to cover most situations.

[SrMi]

Never had any issues with any of my Sony cameras (a7rII, a7rIII, a9, a1).
If a camera would exhibit such a problem, I would send it in for repair or replacement. When Z 7 was launched, one of my two Z 7-s had an IBIS issue (did not work at all). I replaced that body.