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groundloop

(14,053 posts)
Sun Jul 12, 2026, 10:46 AM 5 hrs ago

Experimenting with low light & long exposure handheld shots

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

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Experimenting with low light & long exposure handheld shots (Original Post) groundloop 5 hrs ago OP
Good pictures, I love shooting at night Walleye 4 hrs ago #1
that's extraordinary mike_c 3 hrs ago #2
Olympus / OM Systems has what I believe is a unique stabilization scheme. groundloop 2 hrs ago #5
where? amazona10 3 hrs ago #3
I live on Lake Weiss in Alabama groundloop 2 hrs ago #6
These are amazing photos! Beautiful with great clarity. Wow. CaliforniaPeggy 3 hrs ago #4

mike_c

(37,223 posts)
2. that's extraordinary
Sun Jul 12, 2026, 12:07 PM
3 hrs ago

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

(14,053 posts)
5. Olympus / OM Systems has what I believe is a unique stabilization scheme.
Sun Jul 12, 2026, 12:47 PM
2 hrs ago

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.

CaliforniaPeggy

(157,405 posts)
4. These are amazing photos! Beautiful with great clarity. Wow.
Sun Jul 12, 2026, 12:39 PM
3 hrs ago

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!

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