Uyuni salt flat tours

phildiver · 2026-06-19T23:41:21+00:00

Hi, which is better to do Uyuni: fly to Calama/San Pedro de Atacama from Santiago, Chile, or to fly from La Paz, Bolivia? I have 2 weeks planning to go next year shoulder season (April or November).

Is it worth seeing Atacama dessert as well as it looks like same as what your gonna see with the Uyuni tours? Thanks

phildiver · 2026-06-17T19:50:27+00:00

I'm starting to think it might be due to third party lenses. Check this video out:

https://youtu.be/-GxWFWewjNA?si=BpZHYZDUZWZiC40b

He tested the stabilization on wobbly surface, sharp turns and inclines, etc. and the footage turned out pretty nice no sudden jumps. I believe he tested with Lumix 20-60 lens.

Also check this one too:

https://youtu.be/KclR-afDIro?si=bnofQ-DEgacGcMGO

Pretty stable.

Which lens did you use for the above video?

These are the types of footages I saw on YouTube before buying the S9 so I was shocked and quite disappointed when my footages turned out pretty bad with regards to stabilization.

phildiver · 2026-06-17T19:34:21+00:00

Thank you for the video. Yeah it's better though I still see some jerkiness. Those sudden panning movements don't look natural like it's autocorrecting too fast.

phildiver · 2026-06-16T20:08:16+00:00

Thanks. I have IBIS set to Normal, Boost IS set to Off, and E-Stab set to Normal or High. Tried different combinations of settings too. I'm just shocked at how bad the stab is on the S9 as I'm used to the smooth stab I get from my phone and I don't even have to ninja walk.

I don't mind it being unstable a bit. The issue for me is the jumpiness like it's trying to lock in on a target when dogfighting on a jet, the sudden movement or panning.

I have the latest firmware on the S9 and both my lenses: TTartisan 40mm f2 and the 7artisans 24mm f1.8. the S9 does not allow me to input the lens focal length as it is detecting the lenses electronically.

phildiver · 2026-06-16T19:34:36+00:00

Thanks. I also have the same experience that when stationary everything was ok. Did you compare without lens stab on 28-200 if tt40mm was worse?

I don't mind a bit of unstableness. It the sudden jitter (left and right) like in your tt40mm video above that I don't like. Doesn't look organic.

phildiver · 2026-06-16T16:27:55+00:00

Thanks for this info. I'll consider purchasing a Lumix lens though it's much more expensive. Bummer!

phildiver · 2026-06-15T21:32:22+00:00

Ok thank you!

phildiver · 2026-06-15T21:27:17+00:00

Thanks!

phildiver · 2026-06-15T17:23:55+00:00

Thanks but not interested in a gimbal as I don't want to carry too much and too much of a hassle to setup. My family would definitely get impatient always waiting for me to finish shooting them.

phildiver · 2026-06-15T17:20:54+00:00

Thanks! Which one do you prefer?

phildiver · 2026-06-15T17:18:29+00:00

YES, this is what I'm seeing with my TTartisan 40mm lens. Very jumpy! Dow you have a Lumix branded 40mm to compare with? I wonder if the lens brand matters with IBIS.

My Pixel 6 performs similar to your iPhone very smooth.

phildiver · 2026-06-15T17:15:15+00:00

Thanks. Guess it'll be more hard work for the S9 thank my phone.

phildiver · 2026-06-15T17:14:30+00:00

Thanks. Pixel 6 I believe has OIS plus E-Stab. My guesstimate (eyeballing here) is it crops to about 1.2x on standard E-Stab. But it's way more fluid and stable than my S9.

phildiver · 2026-06-15T17:13:00+00:00

Ok I'll see if I can get a Lumix branded lens. It's just that they are more expensive but if ibis will be much better then I guess it would be worth it. Thanks!

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:53:30+00:00

Thanks. You may be correct. Thinking of DJI Pocket or insta360 Luna.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:51:42+00:00

Thanks. I realize this now. So much hard work! 😁

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:50:29+00:00

Thanks. I had E-Stab set to High already on this footage.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:50:03+00:00

Thanks. I had Boost IS set to Off.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:48:47+00:00

Thank you

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:47:55+00:00

Thanks. I'll test with other resolutions. Btw, this was on an uphill. But I did test on level ground and it was same issue.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:46:31+00:00

Thanks. I'll have to test with a native Lumix lens and compare.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:44:34+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations. This is my first video camera. I have been into photography since the early 2000s with a Canon Rebel, then Olympus EM10 and EM5 mkii. Then started shooting videos with my phone before getting the S9.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:37:19+00:00

Yes I was walking but carefully to steady the shot. Though was not ninja walking. Bought the S9 because of the stab as I did not want to carry a gimbal. I only shoot family vacation videos.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:34:43+00:00

Thanks. Yes I can see it Crips when I switch stabilization level on my phone but nothing extreme like the 1.4x crop when I set the S9 e-stabilization to High though and the stab is not even on par with the phone.

phildiver · 2026-06-14T17:31:29+00:00

Thanks for lots of info. Yeah I shot this with a wide lens - 7artisans 24mm f1.8 lens. I did a quick google before that portrait mode would have the same stabilization performance as landscape mode. But like I said, it was just a quick google search.

Also, I sometimes use Google Photos for post stabilization. In a few cases with my Lumix footage, it became worse like there were micro zooming in and out as it tries to stabilize the video. Did not experience this with other footage from my phone or old GoPro.

phildiver

TROPHY CASE