Good vibrations? how image stabilisation influences photogrammetry

Abstract. Image stabilisation (IS) is a family of approaches whose aim is to reduce motion blur in still images and shaking effect in video frames. A variety of techniques are currently implemented in cameras and camcorders: some involve hardware solutions, other are software approaches. In general, IS for still photography entails hardware in-camera or in-lens solutions. Video stabilisation, on the other hand, can be accomplished with software algorithms, either in real-time within the camera or in post-processing.Whereas IS aids photography and video making, its influence on the photogrammetric 3D modelling process has not been investigated. This article addresses this aspect. To this purpose, several laboratory and real-world tests were carried out, whose results showed that IS must be disabled when accuracy matters in photogrammetric projects. Details are provided in the manuscript.