Hand-held Twilight/Anti Motion Blur

In addition to multi-shot modes to boost dynamic range, both NEX models feature a pair of multi-shot modes for shooting in low light. Anti Motion Blur mode appears on the virtual control dial, while Hand-held Twilight mode is accessed through the SCN position on that dial.

The distinction between the two modes is subtle and they're both based on the principle of taking six images and combining them to minimize differences between shots. This has the two-fold effect of both reducing noise (which will change between shots and be cancelled-out), and minimizing movement.

The key difference between the modes is what kind of movement you're trying to minimize: camera shake or subject movement. Hand-held Twilight mode is designed for taking photos of static scenes and the image processing concentrates on canceling out noise. Anti Motion Blur mode tends to use higher ISOs to keep a high shutter speed high in an attempt to minimize subject movement, and its processing will try to select elements from the frame with the least subject blur if the principal subject has moved too much during the exposures. Hand-held Twilight also chooses darker exposures (often over 2EV below the normal metered value), whereas Anti Motion Blur tries to produce an image of the same brightness as normal metering.

The results we got from Anti Motion Blur weren't brilliant - our hand-held shot in manual shooting mode shows less shake than the Anti Motion Blur version. It also didn't do terribly well at identifying movement in the scene (on one attempt we got semi-transparent half-closed eyelids, which was too unflattering to publish), or reducing motion blur. You might be better off just taking six attempts at shooting the shot - one of them may be sharper than the results the camera will produce.

Hand-held Twilight mode was more of a success. Even though the manual mode version is similarly sharp in places, the Hand-held Twilight mode has clearly done a good job in reducing noise in the scene. The result is an image that's far more likely to be usable than a normal hand-held shot, even if you do manage to hold the camera steady.