Author Topic: EFCS VS. Silent Mode Z7  (Read 1007 times)

Michael Erlewine

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EFCS VS. Silent Mode Z7
« on: January 27, 2021, 10:11:41 »
I am confused. I see that the Electronic Front Curtain Shutter and the Silent Mode are somehow different.

Which should I use for still photography and what is the different?
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Ilkka Nissilä

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Re: EFCS VS. Silent Mode Z7
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2021, 10:24:21 »
EFCS starts the exposure electronically and closes it with mechanical shutter. This has the advantage that the exposure can be completed faster than using fully electronic (silent) silent shutter if the mechanical shutter is faster than the electronic reading of the data from the sensor. Downsides are that there can be shading with tilt/shift lenses and asymmetric bokeh in some cases especially with fast shutter speeds. Most vibration is eliminated since the closing of the shutter affects the sharpness less than the opening. Nikon limits EFCS shutter speeds to 1/2000s ot slower.

Fully electronic shutter has the advatage of silence and no shutter-induced vibration but because in most cameras it takes a while to read the data from the sensor, fast-moving subjects can be distorted and flickering lighting can cause banding in the image. Also, in most implementations, flash cannot be used.

In the A1 the reading of the sensor data is fast enough that electronic shutter can be used as default.

Michael Erlewine

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Re: EFCS VS. Silent Mode Z7
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2021, 10:27:43 »
THanks. And so, SIlent Mode is preferable to EFCS for still life photography such as I do?

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Bent Hjarbo

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Re: EFCS VS. Silent Mode Z7
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2021, 10:50:13 »
Depends on the type of lighting you use

Ilkka Nissilä

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Re: EFCS VS. Silent Mode Z7
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2021, 13:31:27 »
Depends on the type of lighting you use

Exactly. If you use natural light then there should not be significant artifacts in silent shutter, but using LEDs you may see banding and using flash, silent shutter would not work at all (in Nikons; it would work with the Sony Alpha 1, but only that). However, vibration from the mechanical shutter would be completely eliminated.

With EFCS, most mechanical shutter vibration would be eliminated and you would not see banding and flash still works. EFCS is what I normally use for photos of still subjects in the studio (especially macro).