Electronic shutter or mechanical

[Tinopener]

Hi all been messing about with shutter speeds and have found out that to get bulb settings you have to have your shutter set on mechanical. So is there a preference on what one to use ..Thank you ...Gary

 

[DaveC Oz]

Personally I have used both electronic and mechanical shutter. There is an issue with electronic shutter I believe on most cameras, called rolling shutter, which displays as banding in the image captured. I've never had it happen to me, but mostly I'm using mechanical shutter. The only times I use electronic shutter tend to be when I'm photographing things like Anzac Day memorial services etc. where the sound may distract others from the solemnity of the occasion.

 

[dragonsdreams]

I use electronic shutter because I shoot mostly wildlife so it needs to be as silent as possible. However as the previous poster pointed out rolling shutter causes odd bendy distortion on some fast moving objects like butterfly and birds' wings.

 

[iamdlewis]

It depends on what camera you are using and what type of shooting you are doing. Generally speaking for shots that do not use flash/strobes, for anything that is not an A1, A1ii or A9iii, you can use electronic shutter for when you are basically keeping the camera still and the subject isn't moving fast and use mechanical for any time you are panning while photographing or have quick moving subjects. For the A1, A1ii and A9iii you can basically use the electronic for everything. For flash/strobe work you will use the mechanical shutter but the A1, A1ii and A9iii can get quicker rates using electronic.

I think regardless of what camera you use I think you are forced into mechanical for anything longer than 2 seconds or something like that.

 

[Richard A]

I have an A7R5 which doesn't have a fast read out sensor but I use Electronic Shutter quite a lot. As others have said, if the camera and the subject aren't moving it's fine. I have actually used Electronic Shutter for more than half the photos I have taken with this camera. That is because I use it when taking lots of images for Astro Photography or when taking images for Time Lapse Videos. Just having a quick look, It appears the longest shutter speed I have used is 8 seconds. It saves wear on the mechanical shutter if nothing else. But you are right that you can't use Electronic Shutter in Bulb mode.

Bare in mind also that there is Electronic First Curtain Shutter. This is what I generally use but for stuff like birds in flight or the landing planes I have posted on here a while ago I use full Mechanical Shutter.

 

[BrianN]

I use mechanical for most of my photography and I have only used the electronic shutter when needed.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I take most of my photographs in mixed/LED lighting and banding makes electronic shutter unusable. It's a shame: I'd love to go silent. My clicks don't interrupt the music I snap, but sometimes the camera might be a little near to someone's ear.

So it's almost all mechanical for me.