e-Front Curtain Shutter - Switch it OFF or Leave it On?

There has been some debate online (and a lot of hot air) about whether you should be switching the e-front curtain shutter off on your Mirrorless camera. In this movie I will look at what problems (if any) you should look for and the impact the Electronic Front Curtain Shutter or 'EFCS' has on Bokeh.
Link to a good article that discusses Bokeh: www.bhphotovid...
Mark Galer is a Sony Alpha Ambassador for Australia.
Join Mark Galer on Patreon for the best Alpha Support and Guidance. A single $10 Membership fee includes access to member-only Q&A Forums + Over twenty 1-hour member-only seminars, 'over 15 downloadable' eBooks + cameras settings files (there is no contract or commitment beyond the first month): / markgaler
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[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Join me on Patreon for the best Alpha Support and Guidance. A single $10 Membership fee includes access to my 500-page camera-specific eBooks, member-only Q&A Forums + Over twenty 1-hour member-only seminars + cameras settings files & access to the Raw files from the lens and camera reviews (there is no contract or commitment beyond the first month). www.patreon.com/markgaler

[@Ex-Introverts]

This man is a Wikipedia and way more precise on sensitive and subjective topics. Love his content. Learning a lot from these.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for the positive feedback

[@CassidyHansen]

Amazing you can elaborate so deeply on one menu item. Very much appreciate you demystifying these sometimes obtuse options for us. Thank you!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Ashley-rj8up]

Fantastic video mark. You are my go to sony guy after buying my A7 iii two days ago. I am going out shooting the deer rut in the morning and had ECFS off I will now be tuning it back on ready

[@algd26]

Awesome video Mark as always! After watching a few videos of "agitated" people telling me it was ruining my photos, I came here looking for an accurate demonstration of the actual impacts of switching it off and you didn't disappoint. Seems like it's not such a big deal after all, thank you! 😁

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

'Big Deal' with 'Big Deal' titles videos will earn their makers more money at the expense of their viewers. Avoid titles such as 'why I returned this camera' or 'why you should always change this setting'. Avoid any video that include titles with definitives, like 'never' or 'always'. These highlight the fact that someone without sufficient knowledge or training believes they have more insight into the product than the engineers who designed and make these sophisticated products. Most 'Default' settings are default for a very good reason - all one has to understand is why they were made the default (usually to reduce the number of clients wanting to ring in a perceived problem with their purchase).

[@DamianBrown]

Perfectly stated ​@@AlphaCreativeSkills

[@RightOnRyan]

All my favorite photographers seem to be in Melbourne! Great video mate

[@withoutpassid]

Bokeh truncation effect of the EFCS occurs at a high shutter speed. Shutter speed was not shown in some images. Also, to really see the effect, you need an EFCS off as the control to see the effect of EFCS on the images!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I showed side-by side examples in this video. Since making this video Sony now have three cameras where you cannot switch EFCS off.

[@withoutpassid]

​@@AlphaCreativeSkills At 19:28, I saw that you did a side by side comparison but you left out very important information: the shutter speed! Yes, because a7c2 and a7cR do not have true mechanical shutter, potential buyers like me really want to know at what shutter speed that EFCS begins to effect the bokeh. Let say it is 1/1000 s, then we will go for the a7m4 not the a7c2 if we want to use the 50 1.2 or 1.4 GM.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

This video is four years old (before the A7C models were released) and I think the bokeh looks OK at 1/2000 and 1/4000 second - even if you cannot switch of EFCS on the A7C models

[@greysuit17]

I have seen with high speed sync on my Godox flash sometimes getting lines that almost look like lines of the sensor. Turning efsc off seems to help.

[@dragonfist25]

Yup that's happend to me too.

[@motoroksa9603]

damn , I was wondering why this is happening ... will try it :)

[@PH61a]

Had the same experience with my Godox AD400. Turning it off helped.

[@iambeautiful8190]

Thank you for explanation, I was on an edge of selling my a7RIV as I hated shutter feeling and I had more shakes with this camera than with my any without ibis... Plus Lag... and most time I shoot under 1/500 as I take photos in dark conditions mostly :D

[@findbinnu]

I hope Sony adds an option to Auto Switch-off EFCS above 1/1000 SS. Other manufacturers provide this option. That would solve the issue. I think they will do it only if enough people complain/ask for it.

[@NighthunterNyx]

It would be good option but not a good default. As the video explains pure mechanical shutter slows down continuous shooting and reduces responsiveness. So even at high shutter speed you want the EFCS on when shooting sports or any other time critical application. I guess aperture larger than f/2.8 and speed above 1/1000 and focal length to subject distance that produces substantial bokeh e.g. 24/1.4 at less than 3 meters, 85/1.4 at less than 5 meters

[@charruaporelmundo]

Not default but the ability to assign it on/off to any C button.

[@NighthunterNyx]

@SwitchRich perhaps EFCS should just be switched off in HSS automatically if it is not compatible?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I have placed the option to switch it off in my Fn menu. I wouldn’t wNt to assign it to aCustom. Upton that I could accidentally switch it off. Sports photography would be compromised with it switched off.

[@charruaporelmundo]

Mark Galer's Alpha Creative Skills Will check how to pit it there too, I did on the My favorite menu . Is very noticeable the results when using my voigtlanders lenses

[@rehfeldttw]

This is great. Thanks for sharing. I learned a lot.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad it was helpful!

[@thegorn]

I always switch off EFCS. I just toggle between mechanical shutter and electronic shutter, depending on what I need

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Always? I hope you took note of what benefits EFCS offer the photographer and why Sony chose it as the default setting.

[@gurudeclan]

I don't understand why colors are different between Silent and Mechanical shutter when using the same settings in natural light. My silent shutter photos are far more contrasty.

[@ajschot]

did you see the detail in sharp places? When EFCS is off they are also a bit less detailed (for my eye), difference is smaller then the bokeh. You can always smooth is a bit more to take the clarity or the contrast a little bit, most clear in the shots with the fence and the lifebuoy and the ship in bokeh

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I haven’t seen any difference in sharpness - I’m using good glass and a 4K monitor to edit. Sharpness is critical to my workflow as Sony expect me to showcase the quality of their premium lenses.

[@ajschot]

Mark Galer's Alpha Creative Skills. ... ok well it is hard to say also with the youtube compression but there seem to be less detail also in sharp area's so maybe it is just other contrast or clarity with on or off

[@charliejuliet1596]

Really well explained

[@1diode]

crystal clear, thank you Mark

[@pasztorlaszlo]

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

[@vbs8099]

The times I've used the silent shooting on motor bikes...I suffer from image slur....in effect, the image seems to have been skewed...happy to provide and image example... Sonya A7III

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Silent Shooting (fully electronic shutter) is not the same as eFront Curtain shutter which uses a mechanical rear curtain shutter. Silent shooting is not recommended for quickly moving subjects.

[@vbs8099]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills So eFront curtain should be OK with fast moving objects ?

[@syntom1]

Marvelous portaits!!!

[@carerra911]

I really wish Sony would implement a shortcut to this that can be put in the Q menu

[@aerialattitude1720]

I have found that under certain circumstances, EFCS On can cause horrendous banding. I had to completely re-shoot a school recently. The banding occurred in rooms (eg gymnasium) that had LED lighting and my shutter speed was 1/250 or higher. This occurred using both Sony 55 f1.8 prime and Sony 16-35 f4 lenses. I believe that the LED lighting has a lot to do with it but once I re-shot everything with EFCS off, the problem was gone. I can see the issue Mark on one of your images in the video. Time stamp 14:05, bottom row, second shot in from the left looks to have the same banding that I was getting with EFCS on under artificial LED lighting at shutter speeds at or above 1/250.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Mostly the banding is a result of using silent shooting - switching EFCS off will also switch Silent Shooting off. The image you refer to at 14.05 is shot through a shop window and what you can see are surface reflections off the window. On the A7Rlll I can use a feature called anti-Flickr that will time the release of the shutter to miss the strobing often seen by fluorescent lights.

[@aerialattitude1720]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Ahhh OK. Thanks for the explanation Mark.

[@no15minutecities]

Are people leaving it on and using for fast speeds causing it to fail and break??

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It’s a possibility

[@MOVIMKR7]

Awesome teacher mate, I am a fan

[@BritishRosie-es3zr]

I spent ages having 350mm images at less than 1/10th second being blurry. The e-curtain was off - as soon as I turned this on, bingo! Sharp images. The vibration is terrible when purely mechanical (A6400)

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Many would recommend a shutter speed of 1/500 second when using a 350mm focal length on an APS-C camera

[@BritishRosie-es3zr]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Yeah, it's the situations that can't be helped - low light and the A6400 looks terrible anything over ISO800

[@SocietateaAscendenta]

THANK YOU!

[@petrub27]

By setting efs on, will this increase the life of the shutter ?

[@hautehussey]

Petru B. In theory, yes. But when a shutter fails might not really be a matter of total number of movements.

[@meynardmacol]

good info Mark. thank you!

[@stringgunner69]

It would be cool to switsh EFCS on or off via FN menue but I didn`t find this option inside the custom settings. Did I oversee something? Great video Mark like always!!!!!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Best option is to put it in the MyMenu or register it as one of your three Memory settings so you can recall it from the Shoot Mode Dial.

[@lexometer]

great video .... great teaching ...

[@allanredford6070]

very useful. thank you.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad it was helpful!

[@movakalin5333]

Thanks!! Very helpful

[@Hsukhaybir]

Thanks mark .. I’ve never encountered problem since I use mostly Sony lenses for most of my work and very early shoot over 1/4000 even for BIF .. and I use your PAL workflow, I like the bokeh from the full mechanical though it can be helpful and give another background when you shot near hard edges .. out of curiosity at 29:17 you mentioned that you turn it off occasionally, what are these occasions presuming that there is no problem when leave it on ? Thanks again

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Just to change the look of the bokeh as none of my current lenses pose a problem

[@gogoasa333]

what a nice MACRO shot there Mark, did you took it with F11 ?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

All my work is available on my Flickr Pro account in ultra HD with full EXIF data and it is organised into albums of camera, lens or genre.

[@GilbertTV]

thanks for the info Mark

[@munkmegtube]

electronic first curtain shutter effect the shutter count ?

[@marksummers5504]

Sony has a new 12 step program for those who don’t like STF lenses. They’ve even stopped using any shock therapy.

[@Zacktak809]

Mark Summers how u got the alpha logo with ur name?

[@antoniogoncalves3405]

Thank you, truly instructive

[@theovoorbij1132]

Thanks again for your helpful movies. I think I understand the problems that might occur with EFCS on. I don't think that I will have any problems with the lenses I'm using. However I might like the bokeh better with EFCS off, specifically with portraits or other subjects separated from the background using e.g. my 135 GM at F1.8. Is the difference between on or off in bokeh affected by shutter speeds or just only by on or off?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I provided examples of the difference in bokeh structure in the video. This difference occurs regardless of the shutter speed. My conclusion was "better" was in the eye of the beholder. Some might prefer one over the other but I personally don't think one looks better than the other.

[@hubertbaierl9546]

Hello Mark, can you explain the "physics" behind the effect that the e-front-curtain has on the bokeh?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The change to the bokeh is due to the fact that there actually is a change in distance between the EFCS (Electronic First Curtain Shutter) that travels directly on the sensor plane and the mechanical rear shutter curtain that travels some millimeters in front of the sensor.

[@jon9834]

Thank you for yet another great video! Do you think EFCS has any effect on landscape photography or astrophotography in anyway?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Yes - it improves it if switched On because it reduces the risk of shutter shock.

[@marcusdekker]

Hi Mark, Question; the pictures taken @28:30 , are they taken with the Sony FE 85mm f1.8, the Sony Zeiss lens 85mm f1.8 or the Sony G-master 85mm f1.8 lens? Thanks

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Sony FE 85 F/1.8

[@hectorsolis9053]

I liked your videos. im really concerned about the issue of the a7iii with the shutter. I dont know if you can tell us something about it. How to avoid it or if we need to extend the warranty of our a7iii

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I have not met anyone who has had an issue but an extended warranty may give you peace of mind.

[@izobrr]

Звуки как в Постнауке Russian educational channel "Postnauka" has the same sound effects

[@lorenzopoli]

Thank you Mark

[@martyprager9405]

3 concerns, Mark, without trying to favor EFCS on or off issue. In your skyline comparisons, even though you say there is no shading in the first, you are incorrect. The shading is very obvious to me. Secondly, if the EFCS is switched off is the usable life of the shutter system affected, referring to the current discussion about Sony shutter failures? From what I've been reading, and I have no way of verifying this, but it seems the front shutter causing the concern. It is not used in EFCS On mode, seems like the shutter will last longer all other variable the same. Lastly have noticed that with with EFCS ON and metering set to the full aperture, the Dynamic Range Optimizer exaggerates the shading anomaly since it is designed to compensate for differences in brightness. I would enjoy hearing from others on these topics.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

This discussion will eventually become a non-issue for Sony Alpha as both the A7C and A1 have no menu option for turning EFCS to off.

[@martyprager9405]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thanks for your reply! So you're saying these cameras are always using the electronic front curtain shutter. This says to me that Sony has resolved the shading issue at higher shutter speeds. Just for the record, on my A7ii the shading is measurable from 1/500th and higher on my securely mounted slide copying configuration with a Nikon 85N lens shooting at f/11. I am fortunate to be able to adjust my controls to keep the shutter speed below 1/500th. Please keep up your good work!!

[@tykimikk8605]

what camera is that with 1/10,000 sec shutter speed?

[@roberto19801909]

I wonder is this is don't only related or any mirrorless. If it's Sony related. I'm selling and going back to Nikon or even get the Z7

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It’s a feature of Mirrorless - the Nikon Z7 is about as good as an A7RII for double the price and its object tracking in Continuous AF is exceptionally poor.

[@rayvaldovinos8067]

I've tried leaving it on several times on my a7r3, but with slower shutter speeds it only makes noise when image is done. I always think it didn't release.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I don’t understand what noise it is that you are hearing. I have been shooting with electronic first curtain shutters since they were invented and there is no follow up noise.

[@rayvaldovinos8067]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills The noise I'm hearing is the rear shutter. Without hearing a front shutter, on a long exposure you can't tell when shutter button is pressed by sound.

[@PdxMotor]

EFCS have any effect on situations that cause banding in images?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The only example I could find was the one I created in order to make this movie.

[@oriomenoni7651]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills I think Dean is talking about the banding that you get with flickering lights. If my guess is correct, then yes, turning to a completely mechanical shutter will eradicate the flickering banding issue and you can shoot with any type of artificial light without consequences.

[@SoulPost]

Nice detailing Mark. I love your stuff, the way you present. No dramas only facts. Great help here....

[@acme9538]

Mark, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate everything you do. I consider myself a couple notches 'below' an amateur photographer, and I would have probably sold my Sony a7iii if it weren't for you. NOT that I don't like the camera, (it's amazing) . . . it's just that I'm not good at learning menus or reading instructions. In the short time I've owned the camera and watched your videos, people are amazed at much better my images look. I owe ALL of that to you. Thank you so Very much Sir.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for your positive feedback

[@iguanaman08]

Thank you so much! I've just upgraded from A6000 to A6400 and was noticing how the shutter was slow on my A6400. Turned e-Front Curtain back on and now it's much, much faster and quieter. Thanks for explaining this function and all your other great tutorials. 👍

[@pianoman1973]

Thanks for this comprehensive study. I was wondering - why is the boken affected by the e-Fron curtain shutter setting ?

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

Great video, but I can't believe we can't assign this function to the Fn menu or to a custom button. How does Sony decide which options can be assigned or not? It seems like it's better to let us assign anything to Fn or a custom button.

[@seventysevencats]

I have this mapped to C2.

[@timothylinn]

Nice vid! The truncated bokeh that results from EFCS is a result of the difference in height between the electronic front curtain, which is effectively 0 mm above the surface of the sensor, and the height of the rear curtain, which is (on Canon cameras) about 5mm above the surface of the sensor. I mention this because it means that the effects of EFCS may vary not just from lens to lens but from manufacturer to manufacturer and even body to body. Given that exposure variations are more of a theoretical problem-Canon does not even list exposure variations as a potential downside to EFCS, only "incomplete" bokeh-the most interesting question to me is not whether truncated bokeh is good or bad but at what point it starts to become noticeably different from what you would get with a mechanical shutter. On my R5, differences seem to only appear at apertures faster that ƒ/1.8 _and_ very high shutter speeds. This would imply that EFCS has no practical downside for anyone that shoots with zoom lenses. I'm curious if your experience is consistent with this.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for your insights. I have to say that I am not overly concerned about the changes in bokeh on shots captured with a 1/8000 second shutter speed. The idea for me blurring the background with an f/1.4 aperture is that the viewers don't notice any distractions behind the primary subject. I suspect only people who have been trained to look at bokeh will be looking at the bokeh.

[@Imgrath84]

Thanks for the video. I like that I can watch your video at 1.5 speed and still understand you.

[@rodneywatkins4731]

Tried turning this on. The uneven exposure it produces is clearly visible and not desirable at all. I will not be enabling EFCS, regardless of shutter shock or whatever else might occur.

[@garo919]

im using an a6400 and i prefer having it on all the time. i just think it sounds a lot better because having it off makes it sound like you pressed the shutter twice. it also makes it less annoying when im taking photos on the street because the 2 clicks of having it off is more noticable. im also not a professional and im usually using f1.4 or f2.8 lenses and the bokeh seems fine to me.

[@Georgie_B_]

You’re a legend for condensing this info and delivering such a thorough, clear explanation of EFCS. I’ve had some nice experiences shooting landscape with it off in the daytime at relatively low shutter speeds. But I have had some nightmares, the shutter shock seems particularly noticeable in low-light and at slow shutter speeds? I was hoping it would capture more natural bokeh behind my subjects, but it ending up trashing a lot of my images one night, as they looked in focus on back lcd screen (a7iv). If you do have it switched off, I’d defo recommend pixel peeping, just to check focus is tight. Personally I will always turn it off and shoot electronic for my main subject shots and then I might try some mechanical shutter (with EFCS on) after I’ve got some shots I’m happy with, making sure to pixel peep every now and then too on back LCD. A lot of KZbinrs are just saying yolo turn it off, so it’s nice to hear someone give a more balanced perspective on it as there are potentially huge drawbacks to the shutter shock - something I couldn’t see even with a 3 million megapixel screen. Anyway happy shooting! I’m prob gonna move up to the R5 and shoot mechanical for landscapes, but stick to electronic for portraits mostly as I’m usually out and about and like to try some yolo shutter speeds. 😂. Might even get a flash too like a real pro lol. Peace out!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for your input. KZbinrs can invent issues where they don't really exist or recommend changing shooting settings without discussing why they were not the manufacturers choice for their default settings.

[@ZeroDean]

This was incredibly helpful. Thank you, Mark.

[@alangaughran]

A truly excellent explanation. I got here by thinking my shutter was double-pulsing and it seems I was right! What I did not realise is that the curtain needed to close after remaining open for view-finding - I really should have known better. This was a beautiful example of the adage that explanations provided by those who really understand are not generally too hard to grasp. It's just the efforts of the multitude of the less uninformed on KZbin that make simple matters difficult to grasp. This photo-novice is truly thankful. Mind you, Sony really should provide a decent manual!

[@EdExplore]

Awesome Stuff... Thank You, Had my Sony for 2 years and the EFCS was always Off - but after watching this, it will stay on!

[@ngosh08]

Thank you Mark, this is thoroughly explained

[@gregory.chalenko]

Thank you Mark for yet another great class! I've learned a lot from it, as always the case with your videos. In the article about bokeh from B&H though, they seem to have an inaccuracy in definition of chromatic aberrations: "Lateral CA will color the edges of an object, including the edges of an out-of-focus disc. The longitudinal CA will produce a color tint on the entire disc." The common knowledge is, lateral CA looks like unequal scaling of the colour channels, and longitudinal CA looks like coloured edges of the bokeh balls.

[@garydumbauld4212]

Great info, with examples! What more could we ask for?

[@IanWilkinson]

Although I followed some of the online discussions for a technical explanation of this phenomenon, I suspected that it might be more-or-less a non-issue, unless shooting at the extremes of shutter speed and aperture - but then (for the bokeh issue, at least) it's more of a subjective matter. Your clearly presented video and examples gives a reassuring explanation. (No worries!) BTW, you could leave EFCS set On, then switch it Off by assigning that to memory and recalling it quickly with one of the mode dial options. But that would probably be over-kill. Also, nice use of the gorgeous 180mm Nikkor :)

[@sjsphotog]

great informative video as always Mark. You're the BEST at these tutorials which helps to educate the photog community. Dont just believe the rumors online or in forums. get the facts! and do the testing yourself, as you have done here. Keep up the great work. SONY Rocks!

[@nambuck5583]

thanks for the detailed information. also, read that if efcs is on, exposure will be loss 1 stop. too bad that you didn't show up the histogram for each pictures. is this true?

[@RonK]

With EFCS=On and Off-Camera-Flash in HSS-Mode with shutter speed above 1/1000. I'm getting tons of zebra-like stripes in every picture, horizonal in landscape orientation, vertical in portrait. I think, THIS is what Sony meant with "uneven brightness". Problem disappears with EFCS=Off, so no biggy.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Uneven brightness usually refers to the black band I showcased in the video. For my test it was just one stripe.

[@drchtct]

Yes, the difference is subtle but so is the difference between APSC and Fullframe. So with the "APSC killers" A7Cii and A7Cr being EFCS only, I think people upgrade specifically to get that tiny bit blurrier background compared to their similar sized APSC camera. Yet when they compare their f1.4 APSC primes to their equally sized f1.8 FF primes, the EFCS will make the FF image look even busier than the APSC image. I think this issue is not communicated prominently and people are left wondering why their FF image doesn't look any better than their APSC image, despite having a shallower DOF on paper.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for your input

[@steveeb9567]

The shutter on my Sony A7Rii just stopped working. Five years old, 35,000 actuations. For a camera (body) that cost me $2,700 (U.S.)at the time, this is very disappointing. Cost to replace: close to $500. From what I've read the shutter should have been good for 150,000-200,000 shutter actuations. I see there is a class action suit about this problem with the A7iii series. I didn't think much about this issue until it happened to me. Buyer beware.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Any mechanical component can fail at any time. The shutter mechanism in the R models are of a better build quality than those found in the A7lll - sony have been known to repair cameras outside of the warranty period if they are sure it is not down to user error, e.g. excessive grime in the sensor chamber.

[@dopamining7621]

Thanks for this - intensely interesting, and fantastic portraits at the end. IMO, the smoother EFCS-off bokeh in most of the samples looks significantly better to me. However, the smoother bokeh raises a question in my mind that you didn`t address: in-focus area sharpness. With the example portrait at 25:20, the EFCS-off version looks noticeably sharper in the in-focus area (the eyes), at least to me, using the loop function on my macbook pro retina display and youtube at 1080. This portrait not only has the smoother bokeh, but better sharpness. Is this a one-off or typical? The person with the boat and the lifesaver on the pier also look sharper to me with EFCS off, but I don`t trust myself due to confirmation bias. The first one, the male portrait, really jumped out at me, however. I am definitely going to try shooting with EFCS off from today, to see the results. Thanks again.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I haven't noticed any difference in sharpness. I post ultra high-definition and full resolution images to my Flickr account where users can assess sharpness.

[@ReneFrederiksen]

GREAT info - to the point and clear language :) for both newbee's like me and Im sure for proff. too... THANKS

[@6rimR3ap3r]

Good explanation. Even a 2 for 1 to me as the Max. sync speed is explained. Thanks!

[@allanredford6070]

on Sony A7II with(w/latest V4.0 firmware) - turn on/off e.front shutter under custom settings(cog symbol)-item 4. more important to turn off focus beep to reduce overall noise.

[@Heli4213]

Can I just buy all your e books outright or do I have to pay $10 every month?? Thanks Love all the help you give

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You can make a $20 Paypal payment to purchase one eBook or pay a single $10 Patreon payment and download half a dozen different eBooks and watch 20 hours of photography seminars.

[@superradar]

Hi mark, very nicely explained, i am not a professional photographer but i took A7iii because i love it, during watching your video i tried some photos to your video where you are explaining bokeh with yellow background lights with round shape. i found the difference with eshutter on i got image at 4000iso and when it is off i got it with iso5000, another thing i noticed when eshutter on the captions you wrote on the image were clear white, with eshutter off the captions were little yellowish.....i took with kit lens and with eshutter on i got good image quality

[@eltouristoduo]

Interesting. I can't imagine why a different lens would affect EFCS shutter speed-exposure sync issue more or less than another lens. What does the lens have to do with that sync?

[@Halgame99]

I was wondering what it was and whether I should keep in on or off! this was helpful thanks

[@johnwardale6010]

You closing gallery was interesting! To me the “softer” mechanical bokeh looks like bigger “circles of confusion” from a focus point of view…not sure in the 1/3 stop makes a difference or not there. Back to the gallery, there were only a few where I thought the softer mechanical bokeh may have improved the image…and they already has “busy background” so we’d really need both side-by-side, and 3 pitchers of beer while “arguing” :-)

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The exercise over beer sounds interesting - my priorities, however, tend to not be based purely on bokeh. I shoot sports, action and events (with wide-open apertures ad very fast shutter speeds) where nothing is still so faster frame rates, a more immediate response from the shutter release and improved focus tracking are the priorities. So long as we have enough blur I am usually happy. The shape of it is of less interest to me - but that is personal consideration.

[@erre333]

I have noticed a terrible banding when i use flash it would had been a great example if it was included in the video. when you go past the sync speed anf you have it on it will create bad lines on your pictures. Thank you so much for the video very useful and helpful for sure. it does make it clear for sure. thank you

[@dragonfist25]

Yup. The same thing happened to me and it was the best shot of my shoot. I'll definitely turn it off when shooting HSS.

[@balloonyvideos]

Same happened to me. Vertical line banding using a Neewer Q3 HSS flash, Sony GM 85mm 1.8, 1/8000s f2 and Sony a7rII with EFCS on while blacklighting with sun and using flash in front to side of subject. I'm surprised you didn't encounter it. I'll remember to turn it off in the future!

[@raewynmurrayphotography]

Definitely going to listen to this as I had terrible banding for a dance school and the photos are ruined. No way to fix as far as I know.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Very difficult and time consuming to fix in post

[@850Tech]

Oh my. I use silent Shutter always since the option is greyed out in menu does that mean EFCS is ON internally or OFF ?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

If you use silent shutter you are using no mechanical shutters (first or rear).

[@850Tech]

@AlphaCreativeSkills mum so how does that effect on the bokeh ?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I shoot all of my work with the A1 with full electronic shutter - you can check out my album of ultra high-definition images captured on the A1 on my Flickr pro account. I offer personal support and guidance on my Patreon.com/markgaler support channel.

[@mudsucker1971]

Thank you for that, really clear description of this subject

[@garyc6183]

Interesting. I turned the front curtain shutter off because on a few occasions I had "banding" in my images. It has only happened twice over the course of a few years and many shoots. I read somewhere that turning off the front curtain shutter would solve that problem. The shutter sound is noticeably different when turned off. I also noticed that when I used on camera flash that the flash would fire twice. I have since turned it back on. By the way, I have the 100mm STF lens and absolutely love it!

[@dirkwaals2013]

In deed, tested on my Godox V860 II and it fired 2 times (fill flash) with front curtain shutter off. I don't see any difference in the results tho :)

[@bryanbuff]

Not sure if I missed it in the video, but I have my #3 custom photo mode with a fast shutter speed (1/8000) for active/sports so I just turned EFCS off for that mode. So whenever I turn the dial to 3 in photo mode, I know I don’t have to think about going into the menu to turn it off. I did test on my 24mm GM at 1.4 and there is a difference in bokeh above 1/1000 shutter speed.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Not sure if there was a question there but individual support is provided on my Patreon.com/markgaler support channel / differences in bokeh attributed to EFCS will differ with Alpha models being used

[@bryanbuff]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Lol, no question. Just sharing. Thanks!

[@darylcheshire1618]

seems to be more noticed at 20-30 fps. I’d suggest less of an issue with single exposures?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I've stopped switching it off so it is never an issue

[@rymdskrotet]

Im not very good at looking on long videos. Possible to get a verdict in a few sentences?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It’s not a yes or no issue, so leave it at the factory setting and don’t worry

[@alokkarnik1867]

I turned mine off because I like the sound

[@ryutashimotomai1743]

I was experiencing banding in indoor events, nightclubs etc. turning efcs off solved the issue

[@davyfbkk]

In my opinion that's nothing to do with EFCS being off on or, it's all to do with whether you were shooting with Electronic shutter on and choosing the wrong shutter speed which didn't sync with the refresh rates of the lighting indoors, such as fluorescent or concert spotlights which refresh at higher rates.

[@ryutashimotomai1743]

@@davyfbkk This was using the mechanical shutter. Electronic shutter was much worse, but banding still continued in a portion of my shots. Turning EFCS off solved my issue.

[@brenoraffa2750]

Thank you a lot for the guide. I was gonna turn it off on my sony a6000, just got sure that I dont need to

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad it helped!

[@pergunnareriksson]

Thanks for this deep look at Sony shutter variations and workings!

[@smoejith9283]

Have been playing with EFCS on and off and silent shutter on an a7iii shooting basketball games.. haven't found obvious differences as of yet..

[@TURST67]

Watch out for two things : Silent shooting can create banding according to lightsources (let lights can create banding, but only in silent mode). Also, it took me 2 years of shooting before releasing that shooting in silent mode would create a HUGE rolling shutter effect on the result image. I shot cyclists passing by with a quite low shutter speed to get some speed effect, and the background is always "bent" because of rolling shutter, and I discovered that it wasn't a thing in "normal" mode.

[@lucifirartwork6234]

Very well presented. Thanks, Mark. Already subscribed.

[@douglasliu4270]

Hi Mark, thanks for making this video. I am still a bit confused. If I shoot birds/airplane at over 1/2000 second with the A7RIV +100-400 GM or 200-600G, should I use: (1) silent shutter, (2) mechanical shutter with EFCS ON, or mechanical shutter with the EFCS OFF? Thanks!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Given that I had to go out of my way to create a problem with EFCS on (using a Nikon lens) and I have 20 TB of images then I hoped to point out that leaving EFCS on is OK with native Sony lenses and flash units.

[@douglasliu4270]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thank you very much!

[@Xetenor]

Great video Mark. Thanks for taking the time to show the samples! For now I set it as a shortcut to play with later!

[@chriskatili2028]

Thank you so much sir for the detail explanation

[@goddesseddog]

Simply shooting with e-shutter only will solve the problem

[@veesoho93]

On a74, is it equivalent to silent shutter ? Great video thank you !

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Silent shutter is an electronic front and rear curtain shutter. eFront curtain shutter uses an electronic first curtain shutter and mechanical rear curtain shutter ...so not the same as silent shutter

[@srinagardiary-lifeinkashmi5731]

Awesome 🙏💖⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Subscribed