Sony a7iii Silent Shutter vs The Mechanical Shutter Explained

Sony a7iii Silent Shutter vs The Mechanical Shutter Explained
Today I am going to show you the differences between the silent mode and the mechanical shutter. Each has its advantages so see which one is best for your type of photography.

My Equipment list:

My Favourite Photographers:

Timecodes:
0:00 - Really interesting bit!
0:53 - Electronic shutter
1:46 - e-Front curtain shutter
3:08 - Audible noise
3:46 - A7iii Banding
5:07 - Shutter Shock
6:10 - Flash Photography
6:44 - Shutter Wear
8:17 - Other disabled Functions

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Thanks

Mike

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[JeahnLaffitteAdventures]

Wow. I thought this would be a simple video about artifact sampling but NOPE!! Learned so much. Thank you

[seniorMdN]

I got REALLY bad banding while shooting concerts. The banding did fix itself once I turned off the silent shooting setting! I wish I found this video before I messed up all of those shots, but oh well! You live & you learn!

[amitemanuelgolan]

googling "the difference between silent shutter..."
and was so happy to find that you made a video bout it
tnx mike!

[biscuitsalive]

Useful.
I mainly leave E shutter on with my a7iii. And haven’t noticed any issues.
And considering the shutter failure issues I’ve heard of with a7iii I prefer to play it safe.

[michaelshirey]

Using "silent mode" while taking photos at a concert this weekend resulted in massive banding, and that's what brought down this rabbit hole!

[jimmysgameclips]

Good thing I looked this up! Going to begin using a tripod outside for sharper, less noisy images but have been worried about the shutter moving the camera too much on the flimsy tripod I have to use for the sake of weight

[Ulrich.Bierwisch]

There is the rolling shutter effect. Readout of the sensor takes about 1/40s. This means, no matter how short the exposure is, the upper row starts and stops to be exposed 1/40s earlier than the last row at the bottom. If you expose 1/8000s, moving objects might be sharp and there is no motion blur but they are bend in a strange way. Mechanical shutter is about 10 times faster, so the effect is reduced a lot.
Flash needs the whole sensor exposed to the light. With mechanical shutter, you need exposures of 1/250s or slower. With electronic shutter, you would need an exposure of something like 1/30s or slower. This is unacceptable slow so they don't even allow it.

[arnaud]

Bro, are you reading my mind? I didn't get to watch the video till now, but I was thinking a LOT about _exactly_ this subject for the last few days - and boom, here Mike uploads the the exact video I need. Well done!

[edwardeckert]

Thank you for this video. The social media has so hyped up shutter failure that I was thinking of selling all my a7 gear and replace it with another camera’s. It would set me back several thousand dollars. I had seen myself going on long uphill trail only to find my shutter crashing. After watching your video I am certainly going to turn on the silent front curtain, which should cut my mechanical shutter usage in half. Also I have heard that buying a later made camera then the first available would help correct the problem. Sony doesn’t admit it if true. Thanks again for giving me confidence in my a7iii and saving me a pile of money. All the best to you.

[tykimikk]

I have the silent toggle on a custom button. I change it so often in my type of shooting. I only use full mechanical when i use flash outdoors other than that silent and e curtain is what i use most.

[Barnyz]

Great video. Was looking at 2nd hand cameras earlier and saw shutter count mentioned alot to indicate condition, so using silent shutter more often to keep shutter count down might also increase the resale value of a camera in some places.

[edc]

I use silent mode pretty much all the time. I mostly shoot without too much action in front of the lens (landscape, perched birds etc) so I don't see why I shouldn't use the silent shutter as default. Less wear on my precious gear. I only switch to mechanical when I'm in a situation where I absolutely need it. I've actually assigned a custom button to quickly switch between silent and mechanical shutter. Maybe I'm worrying too much about the wear/shutter shock, and I do miss the sweet sound of the mechanical shutter at times, but I still think it's worth it. "Better safe than sorry". Thanks for a very informative video!

[ivanlupi]

Perfect explanation, took me a while to figure all of those out. Should have seen your video first.

[clairecoulthard]

I became aware of the ‘issue’ surrounding Sony’s a7iii shutter (I have one myself) today and honestly was a little worried. I’ve used mechanical shutter mostly since having it a year and paid no mind to the wear the fiction could be causing. I’m considering using the silent shutter when it suits from now on but will also try not to worry too much as you said. I’m so grateful for your videos!

[helmiwijaya]

this is helpful. i want to upgrade my a6000 to a6400. Thanks for the video!

[Ericsonumali]

shutter issue of a73 keeping me off to this unit but after this video i found courage to go for it thanks

[amermeleitor]

Silent electronic shutter produces 12bit raw files. Mechanical shutter produces 14bit raw files. It could be a thing with extreme color manipulation or shadow recovery, but most of the time is not an issue

[jamesbell]

Great information, well shared Mike . With the E Shutter I get use to the sounds, when I use the mechanic Shutter the first few clicks you wonder if the camera is coming apart. I’m on an A9 I don’t use the Mechanic much.

[obscurelight]

Thank you Mike for covering that topic. Very informative 👋😊

[onikaimu]

Another great video full of useful information. I use silent mode with the screen off when I take time lapses in public. I just stand next to the camera like I am waiting for someone. Sometimes I sit somewhere with the camera right next to me like I am tired. Before people would ask what I was doing, standing right in front of my camera. Shutter wear scares me the most. My last camera went though two shutters. I feel safe that at least I could still use my camera in silent mode. Thank you. Stay safe and sane.