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Electronic Shutter

Nikon says the Z8 is both a D850 successor and a “baby Z9”

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The recent announcement of the Nikon Z8 (buy here) has caused quite a bit of buzz. And for good reason. Even before the official announcement, it was expected to become the true successor to the Nikon D850 (buy here), not just in specs but in workflow and how it feels to shoot with it. The Nikon D850 was considered the best all-rounder Nikon DSLR for many different uses. So, the Z8 had some pretty big shoes to fill.

In a recent interview with Adam Waring at Digital Camera World, Nikon said that they had a lot of different options to consider when it came to developing the Z8, but that ultimately, its customers wanted what amounts to a “baby Z9”. Amongst other things, Nikon also says that the electronic shutter used in the Nikon Z9 (buy here) and Z8 are so fast that they keep up with the mechanical shutters of their predecessors.

This is why Nikon ditched the mechanical shutter with the Nikon Z9

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Nikon has opened up to TechRadar about why they got rid of the mechanical shutter in the new Nikon Z9 and why it only features an electronic shutter. It seems like a strange move when Nikon has typically had the best and most reliable shutters over the years (with the fastest flash sync speeds), especially when Nikon’s not-a-flagship EOS R3 still utilises one. Essentially it boils down to new faster sensor technology.

Historically, electronic shutters on CMOS sensors have been plagued with one big issue; Rolling shutter. In a chat with TechRadar, Nikon said that an electronic shutter typically takes around 1/200th of a second for a full-frame sensor to read the entire scene. This is a long time in photographic terms. The Z9 sensor’s scan rate, they say, is 12x faster allowing for readouts faster than mechanical shutters.

Canon comes up with a shutter button like no shutter button before it

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There are many kinds of cameras: DSLRs, point and shoot, mirrorless, even that weird Sony F707 from when DSLRs started. But one thing almost never changed since when cameras started. Even the old Analog cameras. The Shutte Button. Sure, it was mechanical at first and got a new “half-press” when auto fucus was introduced. But the overall mechanics stayed the same. Click the button – make a photo.

In a patent application spotted by Canon News, you see something that resembles a touchpad. If you google translate the patent (like I did), you see that it does not just resemble a touchpad. It is a touchpad. Moreover, the back LCD has another touch screen, similar to what we are actually used to in recent camera lines.

Here’s why you shouldn’t use electronic shutter for portraits

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Did you know that using an electronic instead of a mechanical shutter can affect a background in your images? After a subscriber pointed it out to Manny Ortiz, he tested it on a Fuji and a Sony mirrorless camera. And indeed, it turned out that an electronic shutter may not be the best option when you shoot portraits.

Pentax and Phase One both launch firmware updates to offer electronic shutter during live view

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When live view first appeared in DSLRs, it was seen as a bit of a useless gimmick. No doubt, in those early cameras, it wasn’t always that useful. It was ok if you just wanted to line up a shot that was difficult to see through the viewfinder. Laying low to the ground, for example. But beyond that, it wasn’t very practical. Now that video has come more to the forefront of camera technology, people are finding live view more and more essential.

One feature missing from some cameras, though, is the ability to quickly grab shots while liveview is active. Thankfully, electronic shutters during live view mode are starting to become more common. It’s still lacking in a few bodies, though. Now, both Pentax and Phase One have added an electronic live view shutter to their K1 and XF IQ3 cameras, respectively with a new firmware update.

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