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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.

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This video helps you understand the rolling shutter effect

The rolling shutter effect creates weird patterns in the videos shot on most devices with CMOS sensors. Destin Sandlin from Smarter Every Day has created a fantastic video that explains this effect in a series of examples and comparisons.

As Destin points out, even the past three years he would film the effects of the rolling shutter every time he had his smartphone and a high-speed camera at the same time. As a result, he came up with plenty of examples to simulate the rolling shutter effect, and show us why and how it emerges.

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Sony’s new smartphone sensor shoots 1000fps and eliminates rolling shutter

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It’s amazing how far sensor technology’s come in the last few years. We’ve had dual pixel autofocus, ultra high ISOs, and a whole bunch of other cool features show up. Phones and bigger camera sensors get more and more powerful with each new generation. This sensor from Sony, though, might be one of the most exciting yet.

Sony have developed a way to speed up the data acquisition in a CMOS sensor. It doesn’t quite make it a global shutter, but it speeds things up enough to be almost as good, but at a much lower cost. The acquisition becomes so fast, it’ll even record full HD 1080p video at up to 1,000 frames per second. The technology seems destined for smartphones at the moment, but I would bet it won’t be too long before it scales up.

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Canon’s new global shutter CMOS sensor will eliminate rolling shutter issues for video

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Canon have announced that they’ve developed a new CMOS sensor with a global shutter and expanded dynamic range. While a wider dynamic range is always good for every camera use, the global shutter is huge for video shooters. Finally, we’ll be able to completely eliminate “jello wobble“, skew and other rolling shutter artifacts in DSLR video.

The fundamental difference between a traditional rolling shutter CMOS sensor and this new global shutter is the way it records the scene. Rolling shutter sensors capture a line one line at a time, sequentially. This means that, now matter how small, the beginning and end of your exposure happen at different points in time. A global shutter records what every single pixel sees at the exact same time.

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Test shows that Rolling shutter on the 5D Mark IV is a pretty big issue with 4K

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The folks over at DPReview have got their hands on a 5D Mark IV. One of the tests they’ve performed with respect to video is how well it handles movement. Rolling shutter artifacts are just a fact of life with CMOS sensors. These types of sensor capture a scene line by line. They do it very quickly, although not quickly enough to prevent things from appearing to lean or just looking plain weird.

CMOS sensors have improved on the rolling shutter issues over the last few years. Canon’s new 5D Mark IV, however, doesn’t really seem to be that great at all. It’s certainly not as good as many were hoping for, especially if shooting 4K.

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Sony Shares Previews of Global Shutter on CMOS Sensors and Super Low Light Technology

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Sony, is not waiting to see who will win the sensor wars, it is defining the battlefield. With rumors of new technologies being around for a while now, Sony recently released two videos showing what’s in store for their future line of sensor technology.

Specifically, Sony demoed Starvis – an ultra low light technology designed for security cameras, though with the current low light / high ISO specs battle, it would not be surprising to find traces of this technology in their consumer line as well.

According to Sony :

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Sony A7r II Noise Comparison And Rolling Shutter Test

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We’re starting to see more and more sample footage from the much anticipated Sony A7R ii, which is due to start shipping August 5th. U.K. based photographer, Jon Roberts, recently got his hands on one of the cameras and was nice enough to whip up this noise test, which compares the A7R II to it’s predecessor the A7R and, also, a Canon 5D MKiii. Roberts’ notes “that this wasn’t a very scientific test under lab circumstances…more of a rough and ready preview!”; however, it’s still a solid comparison with 100% crops.

The same goes for the rolling shutter test video Roberts has shared with us, which you’ll see farther down in this post along with an unboxing video–but, we’ll get to those in a minute.

First, take a look at the noise test. You can click the image to open a full size version in a new browser windor, or take a look at it over on Flickr.[Read More…]

These Two Animations Are A Crash Course On How Sensors Work

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Sensors are not as trivial a film. At least for me the simplicity of chemistry was always simpler than the magic of electronics.

Vimeo user Raymond Siri created two quick, yet informative animations for Canon that illustrate how CCD and CMOS sensors work.

The movies show how the light is filtered accumulated and then they show the difference in how the data is sent for storage.

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Why Leaf Shutter Lenses Matter

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Have you wondered how something as simple as a lens design might shape your approach to off-camera lighting? And what if that same lens could shape how light is recorded within a camera? Add to that this bonus: this same lens might take what you already have and make it four times more effective?

We are approaching an era where camera sensors and mega-pixels no longer matter and the darling of the off-camera lighting world isn’t what you might guess.

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Move Over Schlieren, Scientists Are Upping The Sound Wave Photography Ante

Okay, Schlieren photography is still pretty awesome. I’m actually still quite fascinated with our ability to photograph sound waves. I also love that I can do it myself for less than $10.  But, this project announcement from MIT is pretty wicked, too. Scientists from Microsoft, MIT, and Adobe have developed a way to use similar science to recover the audio from images taken using high speed cameras and even a prosumer level DSLR.


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