EOS R5 Mark II: Moving Objects - Mechanical, or Electric Shutter Mode?

[watash1965]

Help,

I recently purchased the Canon R5  MKII.

Do you typically shoot moving objects (left to right or up and down) (not extreme sports action) with the mechanical or the full electronic shutter, and why?

Thank you, Watash1965

[ebiggs1]

Mechanical. 

Electronic for stationary things.

[Waddizzle]

Generally speaking, you want to stick with the default mode EFCS, electronic first curtain shutter.  The mode is halfway between full mechanical snd full electronic. 

Many lenses cannot keep up with the performance demands of the electronic shutter mode. Many RF lenses cannot keep up because they sacrifice focus speed for better focus accuracy.

Which shutter mode is best depends heavily on which lens you are using, as well as what focus mode, One Shot or Servo. 

[shadowsports]

As my colleague @Waddizzle suggested, use electronic first curtain.  

This is actually the default setting for the R5 Mark II unless you change it

[March411 · Accepted solution]

Also use EFC on my R bodies as the standard

[watash1965]

Hi Marc,

I searched a lesson I purchased that recommended mechanical mode; however, I prefer to listen more closely to people with personal experience and take recommendations from this forum.

Not sure if it matters, however, I will be using my Canon 24-105mm USM Z F2.8L lens for my portraits outdoors in the shade of a tree, or with a reflector typically between F2.8 - F5.6, raerly F8. (would you still use EFC in these conditions?

As always, Thank you (Watash1965)

[March411]

I would and do use EFC in those conditions and much like @shadowsports that is my default for all my bodies with the R7 being the most challenging of the bunch.I super high skies, extreme bright light with high shutter speeds I will occasionally use mechanical. 

Using the mechanical shutter adds another opportunity for vibration. IS helps resolve movement but when you start adding up all the things that can contribute to vibration like shooting hand held, pressing the shutter button, panning and environmental elements (high winds or ground vibration) why add the movement of the shutter (shutter shock/slap) when it is the easiest to eliminate.

If you plan on shooting macro holding the camera steady is already a challenge, shutter shock adds the opportunity for micro-blur. It is a real problem and again the R7 is the worst in my experience, EFC resolved that challenge in my macro photography.

Additionally, if you plan to use flash with the R5 Mk II the EFC offers the fastest sync speed @ 1/250 sec. 

For reference EFC utilizes an electronic front curtain at the beginning of exposure and a mechanical second curtain to finish it which is why shutter shock becomes a none issue. The mechanical well it's named that for a reason, the mechanical curtain is used on both sides of the exposure creating a vibration prior to exposure. I want to be clear, higher shutter speeds can be less of a challenge but "experts" often say that it can rare it's ugly head in intermediate speeds 1/40 (or below to as high as 1/400.

If you are shooting burst especially at lower shutter speeds the challenge could be more pronounced and result in soft images. Some, maybe many people talk about rolling shutter but if you research the topic you'll find that the resolution to resolve this challenge is to use Mechanical Shutter or Electronic First-Curtain. 

Personally I would ask what are the down sides? I have experienced one and that because I didn't adjust for artificial light. You can experience banding under flickering artificial lights.

I have shot thousands of images with EFC and because it reduces opportunities, regardless of how small they may be to reduce vibration/movement it has been my preferred shutter mode. Eliminate points of failure where you can and improve your hit rate. 

So, that is a whole lot of words I posted, I hope that it is more helpful and not over the top resulting in blah...blah....blah  

[watash1965]

Hi Marc,

Thank you. Given the best results I can achieve within my parameters, I'll use the mechanical shutter until it proves that I need to switch to EFCS mode.

BTW, I don't take your "essay" as blah...blah...blah.   (Watash1965) Stay the course Marc.

[March411 · Accepted solution]

That's exactly what you should do @watash1965, what works for one person isn't always the best for others. It sounds like you have a program and workflow that works best for you, stick with it.  

[watash1965]

Spot on, Marc. Thanks again.