When does a camera use its mechanical shutter vs. electronic shutter?
Asked 6/15/2012
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My Nikon P510 is described as having an “electronically controlled mechanical and CMOS electronic” shutter. In normal use, when does the camera use the mechanical shutter, and when does it use the electronic shutter? I’ve heard mechanical shutters wear out with use, while electronic shutters do not— is that a fair way to think about it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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There are a lot of good point in @Nir's answer. Crucially though, the shutters are used for different functions and this does vary from camera to camera.
The mechanical shutter is generally used to shooting stills while the electronic one for video but it gets more complicated:
- Shooting stills in Live-View uses a mechanical shutter on *most but not all * cameras.
- High-speed shooting modes above 12 FPS all use electronic shutters. Plenty of fixed lens cameras have reduced resolution (3-6 megapixels) modes where they can shoot at 15 FPS or more. A mechanical shutter would have a hard time keeping up, so an electronic one is used.
- Modern SLDs from Olympus and Sony use an electronic shutter to start the exposure and a mechanical one to end it. This reduces the shutter-lag since these cameras are basically in Live-View 100% of the time.
- Videos are all recorded using the electronic shutter.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
On cameras that have both, the mechanical shutter is typically used for normal still photos, while the electronic shutter is commonly used for video and often for live view. Some cameras also switch to electronic shutter in very high-speed continuous modes, because a mechanical shutter may not keep up.
There are also hybrid designs: some cameras use an electronic shutter to start the exposure and a mechanical shutter to end it.
Exactly when each mode is used depends on the camera’s design, so the P510’s behavior is ultimately determined by Nikon’s implementation.
As for wear: a mechanical shutter is a moving mechanism, so it can wear over time, but it is not “used up” like a candle. Nothing is consumed each time it fires. An electronic shutter has no moving shutter curtains, so it avoids that particular kind of mechanical wear.
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