Does the SL3 display Shutter Shock with the Mechanical Shutter?

[SrMi]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

No image sharpness degradation was observed at 1/250 sec.

[Luke_Miller]

Mechanical 1/250 is fine on both my SL and SL2. I think I see slight blurring at 1/200, but so little I could live with it.  Any slower down to 1/60 is a problem.  Not in every shot, but enough to avoid those shutter speeds. I'm told 1/30 is OK but have not tried it.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

I have tested extensively for shutter shock on the SL3 and have reported on various threads. I've tested the 4 APO SL primes I have, 24-90, 90-280, Panny 70-200/4, 100-400, 150-600 Sigma, 500 Sigma and a few others.

I tested on and off tripod, ES vs MS over multiple shutter speeds and multiple distances. I also experimented with extra supports to see how much was camera shake.

After about 500 shots I still can't conclusively find evidence of shutter shock. Now, I'm not saying it's not there. All focal plane shutters have it, to some extent. But unlike the SL2, where I could get consistent results easily. It's been MUCH harder on the SL3. Just when I think I have it, I'll get a few pin sharp shots at those same settings in a sequence. On a tripod with all IS off and firing the shutter with the Fotos app I see almost zero differences other than focusing errors. Below is the 150-600 MS and ES comparison at 600mm to illustrate. There's no evidence of shock in these. One on a tripod and one handheld.

There is no evidence of shutter shock with any focal length below 100mm. With the 100-400 above 200mm. I think I see some regular shock effects until 1/2f. The 150-600 and 90-280 seem to be showing shock at 1/f to around 1/250 but it's not entirely consistent. I'm not convinced yet that some of it has to do with optimisation of the IS algorithms. Every sequence has a shot or two that's perfectly sharp with MS and a few that aren't with ES. I am struggling to find absolute consistency.

The 90-280 seems to be a bit of a shock magnifier. It was the lens I had the biggest differences with. I wonder whether further firmware will provide optimisations to the whole system.

Basically, I see no issue with shutter shock and the SL3 in real world use. If I'm shooting at focal lengths over 150mm I'll stick to 1/f if possible. I have never thought the 90-280 was a viable shot at 280mm and 1/125 of a sec. No issue with modern noise reduction and the very good SL3 sensor to bump the ISO.

Gordon

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Luke_Miller]

Thanks for your report.

[algrove]

On 3/18/2024 at 10:07 AM, BernardC said:

The "old school" test is to attach a laser pointer on a camera and take pictures of the projected dot on a wall. Go through all available shutter speeds and see which ones cause problems. Typically, you'll find a small range of speeds that cause issues, with anything slower or faster being fine.

Great testing idea.