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Archive 2010 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D

  
 
Mike K
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


Following up on a recent FM thread on use of Live View and MLU but this thread gives examples of 5DmkII

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/904829

a post by photoguy referenced this entry where a researcher using a Canon 50D was trying to optimize Live View use for photo microscopy

http://krebsmicro.com/Canon_EFSC/index.html

He shows examples and communications with Chuck Westfall of Canon describing the sequence of events when using Live View Silent Mode. On the 5D you get to this via Menu, Live View/Movie func. set, then Silent Shoot with a choice of disable, mode 1 and mode 2. Chuck's description is more detailed, but to summarize:

In Silent Shooting, mode disabled, the mirror stays up, but the shutter closes then opens to take a shot. It closes again to end the shot and reopens to reinitiate Live View.

In the Silent Shooting mode 1, the mirror also stays up the whole time but the shutter does not close nor reopen to shoot, but stays open and the exposure is initiated electronically, with a soft click. The shutter then closes to end the exposure, then immeiately reopens to reinitiate Live View. Continuous shooting is slowed down.

Silent Shooting mode 2 is similar to mode 1, but at the end of the exposure the shutter closes, but does not reopen until your finger pressure is off the shutter button. Continuous is not possible.

Since I have 4 manual focus lenses I use Live View very frequently for landscape shooting on a tripod. I ran a test to see if Live View Silent Shooting Mode 1 or 2 would make a improvement by reducing vibration as both modes eliminate closing of the shutter to initiate the shot.

Thus I set up a situation to amplify visual detection of MLU type vibration. I took the longest lens on hand, Canon 400 f5.6, added a 1.4X teleconverter and then slowed down the shutter speed with ISO 50, a circular polarizer and a 2 stop ND filter. I focused with Live View 5-10X on a house across the valley from inside my house, more than 1/2 mile away. Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 Carbon fiber tripod was used with RRS BH40 head. I used a remote in addition to a 2 sec delay to make sure no vibration was accidently added by some other mechanism. At f8 I was at 1/15 sec and at f16 I was at 1/4 sec, bracketing the shutter range most susceptible to MLU type vibrations, 1/30 to 1/2 sec. All shots were in RAW, with some sharpening added during conversion, all at the same level of course.

Here is the full frame shot reduced in size for posting:

http://www.fototime.com/37B819B5F4F52C5/standard.jpg



While there are some nearby OOF branches framing the shot, I will evaluate only 100% crops of the center deck of the house. Here is the crop of Live View Silent Shooting Disabled:

http://www.fototime.com/027A7AE1813B6EC/orig.jpg

Notice the bricks of the chimney, the cable running next to it, the wood crack in the upper right and the dark leaves of the potted plants on the right. In particular notice the wire tomato cage (funnel shaped). Next is the same shot, same exposure, same focus, seconds later using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 1.

http://www.fototime.com/CE27F4FE75A364B/orig.jpg

Sharper. The tomato cage is much more detailed, and this is of a 2mm wire from >1/2 mi away.



Here is the same exposure, same focus, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 2.

http://www.fototime.com/DB71D4332E5E6F4/orig.jpg

the chimney and the plant leaves look pretty similar to Mode 1 but the wire tomato cage appears clearer in mode 2.



Here is the same shot at f16, 1/4 sec. Some manual refocusing between these next shots and the previous 3, so don't make that comparison. Live View Silent Shooting Disabled:

http://www.fototime.com/5C6E9C45651A235/orig.jpg

And the same exposure and focus seconds later using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 1

http://www.fototime.com/A40532DE42085E9/orig.jpg





And again the same exposure and focus seconds later using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 2

http://www.fototime.com/B96E9231E48C4C9/orig.jpg

In this sequence we can easily make out the Live View Silent Shooting Disabled is not as crisp as Mode 1. Mode 2 is very close to the detail of Mode 1; the tomato cage is just a bit sharper in Mode 2.

In summary, the Silent Shooting Mode 1 or 2 provides an small but consistent improvement in image sharpness over Live View Silent Shooting Disabled. This result is also consistent with the photo microscopy papere referred to above. Thanks to Charles Krebs for the write up and communication with C. Westfall. This result is also quite logical in that Silent Shooting Mode 1 & 2 use electronic shutter for first curtain, and avoid the additional mechanical closing and reopening of the shutter that is present in the Live View Silent Shooting Disabled. Traditional MLU operation is a bit in between in that it does not require closing of the shutter to reopen it for the exposure as in Live View Silent Shooting Disabled, but does involve mechanically opening the shutter as opposed to electronically initiating exposure. The Krebs paper does support the Live View Silent Shooting Modes as being sharper than traditional MLU, but I did not confirm that. Cameras with Live View Silent Shooting modes would probably be better off not turning off Live View to return to MLU.
The results presented suggest that Live View Silent Shooting Mode 2 may be a bit better than Mode 1, but the difference is small, if any. There is no obvious reason for it to be different as the Modes 1 & 2 differ in what happens after the shutter closes to end the exposure.

Mike K


Edited on Jun 02, 2010 at 12:36 PM · View previous versions



Jun 01, 2010 at 11:09 PM
ericvgill
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


Unfortunate that flash sync is disabled in Silent mode, then.


Jun 02, 2010 at 09:59 AM
ultrapix
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


tx for sharing!


Jun 02, 2010 at 10:08 AM
Maximilian
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


Very, very useful tests: thanks a lot for sharing them!



Jun 02, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


Thank you Mike.

Alas, silent mode live view is not available on my 1D4. I tried the S and timer release modes in live view but they did not prevent the mirror operation from happening immediately before taking the exposure.

- Alan



Jun 02, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Mike K
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


I forgot to mention that Chuck Westfall indicates that this Silent Mode is identical for the 40D, 50D, 5DII, and 7D bodies. Alas, Live View Silent Mode is not active on any of the 1D bodies, although my 1DII has a silent mode, it only delays the mirror flip down at the very end of the shooting sequence.
Mike K



Jun 02, 2010 at 11:37 AM
drdrew
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


thanks for that i have been curious about this very thing.


Jun 02, 2010 at 12:45 PM
drdrew
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


may want to cross post in the alt forum as many people are shooting like this.


Jun 02, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Alan321
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


I wonder if the reason for the 1-series not having silent mode live view has something to do with the efficiency of the sensor reset just prior to capture - perhaps if a mechanical shutter is used they can clear the sensor electronics better and so increase dynamic range or decrease noise in dark areas of the image. We'll know I'm wrong if the yet to be announced 1Ds4 has the feature

- Alan



Jun 03, 2010 at 02:47 AM
Mike K
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Live View Silent Mode for Max Sharpness for40D, 50D, 5DII, 7D


Live View Silent Shooting mode would easily replace the dedicated MLU button that has been requested by many for the EOS bodies. Well, perhaps not replace, more like preempt the need for a MLU button? By shooting in LV Silent Shooting modes we are improving on MLU as there is no shutter motion to initiate the exposure. Exposure is initiated electronically and the shutter does not move until the termination of the exposure. This will reduce shutter motion induced vibration and result in a sharper image. On top of that I find Live View to be the preferred focusing technique for tripod mounted shots, so I can set silent shooting as a default and get optimal results.
Mike K



Jun 03, 2010 at 10:04 AM





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