Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

RiverOak
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

The Sony A7C II was the camera I have been waiting to add, most compact full frame package. I have slammed on the brakes because of my concern regarding banding under unpredictable ambient lighting conditions. There was a Sony Professional/Ambassador video that addressed this and the bokeh distortion issues but I am unable to find it again. I can live with and work around the bokeh issue, but can't work with a camera that could potentially kill a shot(s) with banding due to certain light sources that I am not going to be able to account/test for in fast moving situations and constantly changing environments.

During night shooting my exposure settings are generally not going to be faster than 1/320 and f/5.6 - usually closer to wide open. Strong direct light maybe stop down to f/8. Keep ISO below 3200.

Is this camera able to handle artificial light/night shooting without having to figure out the frequency of every light source at any given time in your shot ?

Nov 25, 2023 at 02:10 PM

wind30
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

Efcs issues only occur in daylight high shutter.

Nov 25, 2023 at 03:45 PM

chiron
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

RiverOak wrote:
The Sony A7C II was the camera I have been waiting to add, most compact full frame package. I have slammed on the brakes because of my concern regarding banding under unpredictable ambient lighting conditions. There was a Sony Professional/Ambassador video that addressed this and the bokeh distortion issues but I am unable to find it again. I can live with and work around the bokeh issue, but can't work with a camera that could potentially kill a shot(s) with banding due to certain light sources that I am not going to be able to account/test for in fast moving...Show more →

The banding issues are the same as with the A7RV and as with any Sony camera other than the A1 or A9xx cameras because they have stacked sensors.

Nov 25, 2023 at 04:05 PM

nbaronzzi
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

A7C shooter here. I set a custom button to toggle silent shutter (aka fully electronic shutter). I turn it off when I'm shooting in artificial lighting. Or, you can primarily have it set to ECFS, but be mindful to turn silent shutter on when your shutter speed approaches or exceeds 1/1000s (typically in daylight wide open). I have yet to encounter any noticeable distortion, and I primarily shoot candids, often with dynamic subjects. It really isn't a problem, unless you're shooting sports or something; just another thing of which you need to be mindful.

Nov 25, 2023 at 04:09 PM

Juha Kannisto
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

I always use EFCS + Anti flicker On setting when shooting in artificial light with my Sony A7CII and previously with my A7C. It takes care of the light source related issues. In daylight I pretty much use Electronic Silent shutter all the time. If I'm going to shoot sports or high speed action I use my A9 instead.

Nov 25, 2023 at 07:36 PM

RiverOak
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

This will be my first mirrorless, as I am still shooting DSLR (mechanical shutter). My concern stems from not having experience with electronic and EFCS shutters, and the possible differences that may result from not having a mechanical shutter.

I found the link to Mark Galer’s helpful video on EFCS which covers bokeh, but does not mention banding in artificial light. I suspect he does not mention it because this may depend on other variables than just the shutter and an issue regardless of which shutter you are using (as in shooting a tv screen).

“Efcs issues only occur in daylight high shutter.” - I assume the issues you are referring to
would be bokeh, or uneven exposure at high shutter speeds 1/2000 + ? So you would not expect there to be a difference between mechanical shutter and EFCS for mixed light/night shooting ?

It sounds like, and I hope this is true, that EFCS and mechanical shutter can both have the same issues with certain artificial light sources, fluorescent and certain LED’s, but slower shutter speeds with either will eliminate or reduce the effect to an insignificant amount.

Since I am often doing everything I can to squeeze out shutter speeds of 1/160 to 1/250 max and still hold some depth of field at as low an ISO as possible I may be safe in this range with either mechanical or EFCS.

That is what I am trying to figure out. Thoughts on if this is the case and how much faster you can increase shutter speed with EFCS in mixed lighting without banding would be welcome.

Appreciate everyone’s input on this, maybe I am hesitating for no good reason. RE: electronic shutter (silent mode) which I have never used, I will have to wait to test and play with it myself before trusting it or deciding when or when not to use it. Rolling shutter is the primary concern, and perhaps the A7C II has reduced this to the point it is less noticeable. I just read that issues with light frequency/banding may require even slower shutter speeds with an electronic shutter than using mechanical or EFCS, so if true I would stick with EFCS to reduce the risk and allow me to get away with higher shutter speeds.

“I always use EFCS + Anti flicker On” thanks, good to hear. Have you noticed if this works with shutter speeds faster than 1/250 ?

Nov 25, 2023 at 08:35 PM

Juha Kannisto
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

I have not tried to use so fast shutter speeds (faster than 1/250) in any of my shooting in artificial light. I usually shoot at lower shutter speeds trying to keep ISO as low as possible.

Anyhow, I think it should work even at higher shutter speeds but have not verified by testing.

See also this:

https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2360/v1/en/contents/201h_anti_flicker_comparison.html

Nov 26, 2023 at 05:25 AM

Viramati
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sony A7C II EFCS Street Night Photography

Should not be a problem when shooting EFCS but if you want silent shooting you will need the A1 or A9 not to have any banding. You can shoot A7 series cameras in silent mode and not get banding at either 1/50sec or 1/100sec shutter speed (that is in the UK where lighting is at 50hertz). Before I got the A1 this is how I shot in silent mode for classical concerts or events where I could make not sound.

Nov 26, 2023 at 05:33 AM


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