Re: Does the sony a1 and a1ii silent mode work well with city lights at night?
shadow9d9 wrote:
I remember reading that the silent mode elctronic shutter sometimes has trouble with artificial lights. Have people been able to use the A1/A1ii for city nightscapes without issue? I'd been just switching to mechanical shutter when needed, but wasn't sure if I needed to. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
I think the way this works is that the sensor readout speed on the A1 and the A1 II is almost as fast as the time it takes the moving shutter slit of the mechanical shutter to move across the sensor. So, the two shutter modes should be approximately equivalent in their ability to handle flickering lights.
The lights in various places in cities will vary in their characteristics. So you will still need to check your LCD for indications of banding (it won't show in the EVF). But in most typical situations of shooting city lights, when you are shooting a variety of different lights that are all blended together, with some at a distance, I think you will be all right most of the time.
If I am wrong about this, perhaps one of the electrical engineers or more knowledgeable posters around here will correct me.
Re: Does the sony a1 and a1ii silent mode work well with city lights at night?
shadow9d9 wrote:
I remember reading that the silent mode elctronic shutter sometimes has trouble with artificial lights. Have people been able to use the A1/A1ii for city nightscapes without issue? I'd been just switching to mechanical shutter when needed, but wasn't sure if I needed to. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
I think the way this works is that the sensor readout speed on the A1 and the A1 II is almost as fast as the time it takes the moving shutter slit of the mechanical shutter to move across the sensor. So, the two shutter modes should be approximately equivalent in their ability to handle flickering lights.
The lights in various places in cities will vary in their characteristics. So you will still need to check your LCD for indications of banding. But in most typical situations of shooting city lights, when you are shooting a variety of different lights that are all blended together, with some at a distance, I think you will be all right most of the time.
If I am wrong about this, perhaps one of the electrical engineers or more knowledgeable posters around here will correct me.
Jun 28, 2025 at 09:14 AM
Previous versions of chiron's message #16841570 « Does the sony a1 and a1ii silent mode work well with city lights at night? »
