Sony A6000 EFSC implementation-rather dissapointed

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harisA
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Sony A6000 EFSC implementation-rather dissapointed

Post by harisA »

I bought sony A6000 with the aim to use it for photomicrography.The camera features an efsc shutter and clean hdmi.
1)Clean hdmi is usable only when you take video.When you use the camera for photography the output video signal is standard definition (not great for focusing or presentation)
2)Sony has equipped this camera with EFCS.This feature is only usable with speeds lower than 1/250.If the speed is higher you get darkening at the upper area of the frame which is getting worst as the speed increases.

See images below:

a)speed 1/250


Image

b)speed 1/4000

Image
Of course you can always reduce the light intensity and use the EFCF at lower speeds

3)Comparing Sony with olympus cameras i own I have the feeling that is more a gadget than a camera.

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

That's depressing!

Thanks for posting it, though.
Chris R

nanometer
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Post by nanometer »

I use the Sony A77 with EFSC, but don't shoot over 1/200th with flash. You want to use HSS for higher shutter speeds and then your dark band will go away, -- and if you use HSS, you want to turn the EFSC off to avoid shadow banding (lots of discussions about HSS banding using EFSC).

But that is not the banding you are seeing here. I'm a bit confused about your complaint. EFSC doesn't allow higher flash sync speeds than a mechanical shutter. Where it shines is in the elimination of camera vibration. Even though it's only the first curtain that is electronic, it's amazing how well it works.

If you want fast shutter speeds using flash, you still have to use HSS with a supporting flash. Problem is that the flash output is severely reduced in HSS. I have been thinking about using my 600 Ws studio monolight in HSS on my microscope. That thing will output so much light in HSS, that any shutter speed can probably be used.

I agree that the live HDMI out is disappointing as it's just a live view of the EVF signal which is pretty low resolution.

harisA
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Post by harisA »

nanometer wrote:I use the Sony A77 with EFSC, but don't shoot over 1/200th with flash. You want to use HSS for higher shutter speeds and then your dark band will go away, -- and if you use HSS, you want to turn the EFSC off to avoid shadow banding (lots of discussions about HSS banding using EFSC).

But that is not the banding you are seeing here. I'm a bit confused about your complaint. EFSC doesn't allow higher flash sync speeds than a mechanical shutter. Where it shines is in the elimination of camera vibration. Even though it's only the first curtain that is electronic, it's amazing how well it works.

If you want fast shutter speeds using flash, you still have to use HSS with a supporting flash. Problem is that the flash output is severely reduced in HSS. I have been thinking about using my 600 Ws studio monolight in HSS on my microscope. That thing will output so much light in HSS, that any shutter speed can probably be used.

I agree that the live HDMI out is disappointing as it's just a live view of the EVF signal which is pretty low resolution.

My images were taken without using flash just the lamp of my microscope.If you are using flash for microscope photography efcs is of no use because the short flash light duration eliminates every vibration.

nanometer
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Post by nanometer »

I did not realize that you were not using flash. I just saw 1/250th and assumed it was a flash sync issue.

Your statement about flash removing any problems is not strictly true. I once tried a Pano GF1 on the microscope and the shutter slap was so bad that not even flash froze the image sufficiently.

I'll have to try EFSC without flash, but I use EFSC all the time in normal photography at very high shutter speeds and have never noticed this type of light falloff.

spongepuppy
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Re: Sony A6000 EFSC implementation-rather dissapointed

Post by spongepuppy »

harisA wrote:2)Sony has equipped this camera with EFCS.This feature is only usable with speeds lower than 1/250.If the speed is higher you get darkening at the upper area of the frame which is getting worst as the speed increases.
Are you using a LED light source in your scope? I ran into problems like this until I changed my CC/CV driver to something with a higher switching frequency. Even then, speeds over 1/2000th/sec present occasional issues.
---
Matt Inman

harisA
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Re: Sony A6000 EFSC implementation-rather dissapointed

Post by harisA »

spongepuppy wrote:
harisA wrote:2)Sony has equipped this camera with EFCS.This feature is only usable with speeds lower than 1/250.If the speed is higher you get darkening at the upper area of the frame which is getting worst as the speed increases.
Are you using a LED light source in your scope? I ran into problems like this until I changed my CC/CV driver to something with a higher switching frequency. Even then, speeds over 1/2000th/sec present occasional issues.
Nope all images were taken using halogen tungsten lamp of my microscope.

nanometer
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Post by nanometer »

I did some testing with my A77 last night, and indeed, I am seeing the same effect as you with EFCS turned on, but to a lesser degree. It doesn't seem to become noticeable until about 1/800 sec. It gets really gross at 1/5000th. I confirmed that turning EFSC off eliminates the effect.

It looks like a timing issue between the electronic clocking of the EFCS and the mechanical second curtain.

For some reason, I haven't noticed this in normal photography despite always using EFCS. It could be that the uniformity of the background lighting in the microscope makes it noticeable. Time to test on blue sky.

The issue is moot for me, since I don't like to use ISO > 100 to avoid noise issues for photomicroscopy, and my 50W light source isn't strong enough to use fast shutter speeds, so I use flash at 1/200th.

gdere
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Post by gdere »

I have this on my A7II but never been an issue. I use it for macro work with long exposures.

I've seen that fast shutter only once (1/4000). It was daytime and i forgot the ISO at 1250. I thought my camera was broken but now i think it's completely normal as it may take time to reset the sensor electronically.

This is the shot:

Image

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