Open-Close-Open?

[Dante_Stella]

Does the X-Pro1 have a mode where the mechanical shutter just stays open, period? I guess it can't, since it TTL focuses and doesn't have a NEX-7-style electronic blind. Looking at the Fujiguys videos does not give me the warm and fuzzies about this - that snap-shut, snap-open thing is like the NEX and a little like the X100. Maybe it's really fast, but if you have a toddler in the house, an M8/M9/D700 doesn't look so bad anymore...

Dante

 

[dreilly]

The Ricoh GXR A12 Module has a completely silent mode with a total electronic shutter. Can make any action happening perpendicular to the sensor plain look a little trippy, but it's amazing for times when even the Leica M is too loud. I wonder what the technical issue is with implementing this on the Nex or X-1 Pro. Does the physical shutter play a role in AF?

 

[Dante_Stella]

Zero-ing the sensor, I believe.

 

[dreilly]

What do you mean? The Nex has a electronic first curtain shutter, would that effect the zeroing as well?

 

[rxmd]

Zero-ing the sensor, I believe.

Why would you need a physical shutter for that? As a black reference? This should be a solved problem, basically.

On another note, what does TTL focus have to do with how the shutter works?

 

[splitimageview]

On another note, what does TTL focus have to do with how the shutter works?

Can't focus without the sensor getting light, which means shutter must be open...

 

[splitimageview]

Maybe it's really fast, but if you have a toddler in the house, an M8/M9/D700 doesn't look so bad anymore...

CES vids were showing 8+ fps, which is D700ish with the battery grip.

 

[Dante_Stella]

I snipped the part of the original post that asked if the shutter could be set to "closed" unless actually fired. Sorry.

Dante

Why would you need a physical shutter for that? As a black reference? This should be a solved problem, basically.

On another note, what does TTL focus have to do with how the shutter works?

 

[Dante_Stella]

The issue is more the first shot, not the 7 that follow. That's when the bugger has to focus and then start its complicated exposure dance.

A NEX will do 5 fps at an initial-shot lag (even if with a Leica lens) that is considerably longer than an M8 (and its rapid fire omits further focusing if you use it with AF). I saw the videos, and that's what the Fuji is doing. A D700 can continue focusing between shots.

Believe you me, I have a two-year-old (as well as a NEX, an M8, an X100, and a D700), so I am very acutely aware of what can fire instantly, what cannot, and what can keep focusing between frames while shooting at full tilt. The complicated cycle of live-focus, stopping down, closing the shutter, opening it to expose, and recovering it (c.f. X100) is one of the few places where Leica M bodies are far more straightforward and effective.

Dante

CES vids were showing 8+ fps, which is D700ish with the battery grip.

 

[splitimageview]

Agreed. I find it interesting that the open-close-open can operate at such a speed, of course it doesn't have a mirror to complicate things. A D700 is a significantly more expensive camera with a different focusing method and a marvel of engineering itself. No longer have mine...

 

[dreilly]

Nor do I have mine. (D700). Nothing equalled its 3d focusing, uncanny to watch it track focus across the frame. The best thing I could find to shoot fast waiters in a dim restaurant. Unfortunately a night of shooting left my shoulder feeling like a worker's comp case.

 

[rxmd]

Can't focus without the sensor getting light, which means shutter must be open...

Like in any compact camera basically - the question is rather why the shutter would need to close before the shot. Anyway that's probably a non-issue.

From a technical point of view, as I see it the X-Pro1 vs. SLR autofocus comparison is about contrast vs. phase detection autofocus, not about how the shutter works.

I liked the idea of putting phase detection pixels in the sensor, though. Best of both worlds, at a bit of a loss in sensitivity. From what I understand, however, that's not how the X-Pro1 sensor works, or is it?