Banding on photos with background screen video with silent shutter.

[Ricard Rosselló]

 

Photographing with my "old" alpha 7RII a show in which there was a screen with a video projection in the background, I found the following problem: If I shoot with the shutter at over 50, I get a few streaks on the projection, but the funny thing is that it only does when the camera is set to silent shooting. If I turn off silent shutter mode, it no longer does ... Can anyone explain this strange behavior to me? I need to be able to take silent photos during the show and I need to shoot at high speeds ... any solution? Thank you so much.

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[Olaf W.]

It‘s a common problem when using the electronic shutter with artificial light sources, due ro the progess of reading out the sensor. Use the mechanical shutter instead.

[Ricard Rosselló]

Thank you very much Olaf. I will have to look for a camera that has a high speed read progress with the electronic shutter. I can’t use the mechanic  shutter in live shows like ballet or classical music concerts ... I usually only do video, but sometimes some clients ask me to take pictures and I need to find the camera that solves this problem. Do you know any? ... could the Sony a9II be a good option?
Thank you very much.

[Olaf W.]

As far as I know all cameras have this issue.

[Ricard Rosselló]

Thank you very much Olaf, I will investigate if other brands like Canon or Nikon have resolved this issue. I am curious to know how professional photographers solve it.

[Pieter]

The readout speed of the silent shutter of the A9 is about 3 times as fast as any of the other Sony Alpha cameras (and pretty much any other fullframe camera available at this moment, Canon and Nikon included). This helps a lot in reducing flicker/striping and makes it pretty much the only fullframe camera available that can be used reliably with silent shutter. With the A9, only very high frequency lighting (like some LED billboards) will cause significant banding. Not exactly sure how this affects video but for photography it should fix most of your issues.

[Ricard Rosselló]

Thank you very much Pieter.

In this case, it’s to take pictures of a dance show, so I’m very grateful for your comment. I will rent an a9 to try it out.

Thanks.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Ricard Rosselló

[VTC]

Looks like the need to use mechanical shutter. More noise but fashion a sound blimp to cover the body. Shouldn't take much as any stage environmental audio should mask whatever the blimp doesn't catch. I assume it's tripod use so awkwardness of a blimp shouldn't be a factor.

[Ricard Rosselló]

Thank you so much. It’s probably the cheapest option (not having to buy a new camera). It’s not very aesthetic, I don’t know if it’s comfortable to work with, but I’ll appreciate this one
option. Thanks.