The deadly shutter shock issue on the increasingly popular Sony A7r just won’t go away. The reasoning behind it, is shaky at best…. I would like to dispel some myths and perceptions immediately. Many people are making way too big a deal of this.
- Concern is limited to, or prone to, longer focal lengths. An increased vibration occurs, period…(read further about complexity and severity).
- The camera doesn’t know how long of a lens is(physically) attached to it.
- It can’t tell how much it weighs.
- The 1/100th of a second “problem” area, doesn’t care what’s there taking pictures….
- The camera mechanism itself, behaves exactly the same, every time, at a constant shutter speed… hmmm
- Shutter doesn’t try harder because an AF, IS lens has higher electronic requirements. In fact many of the adapters don’t even have electronic connections. This logic really baffled me.
- All A7r’s have this problem? Nope… Vast majority of people have no complications…
Some things that do make sense for this issue.
- Poor tolerances on a myriad of adapters. Early models had higher incident rate due to faulty mount on camera(light leak too). They ain’t fittin too good.
- The 36mp sensor requires near perfect execution to get a good shot. Person isn’t shooting too good!
- Communication between lens, adapter, camera, IS, AF, mount balance, or any combination of those, is complicated & can cause problems which are really unrelated. Margin of error not too good….
- The A7r has increased internal vibration at some shutter speeds that are easily compensated for. Camera is good….
- continued banter… is no good…
People have argued, proved, disproved, tested, complained and gone to great lengths trying to fix or explain this “problem”(see Joseph Holmes/Ferrell McCollough/Ross Hamamura and others). Personally, I have never experienced anything that even slightly suggests an issue. I own 2 A7r’s. Blurring that’s occurred is easily attributable to my own operator error. I will state that I don’t shoot many lenses over 200mm and am 98% manual settings & focus. I do have several lenses that weigh over 700g. When below 1/200th I tend to use a tripod and use a wireless Sony remote. Varying conditions may require more stability. This is not news to any high performance camera system. Throw a 300mm lens on the D800e, it’s going to require more attention(experienced that.) An IQ 280 on 645DF+ damn near sends out a shock wave!
I’m not sure why people propagate this.
Perhaps not crowd pleasing final thoughts.
- Many really good photographers don’t realize the precision needed to capture perfect clarity on the 7r. It’s hard… Suppose to be!
- It took me over 10,000 captures to get the D800e. I’m up to around 4,000 on the 7r and have improved my percentage of reasonable photos.
- Use the right camera to get desired results… BIG ONE!
- Metaphor for the day… If your car shimmy’s at 70mph and you continue to drive at 70…. –get tires balanced/aligned– (adapter, stabilize platform, change settings, etc).
- Don’t write articles about your car shimmy… or post repeatedly in forums. It is really a specious criticism.
- The A7r is the ultimate, compact mirrorless camera. Full Frame 36mp resolution, endless lens choices, developing native lens line, and lightweight. This isn’t a deal breaker, it’s more of a botheration.
