Back in the days before the Coronavirus Hoax, exactly five years ago, Fujifilm and Panasonic promised a new technology of an organic sensors with a Global Shutter. We patiently waited for them to fulfill their promise. Mold started to grow on us, and the promised sensor was not there. Masses of disappointed photographers who could no longer live without the global shutter began to think about self-vaccination. Everything looked hopeless, as the whole World went into a deep Global Shutter crisis, with a cruel wars at several neuralgic geopolitical points. A dark ages indeed. And then, a light(ning) came from the East! And from the most consumer oriented corporation in the whole photo&video industry! SONY!
So, @lighteye, do tell us… what the Hell is a Global Shutter?
Global shutter is a method of ending an exposure where all the image data is captured simultaneously. This is distinct from most existing shutter systems (electronic and mechanical) that start and end progressively: working their way across the sensor.
There are multiple benefits to such a system, with the most obvious being the elimination of the rolling shutter distortion effect often seen on video and with slow electronic (progressive) shutters.
But another major benefit is that a global shutter can sync with flash at almost any shutter speed. With global shutter it's the duration of the flash burst that becomes the limitation, rather than the length of time it takes to close the shutter (which in turn dictates the shortest period where the whole sensor is exposed). Sony says the a9 III can sync at all shutter speed (all the way up to 1/80,000 sec).
A global shutter also eliminates the banding that can occur with progressive shutters under flickering lights. Because the image is all captured at exactly the same moment, you don't capture different parts of a light's flicker cycle in different parts of the image. You might capture an image of an LED sign board refreshing, if you use a very high shutter speed, but that's an issue with the LEDs, not the camera, which is accurately capturing a single moment in time.
* * *
A Holy Grail…
No more mechanical parts that can break, no more limits to flash sync, no more rolling shutter, no more missing moments…
• Full-frame stacked 24.6 MP CMOS image sensor with a global shutter system
• 1/80,000 sec. with full flash synch!
• Up to 120fps continuous shooting Raw – with full AF/AE tracking!
• The best AF system in the industry
• In-body image stabilization rated up to 8EV
• Still images: ISO 250–25600 (expandable to ISO 125–51200), AUTO (ISO 250–12800, selectable lower & upper limit),
• Movies: ISO 250–25600 equivalent, AUTO (ISO 250–12800, selectable lower & upper limit)
• 4K/120p high-frame-rate video without cropping
• 2 slots – CF Express Type A and SD card
• Battery Life (Still Images): Approx. 400 shots (Viewfinder) / Approx. 530 shots (LCD monitor) (CIPA standard)
And that is not all, folks! The sweetest comes at the end:
So, why is this important? Imagine Fujifilm X100vi GS with the same size&form factor as Fujifilm X100v, but with INTERCHANGEABLE lenses!
Is this a Leica retirement moment? Is this a dream come true? Is it perfect? Close, but not quite. One very important element is missing – Leica M & Fujifilm X-T5 user interface!
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