6 ms·

Every photo taken shortens the life of a sensor.

riversflow 3y ago
To add to this, with those particular cameras(it’s the frame I shoot on), you’re encouraged by the form factor and ergonomics to turn them off when idle to get the most out of the smallish battery, they boot in like 1s. A battery is good for ~350 shutter pulls, I don’t want to use one of those every time I think about taking a picture. Also, a dead pixel is not a ruined photo, it’s a minor inconvenience in editing at worst. And every photo I take on a FF is getting edited, the gorgeous RAW output is what I’m there for.
- lakpan 3y ago
  > minor inconvenience Do you have software that automatically fixes this issue in all the pictures at once? Because as a non-professional I can only think of a very manual approach. On my old phone, dust made its way into one of the cameras and now all of those photos are forever ruined (or until I find a way to somewhat automate this fixing)
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    Any real photo editor will allow you to batch a patch heal operations. Lightroom, Photoshop, GIMP, Darktable, etc... all support this.
sudosysgen 3y ago
That's not really true, it's only a problem for the shutter. The sensor doesn't really break.
- yakubin 3y ago
  You’re right. I misremembered. The term is “shutter life”. Same result though.
  - wtallis 3y ago
    Not the same result: we're talking about taking a picture without opening the shutter.
    - yakubin 3y ago
      Given that shutter sounds are produced, I'd guess the shutter is opened[1]: > During this time, shutter sounds will be produced. [1]: <https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2010/v1/en/contents/TP0003229311.html https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2010/v1/en/contents/TP0003229...>
      - dghlsakjg 3y ago
        The shutter is actually being closed. On mirrorless cameras the shutter is by default open so that viewfinder framing can be accomplished, then it quickly closes, opens for the photo, and ends closed before opening again to act as a viewfinder. In the case of a reference photo it is closing, not opening, taking a read of the sensor, then opening again.
  - gruez 3y ago
    Do mirrorless cameras even have physical shutters? Or is it all digital?
    - yakubin 3y ago
      Most do. Some, like Nikon Z8 and Z9, don't.
    - sudosysgen 3y ago
      Older ones do, because the readout speed of sensors was not fast enough. Cameras with stacked or global shutters generally don't, because it's no longer an advantage. In between, it's a choice you can make whether or not to use the shutter.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
dghlsakjg 3y ago
Yeah, but that’s like saying your mechanic shouldn’t take test drives because every mile driven shortens the life of the car. The shutter, which is replaceable, is normally rated, for 200k-1mm actuations MTBF. Even taking a reference photo every day won’t truly impact shutter life. Anecdotally: I have a 20 year old Canon 1D that is 50% over it’s rated shutter life, and that camera was used for photojournalism (used HARD) for most of its life.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- caseyohara 3y ago
  Most (all?) mirrorless cameras these days have an electronic shutter too, so it's not like it would put any extra miles on the mechanical shutter.
  - dghlsakjg 3y ago
    You need to have perfect dark to take the reference image, so even on the mirrorless ones you end up having to close the mechanical shutter to get it done.

To add to this, with those particular cameras(it’s the frame I shoot on), you’re encouraged by the form factor and ergonomics to turn them off when idle to get the most out of the smallish battery, they boot in like 1s. A battery is good for ~350 shutter pulls, I don’t want to use one of those every time I think about taking a picture. Also, a dead pixel is not a ruined photo, it’s a minor inconvenience in editing at worst. And every photo I take on a FF is getting edited, the gorgeous RAW output is what I’m there for.

lakpan 3y ago
> minor inconvenience Do you have software that automatically fixes this issue in all the pictures at once? Because as a non-professional I can only think of a very manual approach. On my old phone, dust made its way into one of the cameras and now all of those photos are forever ruined (or until I find a way to somewhat automate this fixing)
- sudosysgen 3y ago
  Any real photo editor will allow you to batch a patch heal operations. Lightroom, Photoshop, GIMP, Darktable, etc... all support this.

sudosysgen 3y ago

That's not really true, it's only a problem for the shutter. The sensor doesn't really break.

yakubin 3y ago
You’re right. I misremembered. The term is “shutter life”. Same result though.
- wtallis 3y ago
  Not the same result: we're talking about taking a picture without opening the shutter.
  - yakubin 3y ago
    Given that shutter sounds are produced, I'd guess the shutter is opened[1]: > During this time, shutter sounds will be produced. [1]: <https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2010/v1/en/contents/TP0003229311.html https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2010/v1/en/contents/TP0003229...>
    - dghlsakjg 3y ago
      The shutter is actually being closed. On mirrorless cameras the shutter is by default open so that viewfinder framing can be accomplished, then it quickly closes, opens for the photo, and ends closed before opening again to act as a viewfinder. In the case of a reference photo it is closing, not opening, taking a read of the sensor, then opening again.
- gruez 3y ago
  Do mirrorless cameras even have physical shutters? Or is it all digital?
  - yakubin 3y ago
    Most do. Some, like Nikon Z8 and Z9, don't.
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    Older ones do, because the readout speed of sensors was not fast enough. Cameras with stacked or global shutters generally don't, because it's no longer an advantage. In between, it's a choice you can make whether or not to use the shutter.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

dghlsakjg 3y ago

Yeah, but that’s like saying your mechanic shouldn’t take test drives because every mile driven shortens the life of the car. The shutter, which is replaceable, is normally rated, for 200k-1mm actuations MTBF. Even taking a reference photo every day won’t truly impact shutter life. Anecdotally: I have a 20 year old Canon 1D that is 50% over it’s rated shutter life, and that camera was used for photojournalism (used HARD) for most of its life.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
caseyohara 3y ago
Most (all?) mirrorless cameras these days have an electronic shutter too, so it's not like it would put any extra miles on the mechanical shutter.
- dghlsakjg 3y ago
  You need to have perfect dark to take the reference image, so even on the mirrorless ones you end up having to close the mechanical shutter to get it done.