Technical

Electronic First Shutter Curtain

EFSC: Why it's Amazing, and Why You Need to be Using it

Chances are have probably never heard of Electronic First Shutter Curtain or EFSC for short, but don't worry, most people that have it don't even know anything about it. Here's the important thing to understand about EFSC: it can make a major difference in image quality by completely eliminating image blur due to shutter vibration. After using EFSC for a couple of months now I have one word to describe it, amazing!

The reason you haven't heard about EFSC is that Canon and Sony promote it as a feature that reduces shutter noise and not about shutter vibration reduction. Popular sites like DPReview and imaging-resource only discuss the noise reduction aspect of the EFSC and don't even mention the elimination of shutter vibration and the resulting benefit in image quality.

EFSC Comparison Set-Up

To fine out exactly how much difference EFSC can make in improving image sharpness take a look at the results of a comparison test below.

I set up a coin with my a Canon 70D and MP-E 65mm lens at 3X with Live View and EFSC enabled equipped with a remote release. I shot the images at 1/15th sec, f/4, ISO 100 manual mode, lit by an LED ring-light with a diffuser.

The image below shows the entire frame as shot at 3X below that are 100% crops of the area indicated below in red. The first crop was shot as normal with live view and EFSC enabled, next with LV but with EFSC disabled. In the third crop the shutter and mirror operate as normal and in the last crop the camera is set up with mirror lock and self timer.

The image below is one of the  frames shot at 3X with the 100% crop area indicated in red. Be sure to click on the image below to see a larger version in a new window.

EFSC Comparison Results

The first crop was shot as I would normal shoot with live view and EFSC enabled, below that is an image with LV on but with EFSC disabled. In the third crop the shutter and mirror operate with no LV and no EFSC, and in the last crop the camera is set up with mirror lock and 2 second self timer shutter delay.

Again be sure to click on the image below to see a larger version in a new window. As you can see in these 100% crops its clear that EFSC does an excellent job here eliminating any vibration and bringing out every last bit of sharpness the sensor can produce. With EFSC you now longer need mirror lock-up + self timer.

What You Can Do with EFSC and Why It's so Great

Keep in mind this comparison is only at 3X but higher magnifications would benefit even more. EFSC will not only give you an advantage in your  macro work but you can see the same kind of benefit when shooting with a super telephoto on a tripod for example.

How does EFSC work?

When you press the shutter button to take a picture the electronic first curtain shutter uses a high-speed scanning system that mimics a mechanical first curtain shutter operation then synchronizes with a mechanical second curtain shutter to cover the sensor and end the exposure. Any vibration caused by the second curtain shutter happens after exposure has ended.

When you press the shutter button to take a picture with EFSC disabled or with a camera without EFSC a mechanical first curtain shutter uncovers the sensor and the second curtain follows along to form a slot to expose the sensor. The mechanical first curtain causes vibrations to occur throughout the exposure. This can lead to image blurring with high magnification macro or telephoto work.

How to Enable EFSC

Setting up EFSC on the 70D couldn't be easier. First turn on live view: Menu > Live View Shooting Settings > Live View Shooting > Enable. Silent Mode/EFSC is enabled by default on the 70D when LV is enabled, on Canon bodies you want this setting on Mode 1. To check the Silent Live View/ EFSC setting on your camera go to: Menu > Live View Shooting Settings > Silent LV Shooting > Mode 1.

EFSC Notes

You have to enable Live View to use EFSC / Silent Live View on Canon cameras. Menu > Live View Shooting Settings > Live View Shooting > Enable.

Use of a Canon flash will disable EFSC / Silent Live View.

If you use a non Canon flash, EFSC / Silent Live View will not be disabled but the flash will not fire since flash uses the first shutter curtain to sync.

On the Canon 70D (and some other Canon bodies) EFSC is enabled by default when you enable live view.

What Cameras Have EFSC?

Canon DSLRs: Canon 5DII, 5DIII, 7D, 6D, 40D, 50D, 70D, and entry level models (rebels in the US) have EFSC. The 60D has EFSC but it does not reduce vibration. None of the 1D series has EFSC except for the 1DX.

Sony A and E mount cameras. There is a big issue right now with the new Sony A7/A7R. It turns out that while the A7 has EFSC the A7R does not.

Panasonic MFT cameras with EFSC or silent mode are limited to a few bodies.

Nikon: Only a single Nikon camera, the Nikon 1, has EFSC (actually the Nikon 1 has a full electronic shutter). Its hard to believe that Nikon doesn't offer a single DSLR with EFSC!

For more information on EFSC, including comments from Chuck Westfall, see Charles Krebs site: http://www.krebsmicro.com/Canon_EFSC/

This is just a short excerpt from my upcoming Macro e-book coming out later this year. Send me an email with any EFSC questions or comments and I will be glad to help. If you've found any great things EFSC can do that aren't mentioned here, be sure to share 'em in the comment section below or send me an email. Thanks.

All content (including text, design, photos, layout, and graphics) are copyright © 2014 Robert OToole.  All rights reserved.

Controlling Contrast in the Field

Photographing in the field in contrasty harsh light is something every photographer has to deal with. This is a technique that I use for those difficult high contrast situations. For a more natural looking image you need to take control of the light to handle the light and dark tones in a high contrast image.

It is important to understand the problem with high contrast scenes. Exposing for the light tones will cause the darker tones to underexpose and exposing for the darks will result in blown out highlights.

Photographing in the field in contrasty harsh light is something every photographer has to deal with. This is a technique that I use for those difficult high contrast situations. For a more natural looking image you need to take control of the light to handle the light and dark tones in a high contrast image.

It is important to understand the problem with high contrast scenes. Exposing for the light tones will cause the darker tones to underexpose and exposing for the darks will result in blown out highlights.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS macro lens, Manual mode 1/125th s at f22, ISO 100

Exposing for the whites in the image above works okay for the flower but the background looks really ugly and dark. Trying to lighten this background on the computer will create lots of noise and the image will end up looking unnatural.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS macro lens, Manual mode 1/125th s at f8, ISO 100

Exposing for the background gives me a much more natural looking green but now the whites are blown out. So exposure changes alone are not the way to solve the contrast issue in this case.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS macro lens, Manual mode 1/125th s at f8, ISO 100

The light hitting the flower needs to be controlled to balance the scene. Here I used a 12 inch round translucent diffuser to block the sunlight. If you don't have a diffuser handy you can use anything available to shade the subject, even your own camera or body part.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS macro lens, Manual mode 1/125th s at f5.6, ISO 100

Since the amount of light hitting the flower has been reduced the exposure has to be increased to properly expose the white flower. The flower looks just about right but now the background is way overexposed. This is because there is still too much contrast between the subject and background. The flower only needs a little more light to balance with the green background.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS macro lens, Manual mode 1/125th s at f8, ISO 100, flash in manual mode at 1/4 power

Fill flash works well in situations like this. With a properly exposed background and flash lighting the subject we now have a balanced image. Notice that the flash also brings out a lot more detail than the flat light in the previous image and eliminates the dark shadows seen in the first image. If you don't have a flash handy you can use any kind of reflector, even a white shirt can help light the subject.

This is just one way to control light and use flash to balance a high contrast scene. I am not trying to encourage anyone to go out and shoot flowers in full sun. My best advice for an extreme contrast situation is always to stop photographing, maybe take a lunch break, and return when there is less contrast. But if you do find yourself photographing a scene with too much contrast at least you know one way to quickly handle the situation.

I use this technique all the time for macro photography. In the image below I used a 12 inch round translucent diffuser held in place with a plastic clamp attached to my tripod and used a small wireless flash with flash diffuser to light the subject. The green background was lit by full sun.

Female crab spider on Cosmos. South Coast Botanical Gardens, RPV, California. Nikon D800E, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS macro lens, 1/200 s, f/8 at ISO 200. Monopod and Jobu tilt head. Nikon SB-R200 Wireless Speedlight in manual mode 1/5 power with diffuser.

Any questions or comments? Leave a question below or send me an email.

All content (including text, design, photos, layout, and graphics) are copyright © 2013 Robert OToole.  All rights reserved.