While setting the menus in his new A7II this afternoon, a friend and I came up with a question:
The A7R has a problem with shutter vibration;
The A7II has image stabilization;
So, would an A7RII with image stabilization 'autocorrect' the shutter vibration – or would it take further changes in the shutter to fix the problem?
Kirk
Given my experience with the Olympus MFT bodies which exhibited the same kind of problems, IBIS (stabilization) isn't helping. What causes this vibration is the way the shutter works in mirrorless cameras. The shutter is open for live view. When you press the release button, the shutter has to close first, then reopen and then close at the end of the exposure before reopening for live view again. The problem is caused by the first closing of the shutter. Effective improvements are gained if you act on that first closing. There are two ways of achieving that :
a) with an electronic first shutter, but that adds some limitation to the range of usable shutter speeds, or
b) with the introduction of a short delay between the moment when the shutter is closed and when it is reopened.
c) (nit a real solution, but a workaround) you can also use ISO and aperture to avoid the critical speeds.
The Olympus bodies are nice because they offer an anti shock option and you can adjust the length of the delay (from 1/8th seconds up to several seconds, 4, 8, or even more, I don't remember exactly where it ends). I used 1/8 on the E-M5 and it took care of the problem most of the time. The E-M1 and E-M5mk2 are even offering a 0 sec. antishock which works and a silent electronic shutter.
I wish the A7r had the same options, or at least the antishock. But it is something the manufacturer has to implement in addition to the stabilization. With he A7r the only action you can take is to avoid critical speeds, which isn't necessarily easy, because it depends upon the lens used (and the operator of course).