Mechanical vs Electronic Shutterequipment
A mechanical shutter uses physical curtains; an electronic shutter reads the sensor with no moving parts — silent, but prone to distortion.
A mechanical shutter exposes the sensor with physical curtains and gives even, reliable results with flash. An electronic shutter switches the sensor on and off electronically — completely silent and capable of very fast speeds, but because it reads the sensor line by line it can skew fast motion (rolling shutter) and band under some artificial lights. Many cameras offer both.
Use this when
- Silent shooting: Electronic
- Fast motion or flash: Mechanical
Common mistake: Leaving electronic shutter on for sports and getting warped, leaning subjects.