Working with silent shutter

[IraBlock]

I really love using the Silent/electronic shutter on my Alpha cameras. At first it took a while to get used to not hearing the sound of the 'click'. I solved this by setting the camera up so I see little flashes  - it assures me that I really am taking photos. I know many photographers use silent shutter in very quiet and sensitive situations, however I also find it great for photographing people. We all have experienced our subjects rolling their eyes and lamenting - ' don't you have enough photos already'.  The silent shutter solves this problem as no one is hearing the clicks so they don't know how many images you have shot. Of course when you are photographing professional models you want the sound of clicks as models make small changes to their poses after they hear the sound.

The only issue I have with the silent shutter is when I am shooting under cheap LED lights and banding occurs at higher shutter speeds. The newer Sony cameras scan a lot faster and have gotten much better in these situations.

What is your experience and preferences for shutter selection?

[CarolineJensen]

I have to keep the surprise banding in mind! I tend to shoot with silent shutter in crowded places like museums and art galleries, but then they often have awful LED lights. I have to remind myself to check for banding and turn it off!

[MattK]

I could definitely see the benefits and I thought I would use it a lot more. I don't photograph people though, so wildlife is the only thing I'd use it for and the electronic shutter sound is actually pretty subdued. So I stopped using silent shutter mostly because I filled up my cards too fast. I need that audible sound to let me know how much I'm shooting. 

[tonygale]

I'm old school, so I always do mechanical shutter unless there is a specific reason not to. The electronic shutter when you need is awesome though!

[IraBlock]

I could definitely see the benefits and I thought I would use it a lot more. I don't photograph people though, so wildlife is the only thing I'd use it for and the electronic shutter sound is actually pretty subdued. So I stopped using silent shutter mostly because I filled up my cards too fast. I need that audible sound to let me know how much I'm shooting. 

Of course sometimes if you are close to the animals and don't want them taking off the silent shutter could be useful.!!😁

[AaronTodd]

When I most need a silent shutter, is when it doesn't work well in churches for weddings and events. And I've been hesitant to try otherwise because of how much people talk negatively about it. However I've been shooting the fx30 as much as I can, and recently while capturing my kids playing in the fall leaves my wife asked me to snap a few shots. Of course it's a very capable camera! I don't think the lack of a mechanical shutter will be a problem as long as I'm in natural light.

[RogerRogerATX]

I tried to use silent shutter at first with my A7IV, but even outdoors I was getting some weird results with adapted lenses - which may be why I was getting the weird results!  I'll probably try it again, but for now I'm going to stick with mechanical until I ... perhaps.. can afford to upgrade to the A1 or another stacked sensor body