# EOS M6 Mark II mechanical shutter vibration



## Aichbus (Apr 27, 2020)

Hi everyone. I own the EOS 5DsR and oftentimes wished it were mirrorless, because the mirror DOES cause vibrations and can spoil images. I have also been using M cameras for a while (M, M3, M50 and now M6II) and always thought that they had no shutter vibration. Until today, when I wanted to test out the usability of my EF 2.8/200 L II with an Extender 2x III. My guess was that the combo would be unusable due to the enormous pixel density of the M6II. Spoiler alert: The combo was surprisingly good. But when I tested this during the day with a target that was approx. 30 m away, heat haze created unreliable results. So I waited for the sun to set and tried again without heat haze. It put the system on a small tripod, which easily vibrated when touched, but stood completely still when left alone. I used the 10 s timer to give it the time to get still and expected perfect results at 0.8 s. But I didn't get them. After a while, I had the idea to test the same with electronic shutter instead of the mechanical shutter and bingo! I got perfect results. See comparison attached. I made many tests comparing mechanical and electronic shutter and I can testify that the difference you see in the images attached are reproducible. Frankly I hadn't expected that. Nor did I expect how good the 2.8/200 L II is with the 2xIII even on the 32 MP crop sensor. I compared it to 400 mm of my 100-400 L II and it is almost the same. The 200 L has some purple fringing wide open, which the 100-400 has not. At f/8 this disappears and then both are basically the same. Amazing!


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## Bennymiata (Apr 28, 2020)

While the mechanical shutter does vibrate, I think that part of your problem is the crappy tripod you are using.
Get yourself a good carbon fibre tripod and try it again.

I do a lot of product photography and I can tell you that carbon tripods vibrate much less than metal ones, and after being touched, they stop shaking far quicker than metal ones too.


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## pj1974 (Apr 28, 2020)

Hi Aichbus,

I have a number of tripods, got my first one close to 20 years ago, that was one of those cheap, light weight aluminium ones, where to obtain eye level height, the centre column had to be lifted up. Such cheap tripods may have their place (e.g. for quick and dirty long exposures, etc). But for any truly serious photography, they are not worth it. So when you say/write: "I put the system on a small tripod, which easily vibrated when touched, but stood completely still when left alone." - that indicates that yes, your tripod is not up to the task (as Bennymiata, above, also points out).

My current tripods include 3 x higher end Manfrotto tripods, including the 055 Pro and the 190X Pros - which are really versatile and a great balance.
I undertake various different genres of photography, including landscape, night time photography and other long exposure. For best results, I use live view in my DSLRs (much better than the old "mirror flipped up" option) or my mirrorless cameras, I also use a 10 second self timer because in some situations, 2 or 3 seconds isn't long enough. In other cases - though - and for the most overall convenience) - I advise the use of a remote shutter. That avoids any jittery vibration from touching the camera / pressing any button.

(Hopefully you also know that using back button focus - rather than using the half-press of shutter button - to obtain autofocus, is by far the best option here too... I went BBF about 15 years ago, and have not looked back since... pun intended!) Though for many of these types of images, I often use manual focus and/or do focus tweaking. The 5x and 10x preview in live view and/or mirrorless is a real treat to do this in the Canon bodies!

Higher pixel density is more telling of any shake / vibration, etc. The recent cameras are more critical of any camera shake compared to earlier / lower megapixel cameras. The M6mkII is in the higher pixel density (recent camera) category. And yes, I understand why with a 0.8sec exposure, it would show some vibration - even after 10 seconds, from the mechanical shutter if you are not using a very solid setup overall. If you are taking photos indoors, even people walking in another room or a different floor, and opening/closing doors etc can lead to noticeable vibration. Bridges, proximity to the road and other aspects can introduce unwanted vibration too.

I can obtain perfectly sharp images with pin-point features (obviously given focus is nailed and the subject is perfectly stationery) for exposures of up to a number of minutes. My Manfrotto cameras are very good. As bennymiata wrote above, carbon-fiber can help with vibration dampening even more than a good aluminium one. Though the most important is to ensure you have a sufficiently sturdy and "pro" tripod, and how it is placed is solid too. I have not needed a carbon-fiber tripod to date to obtain images that I am very happy with (and I am very critical of image sharpness in certain types of settings). Weighting the tripod can help in certain situations too. Oh yes, and ensuring you have not just a good 'tripod' (set of legs) but also the head is important, whether that be a ball head, 3 way, etc.... if you can, ensure you get a really good one. (good and well-looked after second hand items can be money better spent than full price new items). Just be sure to test everything you may buy 2nd hand prior to use. 

I hope that you'll capture lots of good (sharp, and non-vibration affected) images in the future! Best wishes.

Best wishes,

PJ


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## Aichbus (Apr 28, 2020)

Thanks for the comments, but my post was not about tripods. I just wanted to share my experience that one major advantage of the electronic shutter of the M6II (sorry for posting in the wrong section of the forum) is that it is completely vibration free and that that can matter. That's all. I have many tripods of all sorts, but when you use a small camera like the M6II you normally don't take sturdy tripods with you. If you don't have any tripod at hand and still want to do a nighttime shot, you may end up building yourself a very light support and rely on the electronic shutter not to induce vibrations of its own.


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## koenkooi (Apr 28, 2020)

The M6II also uses a fully mechanical shutter, EFCS would've shown an improvement in shake as well.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 28, 2020)

While Mirrors do cause vibration, shutters should not be a issue. A poor tripod will actually amplify the vibration.


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## Sporgon (Apr 29, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> While Mirrors do cause vibration, shutters should not be a issue. A poor tripod will actually amplify the vibration.



That’s not strictly true from my experience. One extreme example would be my Pentax 67 MF. Here the shutter causes as much if not more vibration than the mirror !! At the other end of the scale the shutter on my M3 definitely caused the body to vibrate. On my 5DS, nine times out of ten I get critically ( or maybe I should say anally ) sharper images from live view than by optical, even if the focus has been set up in live view and camera on a 058. Non of these wimpy 190 and 055s
 . Also I believe that early Sony A7 suffered from shutter shock.
So whilst the lightweight tripod used by the OP would have led to the shutter shock being noticed it doesn’t alter the fact that it exists.


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