Global Shutter Coming to Canon DSLRs? [CR1]

[Canon Rumors]

<p>We’re told that Canon is working on using a global shutter for the upcoming replacement of the Canon EOS-1D X. The hope is to get the camera to shoot at 30fps for still images, which would require a lot of upgrades and new technologies such as CFast.</p>
<p><strong>What is a global shutter? </strong>(<a href="http://www.red.com/learn/red-101/global-rolling-shutter" target="_blank">From Red</a>)<strong>

</strong><em>“A global shutter controls incoming light to all photosites simultaneously. At any given point in time, all photosites are therefore either equally closed or equally open. A global shutter can work either by abruptly exposing and then obstructing all photosites at once, in which case it can be thought of as a “hard shutter,” or by doing this more gradually as a “soft shutter.” Since they have no moving parts, these are sometimes also referred to as an electronic shutter.”</em><strong>

</strong></p>
<p>I’ll let the more engineering inclined discuss the likelihood of this technology for CMOS DSLRs on the forum. This comes from an unknown source, so take it with lots of salt.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[Jerome]

Would this allow to sync flash at any shutter speed if we have a flash trigger that is quick enough?

 

[knoxtown]

Would this allow to sync flash at any shutter speed if we have a flash trigger that is quick enough?

I don't see why not. As long as your trigger and flash can keep up, I believe it should work. E

 

[saveyourmoment]

That is what Canon has to go for to stand out!

 

[cellomaster27]

What's the point of having 30fps when you have video shot at 30fps? Doesn't the 1DC cover this? Or is this basically what the mirrorless cameras have, just faster? they have very fast frame bursts.. slightly confused?

 

[fish_shooter]

What's the point of having 30fps when you have video shot at 30fps? Doesn't the 1DC cover this? Or is this basically what the mirrorless cameras have, just faster? they have very fast frame bursts.. slightly confused?

I would assume the resolution (megapixels) would be greater than what one would get from a video still grab from lower res. typical of vid. formats such as 1080, 4K etc. as well as have the 2:3 aspect ratio of the whole sensor (also not a crop as many video implementations; e.g., the 1DC as a 1.3 crop factor as well as narrower aspect ratio).

 

[Skirball]

Would this allow to sync flash at any shutter speed if we have a flash trigger that is quick enough?

First thing that went through my mind as well. I couldn't care less about 30 fps, but no max sync speed sounds awesome.

 

[distant.star]

.
You have to wonder what it means when technology being used by other photographic equipment manufacturers is a "rumor" for Canon.

 

[Quackator]

Breaking the x-sync barrier would be the most welcome effect
of this, and will make all HSS/Auto-FP/Hypersync/SuperSync
hacks obsolete.

The minute they announce this, I place my order.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Some of those Canon patents were supposed to deal with situations like this. The issue gets much more difficult as the sensor gets larger. Maybe they were able to improve on the patent, or figure out how to reliably mass produce FF sensors with the technology.

 

[rfdesigner]

What's the point of having 30fps when you have video shot at 30fps? Doesn't the 1DC cover this? Or is this basically what the mirrorless cameras have, just faster? they have very fast frame bursts.. slightly confused?

Video has two disadvantages.

its resolution is usually less than still frame modes/cameras

its shutter speed will typically be roughly 1/frame rate, or at least somewhat slow... so you get a lot of blurred shots. taking 30fps of 1/8000th second shots is another thing entirely.



What I'm scratching my head about is how are they doing it.. liquid crystal?.. double layer CMOS sensor (with a hidden layer? so the image can be transferred to an insensitive layer when integration time is enough).. Somewhere in a box I have an FT18 CCD sensor with 2048 x 1024 sensor, with half the CCD covered, so you can take a 1024x1024 image, then shift it to the dark area and then read it out at leisure. But that's expensive in terms of silicon and large, if that could be replicated vertically it would be interesting.

 

[privatebydesign]

If Canon have a true global shutter working on a CMOS sensor then I will be getting the 1DX MkII on release. That is a significant technological improvement and will sidestep some flash limitations.

 

[Besisika]

What's the point of having 30fps when you have video shot at 30fps? Doesn't the 1DC cover this? Or is this basically what the mirrorless cameras have, just faster? they have very fast frame bursts.. slightly confused?

To me the biggest disadvantage of video is flash. If they bit the current sync speed with this, it would be difficult not to be tempted.

 

[cpreston]

Yeah, global shutter basically means that the entire sensor is exposed and read at the same time. It doesn't necessarily matter rather it is an electronic sensor or mirror. Most sensors have to read the sensor sites at different points in time. This causes images to have problems with motion, flash, and certain types of lights and projections/monitors. This rumor seems farfetched, though. If Canon could create a self contained camera that could continuously record RAW and compressed images at 30fps on a global shutter, it would have a huge impact on both the video and photography markets. Nothing comes close right now. The 1DC is a pale imitation since it can only record non-continuous 12fps RAW and 24fps compressed at APS-H crop on a non-global shutter.

The thought that this rumor might be true is a little too much to take.

 

[Orangutan]

.
You have to wonder what it means when technology being used by other photographic equipment manufacturers is a "rumor" for Canon.

Yes, there are sensors with global shutters; however, I believe they're only common in specialty devices, not in general-purpose, high-end DSLRs. Do you have an example of a camera with a global shutter which ALSO competes with the 1DX in sports/action/BIF/etc?

 

[MARKOE PHOTOE]

This is a step in the right direction for Canon and I'm hoping a firmware update 'might' bring this to the table.

Fujifilm just released their new line of mirrorless cameras that have ELECTRONIC AND MECHANICAL shutters. You can either use one or the other depending on shutter speed needed. Their shutter speed limit is 1/32,000 of a second. Fuji also just provided firmware updates for two of their previous models to incorporate this new electronic shutter feature. Now, how great is that?

My point is, it can be done and is being done now with some manufacturers. The electronic shutter is totally silent.

 

[grahamcopeland]

There could not be better news. If canon could take the lead here, many a photographer or cinematographer would rejoice

 

[jrista]

Would this allow to sync flash at any shutter speed if we have a flash trigger that is quick enough?

There is no reason why not. Would be very interesting if they did...the trend lately seems to have been to reduce the sync speed instead of increase it, which has been disappointing.

 

[Besisika]

Would this allow to sync flash at any shutter speed if we have a flash trigger that is quick enough?

There is no reason why not. Would be very interesting if they did...the trend lately seems to have been to reduce the sync speed instead of increase it, which has been disappointing.

Agreed! Especially when you try to compete with that natural continuous light from above.

 

[Tinky]

What's the point of having 30fps when you have video shot at 30fps? Doesn't the 1DC cover this? Or is this basically what the mirrorless cameras have, just faster? they have very fast frame bursts.. slightly confused?

The mirrorless cameras (like every other EOS with video) use a mechanical shutter for stills and an electronic shutter for video.

The problem with the electronic shutter is that is reads off line by line in a progressive wave accross the sensor.

Whilst it is easy to make the read of each individual read very fast (thereby equivalent to only being 'exposed' for 1/50th, 1/250th, 1/2000th of a second) the speed at which the scan passes over the entire chip is relatively slow.

This means that the moment of the last line being scanned is visibly behind the first and intermediate lines being scanned.

You may also have heard this being called 'jello shutter'.

If you have a dslr with video mode, do a whip pan left or right. Vertical lines become diagonal lines as the slow scan rate of the sensor is betrayed.

In a global shutter the entire frame is read in the one instant. So these diagonal lines disappear.

Now the if it's doing that to diagonal lines, what else is it doing to other details in the image?

So why is it a problem?

Well, increasingly press photographers have to also provide video, and with the advent of 4K video decent frame grabs become viable. You could fill a magazine cover with an 8MP frame grab from UHD footage.

But not if all the details are wavy and distorted.

So, there are two benefits... it will make video a lot better, rapid camera movements are now possible ...it will make video grabs a lot better too. Something Canon must see a requirement for in certain user segments.

And I think they are right.