One thing that still puzzles me a little about the EX1 and that I can't find in the manual is what happens when the shutter switch is set to off.

Having used my XH-A1 for a while, I've gotten used to shutter speed just being a part of the general setup of a shot. I usually use a shutter speed of double the framerate.

So what does the EX1 do when the shutter is off? and also, if the shutter really is 'off' how does that effect the 'rolling shutter' side effect?

I'll do some experiments myself but just really wanted to put the questions out there.

Paul.

I've just done some initial tests by shooting a scene and firing the flash from my CX6. In 720/25p with the shutter on at 50 only the top half of the frame was exposing the effect of the flash - which is the effect that's been reported.

With the shutter off however, the flash always filled the frame, so it's definitely having an effect. If your shooting strobes etc and you're worried about getting half frames, wouldn't simply switching off the shutter give you usable footage?

Paul.

Paul,

It's been established here - with the help of the guys having experience with true pro cameras - that "Shutter OFF" simply disengages any additional electronic shutter, meaning you get one full exposure per frame. Which means it's equivalent to 1/25th if in 25fps mode, 1/24th if in 24fps mode, 1/50th in 720/50p etc. I am not sure about interlaced modes, is it 1/25 or 1/50th in 50i? I guess it should be 1/50th, to get the full temporal resolution.

So yes, it's possible that the side effect is getting rid of those partially exposed flashes... I'm using 1/25th in 1080/25p on my V1E and still do have partially exposed frames, though.

Piotr is correct. As for interlaced, if shooting 50i, your shutter would be 1/50th but you are only recording one field at that rate. Same for 60i.

For many years, video cameras didn't shoot alternate frame rates so the shutter switch was used only to achieve a certain look with 60i, or perhaps a clear scan function to sync with computer monitors that had a different refresh rate than 60hz. The same is pretty much true for 50i in a historical sense.

-gb-