Explaining Nikon’s shutter type options – which one to choose and when?

The shutter of a conventional camera works purely mechanically. Before the picture is taken, the shutter is completely closed. At the beginning of the exposure, the “first curtain” opens and passes through the image sensor. At the end of the exposure, the second curtain slides past the sensor.

However, at very fast shutter speeds, the second curtain begins to close before the first curtain is fully open. This can result in a dark band in the image when using a flash. The solution is to use “Auto FP” (Auto Focal Plane) or High-Speed Sync flash, which fires a short burst of flashes rather than a single flash.

Almost all Z System cameras have an “Auto” shutter mode as standard. This uses a conventional mechanical shutter most of the time, but automatically switches to an “electronic first-curtain shutter” when it is beneficial. As the name suggests, the exposure is initiated electronically, but a mechanical second-curtain shutter ends. In addition to letting the camera choose the shutter type, you can also select it yourself in the Custom Settings menu. In the Photo Capture menu, you will also find the Silent Photography option. This activates a fully electronic shutter, eliminating the need for a mechanical shutter.