14-bit and 13-bit A/D Conversion with H+ and H-speed

The difference will be negligible at ISOs above 800 or so. At ISO 100 to 400 you may notice a bit less latitude to recover highlights or push shadows (more noise in the shadows) when shooting with the e-shutter compared to mech/1st curtain electronic.

candyman said:

Thank you for your reply Sharlin.

"At ISO 100 to 400 you may notice a bit less latitude to recover highlights or push shadows (more noise in the shadows) when shooting with the e-shutter compared to mech/1st curtain electronic."

I thought it would have more impact at higher ISO. Why less latitude at ISO 100 to 400? I'm trying to understand

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Raising ISO decreases dynamic range. By ISO 800, the R6 has lost ~2 stops of DR compared to ISO 100. Thus, the reduced bit depth at faster frame rates is sufficient at higher ISOs.

candyman said:

So practically I would use H at lower ISO (eg 100 to 400 or 640) and use H+ at higher ISO?

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To maximize your available exposure latitude, yes.

You may want 12 fps instead of 6-8 fps for other reasons, e.g., best choice of wing position for BIF.

I would recommend trying out the two modes and seeing if you see a difference.

From a few articles I perused this morning - and from others looked at in the past - my conclusion is that you won't see a difference between 10, 12 or 14 bit, unless you pixel peep. The articles I saw only mentioned the greater color depth (far more possible number of colors with increased bit depth) and nothing about noise or resolution.

Again, I would try it out and see for yourself. That is the only answer that will be meaningful.

I do quite a bit of birds-in-flight photography, as well as travel photography using a pair of R5s.

For BIF, I always use electronic shutter. The 20 fps gives me more images to choose the optimum wing positions of my subjects. The loss in bit depth - from 14 or 13 to 12 bit - is inconsequential above ISO 800. Since I’m usually shooting around 1/2500 to 1/3200, my ISO is already above 800 unless I’m shooting in a perfectly bright day with no cloud cover. As a result, unless I’m concerned about rolling shutter with ES, there’s no point in shooting in one of the higher bit mechanical modes.

For my travel photography work, I always shoot in either mechanical shutter or electronic first curtain shutter (which mode depends on my shutter speed and aperture settings for my subject). I also always try to keep my ISO as low as possible (ISO 100 is preferable with the camera firmly attached to a tripod). Therefore, there is a benefit of having the higher bit files for maximum dynamic range.

If shooting at ISO 100, I personally find that there is an appreciable difference between shooting in a mechanical mode, with larger bit depth, compared to shooting in electronic shutter when boosting shadows or recovering details from highlights; with shadow boosting in ES at ISO 100, details break down much more quickly.

I say choose your shutter mode depending on what and how you’re shooting. There is a reason why Canon gives you the option to change modes.