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I am looking for digital cameras to use for a webcam project.

After learning first-hand about shutter-actuation limits I am now looking for some sort of reference that shows what cameras have mechanical shutters (not good for my purposes) and what cameras do not have mechanical shutters.

This is not a difficult question when considering Pro-level/SLR vs. Budget/P&S but rather in the 'in-between' models.

I need a camera that is not mechanical, but also has remote software control abilities and decent quality.

A comprehensive list showing cameras with mechanical and non-mechanical shutters would help narrow things down immensely.

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    Hello Chris, and welcome to PhotoSE. I'm not really sure your question is particularly constructive, as it is really asking for the members of our forum to do a lot of research work and neatly compile a reduced list for you. Its highly doubtful any single member has the information your looking for right on the top of your head. There are several resources that should help you find the information you need, such as dpreview.com, and a few google searches should also help you compile the information you need.
    – jrista
    Jan 10 '12 at 21:17
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    As a simple note, all of your posts are automatically "signed" as being posted by you, in the lower right hand corner. If you have any personal information you would like to associate with your user, such as the web site alberniweather.ca you originally linked in your question, feel free to put that information into your personal profile here on the site.
    – jrista
    Jan 10 '12 at 21:18
  • I'd agree, except I think there's a high chance that @Itai has this information in the Neocamera database (even if it's not exposed in the UI).
    – mattdm
    Jan 10 '12 at 22:05
  • @jrista - I think they are just looking for a link to a site that has this info, not necessarily asking for us to compile it and present it here. I think you are on the mark with dpreview.
    – dpollitt
    Jan 10 '12 at 22:06
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No, neither do I have this information because it is not consistently provided by manufacturers.

What I know is that the vast majority of digital cameras have a mechanical shutter, except for the Nikon 1 J1 and a handful of others.

You should also note that most cameras do not use their mechanical shutter all the time. Every time you see extremely high shutter-speeds or frame-rates above 15 FPS, it is certain that a mechanical shutter is not used.

For example, the Nikon 1 V1 which has a mechanical shutter can shoot at 60 FPS and this is done with the electronic shutter. As far as DSLRs go, the Pentax K20D does this to shoot at 21 FPS (2 Megapixels).

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    If almost all cameras have mechanical shutters, are these shutters similar enough to get the same actuation limit, or are some shutter designs orders of magnitude better in terms of actuation limits? This might help OP make a buy decision.
    – Unapiedra
    Nov 16 '13 at 16:34
  • Some shutter have a higher actuation limit but the difference is at most one order of magnitude. I would concentrate on which camera can use their electronic shutters even having a mechanical one.
    – Itai
    Nov 16 '13 at 17:32

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