First curtain

As far as I understand this is just how the shutter works on this camera. As to whether it has any side-effects I would say no. Now the new Ricoh GXR Mount module has an electronic shutter option that can only be activated in certain scene modes. Its advantages is that it would be silent, but I think electronic shutters are prone to the rolling shutter effect. The NEX won't be prone to that since the electronic is the just the first curtain and a mechanical shutter is still what takes the exposure.

 

Hey macjim,
According to the manual, you may encounter some odd image effects with wide aperture lenses. I assume that means F 1.4 or faster, but they do not specify. Here is the text:

• When you shoot at high shutter speeds with a large diameter lens attached, the ghosting of a blurred area
may occur, depending on the subject or shooting conditions. In such cases, set this item to [Off].
• When a Minolta/Konica Minolta lens is used, set this item to [Off]. If you set this item to [On], the correct
exposure will not be set or the image brightness will be uneven.

Best regards,
DGM