Why can't we have higher sync speed?

[surenj]

I had been wondering about electronic vs mechanical shutters. It seems like it's not as simple as that.

For the interested

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157606426352791/

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1034&message=28663586&changemode=1

[gstark]

Here's some good reasoning ....

i like the sound of the mechanical shutter. my xt's shutter sounds so much better than the 40D

Actually, if you use a camera that supports lenses with an in-lens shutter, then you can have a mechanical shutter with sync up to 1/500 sec. Most MF and larger cameras provide such support, as do many older RF cameras.

And the leaf shutters are so quiet, they would really upset our friend whom I've quoted above.