5d Mark III video footage not as smooth as 5d Mark II

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payal_choksi

New member
Hi all,

recently i saw a footage from 5d mark ii and noticed how smooth and fluidic the motion looked on screen compared to my 5d mark III. My footage from mark iii appeared jerky compared to mark II. The pans or the movements in the 5d Mark III footage feels like there is little strobing.

I saw the footage of 5d mark II & III on same computer and i must admit my mark III did not look as smooth as mark II.

what could be the reason for this? i shoot at 25 fps with shutter speed at 50. Is there anything else that i am missing?

i shoot with zero sharpness.

pls help me.

regards,
 
That was my guess. I would try to transcode both to a common format and see if there's a difference beyond that.
 
Samuel H said:
My guess: the computer was having trouble playing back the all-I files from the 5D3.
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i shoot in ipb mode.

Ebrahim Saadawi said:
Do you mean when looking at native files straight off the camera (mov)?
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ya

Samuel H said:
That was my guess. I would try to transcode both to a common format and see if there's a difference beyond that.
Click to expand...

ya even when they are transcoded to same format the mark II shows a very smooth and fluidic movements and my mark III looks like it's strobing.
 
You sure you had the same settings on both cameras? Panning quickly in 24p isn't going to look the same as slow movement in 30p or 60i. Your shutter speed will also change that look dramatically.
Since there hasn't been any wave of posts complaining about the motion in the 5D3 since it came out, I'm strongly suspecting that the difference here is completely in the settings or subject material. You just have to figure out which settings (or subject) aren't matching.
 
Any difference in motion will be down to a difference in:

1-Shutter speed (1/50, 1/125, etc)

2-Frame rate (24p/30p etc)

If the two cameras are matched in these they will give you identical motion. If they are and you're still seeing a difference in motion, then it's purely psychological from your part :D
 
This is just my guess, but i think this difference in motion can be attributed to the fact that i shoot with zero sharpness in my mark III. Maybe that could be the reason that the motion doesn't seem smooth.
 
Sharpness is the last thing that would have any impact on cadence.
If shutter speed and fps are set the same way, it is possible that your perceived cadence difference comes from different amounts of rolling shutter on both cameras. While for any point in the frame there is no difference in frame-to-frame times, the added jello of the 5dm2 may actually increase the perception of smoothness.
 
I will bet my house that you just have your shutter speeds and framerates mixed completely.

Do you shoot manual?
 
maarek said:
I will bet my house that you just have your shutter speeds and framerates mixed completely.

Do you shoot manual?
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you just lost your house :D...i always shoot manual. i shoot at 25 fps @ 50 shutter speed, that's because i shoot in pal.

I guess it's about the codec that 5d 2 has which is different from 5d 3.
 
payal_choksi said:
I guess it's about the codec that 5d 2 has which is different from 5d 3.
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Huh? I think it's more likely the added weight of having an extra I in the Mark III logo over the Mark II logo. The codec will not impact the cadence whatsoever. The only impact it can have is if your computer is not powerful enough to properly decode it as it's playing back.
I'm sure that if you set up both cameras with the same exact settings and recorded the same thing at the same time you wouldn't be able to tell them apart as far as "smoothness" is concerned.
 
its now more than 2 years but still i feel the there is difference in the smoothness between mark iii and mark ii. just now i saw two footage from mark ii and mark iii and mark ii looked clearly the winner in terms of fluidity in pans and tilts. i use i7 computer and i have checked the footage on different computers.

the best example i could give is, if there is any text on the screen, when i pan the camera the text becomes unreadable due to strobing/strutting.

the mark iii footage looks strobing (don't know if it's a right word) and not as fluid as mark ii. i really envy mark ii

i just shot a footage in 1280x720 @ 50 fps and the motion looked more fluid.

also i noticed that the data rate of 5d mark ii footage is more than my mark iii in ipb mode. the data rate of my mark iii is more in all-i mode, but still the motion is not as smooth as mark ii.
 
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Can give us a couple of examples? Otherwise there is no point debating on whether what you say is valid.

Never had an issue with either the 5D2 or the 5D3 motion cadence, and like many others, I had multiple bodies of each.
 
jpblack said:
Can give us a couple of examples? Otherwise there is no point debating on whether what you say is valid.

Never had an issue with either the 5D2 or the 5D3 motion cadence, and like many others, I had multiple bodies of each.
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sharing two links each of 5d mark ii and mark iii here:

Mark II Lens used: 16-35 f2.8 25fps shutter: 50

Mark III Lens used: 24-105 f4.0 25fps shutter: 50

pls. see both the videos and tell me if you see any difference in terms of smoothness when the camera pans? the smoothness is more pronounced when the camera is moved/re-positioned fast to frame the shot.

to me, the mark iii pan looks very digital while mark ii looks very fluid.

awaiting your response!
 
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Ok, I can see in both clips the classic dslr stuttering when panning, this is a technical limitation, you have to pan really slow with these cameras to get smooth movement, otherwise movement looks choppy at some point.

Your problem is exaggerated because you're comparing the cameras with different lenses. The 5D2 has a 16-35, set at 16mm from what I can tell, and doesn't have IS to interfere with the movement. In the 5D3 video with the 24-105 I'm not sure about your focal length, but it is tighter in any case which is very different compared to 16mm on the 5D2, and also I'm 100% sure you have the IS on, which makes the footage more choppy and maybe "digital" as you say if you don't understand how to use it.

Just switch the lenses on the cameras and I'm pretty sure you'll get opposite results.

p.s. It would be better to use the 5D3 in cases like your 5D2 video, the footage is ruined by excessive moire.
 
jpblack said:
Ok, I can see in both clips the classic dslr stuttering when panning, this is a technical limitation, you have to pan really slow with these cameras to get smooth movement, otherwise movement looks choppy at some point.

Your problem is exaggerated because you're comparing the cameras with different lenses. The 5D2 has a 16-35, set at 16mm from what I can tell, and doesn't have IS to interfere with the movement. In the 5D3 video with the 24-105 I'm not sure about your focal length, but it is tighter in any case which is very different compared to 16mm on the 5D2, and also I'm 100% sure you have the IS on, which makes the footage more choppy and maybe "digital" as you say if you don't understand how to use it.

Just switch the lenses on the cameras and I'm pretty sure you'll get opposite results.

p.s. It would be better to use the 5D3 in cases like your 5D2 video, the footage is ruined by excessive moire.
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Sir, i forgot to mention that IS was not on in 24-105 on 5d mark iii and the mark iii was at 24 mm. Sadly, it's same case when i use 50mm 1.8 with my 5d mIII which does not have IS.
 
Hey Payal, I took a look at your footage and both clips look as expected. However I have a theory to your problem. In the case of the 5D III there is excessive movement from the actual machines which is adding to relative motion in the shot. Also inherent in the the 5D III subject matter, it has a wider range of tones (brighter whites with some shadows very close to the white).

Why is all this relevant? Because I believe what you are experiencing is ghosting/flicker from your monitor refresh rate. Ghosting is exaggerated when there is a lot of movement there is contrast between dark/light white/black. In order ot test this theory, please watch the following clip and let us know if you have significant ghosting from your monitor:

https://youtu.be/UkC31G5GvXc?t=27s
 
egproductions said:
Hey Payal, I took a look at your footage and both clips look as expected. However I have a theory to your problem. In the case of the 5D III there is excessive movement from the actual machines which is adding to relative motion in the shot. Also inherent in the the 5D III subject matter, it has a wider range of tones (brighter whites with some shadows very close to the white).

Why is all this relevant? Because I believe what you are experiencing is ghosting/flicker from your monitor refresh rate. Ghosting is exaggerated when there is a lot of movement there is contrast between dark/light white/black. In order ot test this theory, please watch the following clip and let us know if you have significant ghosting from your monitor:

https://youtu.be/UkC31G5GvXc?t=27s
Click to expand...

its not only about this particular clip on 5d miii but all the clips. i have seen this difference on different monitor as well. 5d m2 looks very smooth compared to my 5d m3. if i shoot 1280*720 in 50fps, than the smoothness is just as i want, like that of 5d m2.
 
I recommend filming and sharing identical clips from the two cameras so that we can see if there is in fact something different between the two. I can't see any red flags when comparing the two clips you provided. Like many others I have used and owned both cameras and never experienced inconsitencies in motion. If you can't show us a difference between the two, then logic would dictate the issue has to do with how you are viewing it or computer playback.
 
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