Acceptable shutter speeds

FatDaddy

FatDaddy

Veteran
I usually stay away from shooting at a shutter speed of 30 and go with 60. Is there any reason not to go to 30 for low light interviews? (natural light in a club, at dusk, etc.). Not sure if we will be going to 24p, but may just stay at 30p.
 
30 just has a very video look to everything shot at this shutter speed. I find 50 has the most jutter to image. If you want to have a pronounced video feel, go with 1/30.
 
FatDaddy said:
I usually stay away from shooting at a shutter speed of 30 and go with 60. Is there any reason not to go to 30 for low light interviews? (natural light in a club, at dusk, etc.). Not sure if we will be going to 24p, but may just stay at 30p.
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If you want to go with a lot of motion blur or want low light to shine brighter there is nothing wrong with a 360 shutter, just know the look you are going for and experiment first, Michael Mann seems to utilize a similar look (24fps @ 1/24), it's pretty unique. As long as it looks intentional it can be cool.
 
Thanks for the info. But... if I am doing a low light interview and there is not a lot of motion, would it not be better to go to 30 on the shutter. How much could that change the look if it is just an interview? And what about a project going to 24p through some conversion? Would 30 on the shutter mess anything up?
 
Shoot a test. If you're happy with it then go with it. I've never put the shutter lower than 1/50th since my first day of testing. The 24p conversion will work from a 1/30th shutter ok.
 
Cool. Ran some test today and see the difference. Can't really tell a visual difference on more static images. Thanks.
 
I would think more motion blur would sort of hide ghosting artifacts from 30p -> 24p interpolation also.
 
Dean Semler utilizes a 360 degree shutter (or 1/24) when using the Genesis (IE on Apocalypto). It doubles your light sensitivity, but certainly has a distinct look. Obviously no film camera can replicate a 360 degree shutter, so it isn't a 'film look', per se. But it can be utilized cinematically, as proven by Semler's work.

1/30 is fine for interviews and limited movement. Your subjects will certainly appreciate being pounded by half as much light :)
 
Weird, I just saw Apocolypto and it didn't stand out to me. But I know it bugged people on Public Enemies.

So just to clarify though, it is best to shoot 1/50th if you are converting to 24p, and 1/60th if you are not? If you shoot 1/50 and end up keeping it at 30fps will that look weird/any different?
 
Actually I think most people prefer it the other way around: 1/60th for a 24fps conversion and 1/50th for running straight at 30p.

I'm off the school that 1/50th is best for just about everything because it seems to give the most organic stutter to the motion. Almost like it's not perfectly at a cycle rate of 1/50th, but slightly off. Giving the feel of a mechanical shutter.

All this though is a base frame rate. The higher rates are great for effect shooting...
 
Well what about light problems? Is it not just a better idea to do 1/60th just in case? And I don't see why it would be the other way around...
 
Taylor Rudd said:
Dean Semler utilizes a 360 degree shutter (or 1/24) when using the Genesis (IE on Apocalypto). It doubles your light sensitivity, but certainly has a distinct look.
Click to expand...
Did they use 1/24 for running through the woods scenes? Ew. Smeary home "magicPix" video look. I did not like it. It clearly stood out when I watched the movie.
 
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