Best shutter speed?

C

Cableaddict

Member
Noob question alert!

I'm shooting primarily videos of my band, playing in local bars. I am using two Canon HFS200's, with Letus adapters and 58/1.2 lenses. (I need minimum DOF to try to separate the band from the crowd. FOV will be set by changing camcorder placement)

I am not 100% certain, but will most likely be shooting at 24 fps native.

SO, what shutter speed? I was originally going to use AV mode, set as low as possible, but I read somewhere that shutter speed should ideally be 2X your frame rate. AV mode is giving me a shutter of 24. (I think)

Is 48 optimum, and if so why? 24 looks a tad brighter, and we don't have tons of stage lighting, so this is important. I've run some basic tests at home, and really don't see a huge difference, but home tests and real-world use can be very different.

Is there a simple answer?

-thanks.
 
When shooting at 24 fps, it is common to use a 180-degree shutter, which is double the frame rate, so 1/48. It is the most commonly used because it gives a realistic motion blur, originally applied by exposing a frame of film for half the time it is behind the lens and then covering it for the other half. The same is applied in digital cameras through an electronic global or rolling shutter read over the sensor.

If your band is a headbanger, you probably don't want to set your shutter to a 360-degree shutter (1/24) because they will blur a lot, especially if camera is rather close. If the band's a sit-down blues type, the difference of blur in the two shutter speeds will be nominal, but you will gain a stop of light with 1/24. AV mode is setting it at 1/24 because you are probably underexposed at 1/48, and you are likely still underexposed at 1/24, but the shutter speed cannot be set at anything faster than 1/fps, or 360 degrees.
 
Shutter speed needs to be a bit faster to keep motion somewhat sharper. think of pictures, if you have a shutter speed of 1/24, any motion will be just a blur. But you also don't want motion to appear choppy which occurs with a shutter that is too fast.

So generally with a frame rate of 24-30 you will want a shutter speed of 1/40 - 1/100. That's a little wider than the most traditional standard, but is the range that generally won't seem strange to the eye.
 
Thanks, guys. That's very clear.

In my particular situation, would you then use AV or TV modes? (or would you go fully manual?) - the camcorders roll unattended on autopoles, and lighting conditions sometimes change a little.

I know that's hard to answer without seeing actual footage, but what would you be looking for? I guess I can stand a little blur (no moshing for this old geezer) & choppy would be worse. Sincef shutter speed is so critical, should I try TV (@ 48) and bump the exposure? (again I'm a total noob, but I assume that there must be an ISO setting somewhere. the manual is bloody confusing...)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top