DSLR settings for filmmaking?
- Thread starter HeyAndy
- Start date
Yes canon.
TrueIndigo
Well-known member
With Canon DSLRs many folks prefer the Neutral picture style for shooting video, and modify it by turning down the default settings for Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation (test different amounts to see how you like it with the lenses you are using). My Neutral mod is: 0, -2, -2, 0. I also have Highlight Tone Priority and Auto lighting optimizer turned off.
1/50 is going to give you problems under artificial light. Better to park your shutter speed at 1/60 and leave it there. That is, 1/60 for NTSC. If you're in a PAL country, then keep it at 1/50.
Michael Carter
Veteran
There is a search button up in the site header... very handy for subjects like this which have been talked to death for years.
Regarding the 1/50th/1/60th issue... never had a shutter speed problem using flos, HIDs, HMIs, or tungsten. I think the artificial-light fear is a little over emphasized here. As usual, test.
Regarding the 1/50th/1/60th issue... never had a shutter speed problem using flos, HIDs, HMIs, or tungsten. I think the artificial-light fear is a little over emphasized here. As usual, test.
totitefilms
Well-known member
nickmarshallvfx
Member
Is it possible on the Canon DSLR's like the T2i or 7D to get a shutter speed of 1/48th when shooting 24p to replicate the 180 degree shutter used in film? I heard that this is one of the main things that is overlooked when trying to achieve a filmic look, but wasnt sure whether the DSLR's worked like this or just had fixed settings and dont allow for 1/48th shutter speeds?
I dont want to hijack the thread, if this is too off topic, let me know and I will create a new thread
I dont want to hijack the thread, if this is too off topic, let me know and I will create a new thread
Is that really the case?
Michael Carter
Veteran
50th & 60th are visually similar to the familiar 1/48th; US power runs at 60 hz; so any flickering in things like old fluorescent ballasts should "align" with your shutter.
Many lighting technologies and dimming methods cycle the power to the bulb/tube hundreds or thousands of times a second; the eye doesn't see this, but the camera can. To understand this better, take a DSLR to a big-box home improvement store. Set it for video at a shutter speed of 1/500th or even faster. Look at various lights on the LCD - you will see many of them slowly fade in brightness... like a slow pulse, like someone rolling a dimmer knob very slowly. This is your fast shutter capturing different points in the flicker cycle. It doesn't "look" like flickering, it looks like a slow pulsing, but since its caused by flickering, people call it "flicker".
Following up on what Fellipe said, using high (fast) shutter speeds can create the "Saving Private Ryan" look. High shutter speeds stop fast motion instead of blurring it, so things like splashing water and explosions in soil will show individual droplets of water or particles of dirt. It gets a "stuttery" look to it.
Following up on what Michael said, 1/60 matches the 60Hz power system of NTSC countries. 1/50 matches the 50Hz power system of PAL countries. Mismatching frame rates under certain artificial lights can have adverse effects. Florescent lights are some of the worst offenders, and dimmable LED sources can be even worse. Using 1/50 (or even 1/48 with Magic Lantern) isn't going to be a problem under natural light, and you probably won't see many issues with incandescent.
But 1/50 and 1/60, as has been said, don't really have much visual difference from 1/48. The reason many of us around here say to park the frame rate at 1/60 (or 1/50 for PAL) is because it's really the safest bet, especially for beginners.
nickmarshallvfx
Member
I hadn't considered the lighting issues, I was still hung up on the filmic look! I'll have to bear all of this in mind when I do some tests shoots to see how it all comes together in action.
Thanks for the advice, the OP can have his thread back now!
Thanks for the advice, the OP can have his thread back now!
DeShonDixon
Member
I shoot at 1/48 with the magic lantern hack on my t2i
Bruce Foreman
Veteran
The only property about shutter speed that contributes to "film" look is the amount of motion blur that takes place. 1/50th motion blur is for practical purposes identical to that of 1/48th. 1/60th is still close enough.
1/48th was purely the mechanical result of a rotating disk shutter where half of the disk was cutout to allow exposure and the other half was left solid to block the frame while the next frame of film was being pulled into place. The frame rate of 24fps was the best compromise between economy of film consumption and the slowest practical frame rate at which persistence of vision worked.
Even though the film industry stayed with 24fps while filming, due to the fact that some people can see the "flicker" at that frame rate, modern theater projection equipment projects each frame twice before the next frame of film is pulled into the projector "gate". So what we see when we "go to the movies" is actually 48fps, smooths out that flicker and is more comfortable for those who can get a headache from the stroboscopic flicker at 24fps.
I don't chase the 24p "will-o-the-wisp", I shoot mostly in 30p and try to get that "filmic" look with lighting, composition, and whatever image adjustments for dynamic range, contrast, sharpness, and saturation the camera gives me.
Frame rate by itself does not give us that "film look".
1/48th was purely the mechanical result of a rotating disk shutter where half of the disk was cutout to allow exposure and the other half was left solid to block the frame while the next frame of film was being pulled into place. The frame rate of 24fps was the best compromise between economy of film consumption and the slowest practical frame rate at which persistence of vision worked.
Even though the film industry stayed with 24fps while filming, due to the fact that some people can see the "flicker" at that frame rate, modern theater projection equipment projects each frame twice before the next frame of film is pulled into the projector "gate". So what we see when we "go to the movies" is actually 48fps, smooths out that flicker and is more comfortable for those who can get a headache from the stroboscopic flicker at 24fps.
I don't chase the 24p "will-o-the-wisp", I shoot mostly in 30p and try to get that "filmic" look with lighting, composition, and whatever image adjustments for dynamic range, contrast, sharpness, and saturation the camera gives me.
Frame rate by itself does not give us that "film look".
nickmarshallvfx
Member
Thanks for that insight Bruce, I'm definitely not counting on just frame rates and shutter speeds alone to give me cinematic footage, I was just looking for any ways to mimic film before starting on the more important and creative paths. Thanks for the technical explanation behind the settings too, in particular I wasnt aware that most theatres still project each frame twice. All good things to bear in mind!
Cheers everyone!
Cheers everyone!