I Need Clear Detail During Pan of Scenery - How Much Do I Need To Spend???

K

Konakid

New member
I thought I would wade into HD video and play around. I didn't know the water was so deep. :)

I bought a Canon HF-100 and a crappy tripod because all I wanted to do was make individual short clips of all the botanical gardens in the world with slow pans and simple shots of individual plants and trees. But I wanted HD quality.

After 2 months and 100s of hours, I think I have verified that getting any detail while panning on a CMOS AVCHD camera is impossible. Here's an example of what I have been trying to do. Every conceivable setting was tried. Here's an example of a clip using 1/500. The motion blur is represented accurately in this compressed clip, and is still unacceptable

1/500 SAMPLE CLIP

My question is this:
I'm ready to drop a few Grand on a better 3 CCD camera. I was looking at the Panasonic AG-HVX200A. Will I get clear detail during my pans (similar to the sample clip) with this camera? Do I need this much camera. Can I work with this type video on a Mac Book Pro 2.33 GHz with 3 GB RAM and FCE?

I would hate to spend more time and money only to discover that what I am trying to do is not really possible.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. And if you know of anyone who wants a HF-100 with wide angle lens and 16 GB card, let me know.
 
Thanks Beat,

I am not so concerned about the "studder" as that should smooth if you played again after the entire download. The other jerkiness is a result of a super cheap tripod.

My concern is the blur. I would like to be able to pan while still being able to see the detail in the leaves and flowers of the plants. Can a high end camera do that?
 
It looks like the 60i pulldown frames were never removed, so that's where the stutter is coming from. The interlaced pulldown frame is also contributing to the perceive loss of details during the pan. The 1/500 shutter probably made it worse because there's no longer enough motion blur to hide the problem. If you correctly remove the pulldown the footage should be significantly improved.

I doubt if it's the HF100 that's causing this issue. It's capable of shooting AVCHD at 17mbps which is very high quality so the codec isn't likely to be the culprit. With that said, if you want to upgrade most other cameras will handle the move just fine (just get a better tripod!).
 
Not speaking specifically about your camera (cmos, HD etc) but in general cinematography, pan speed is a very important factor in the image.

If you pan to fast, the image will suffer clarity. Factors which will deturmine how fast you can pan include frames per second, focal length and shutter speed.

For instance: In the American Cinematographers Manual 9th edition on page 815, there is a pan speed chart.

The control for the chart is a normal 180* degree shutter and a pan of 90* (quarter turn)

The chart then shows a table which gives you your pan speed depending on focal length and frames per second.

An example from the chart would be a 50mm lens at 24fps would take a full 23 seconds to pan 90*. A 100mm lens at 24fps would take a full minute to pan 90*.

Typically the average amateur film maker is surprised just how slow a pan must be for complete shot clarity.


With that said, you are facing a rolling shutter and other technology specifics which might have impact on your picture. Either way, just know that even big dog cameras need lots of time when panning for perfect result.

Try slowing down... lol.

Also as shutter speed is supposed to improve clarity per frame, sometimes that clarity is offset by weird looking jitteryness.
 
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