is it wrong to prefer 60fps at 1/60th shutter speed?

J

joker454

Well-known member
I've been filming with my new camera for a website of mine, and I had come to the conclusion that 60fps was the perfect look for this particular website so all content is filmed at 60fps. When I googled around about shutter speeds just about 99.9% of them all say to stick with the 180 degree shutter rule, so I set my camera at the closest setting to that which is 1/125 shutter. I filmed a bunch of content at 60fps 1/125 shutter, but I also went ahead for the heck of it and also filmed some at 60fps 1/60th shutter. Personally I'm finding that I prefer 60fps at 1/60 shutter, or open shutter as I guess it's called. At this point I'm inclined to toss convention out the window and just go with what I prefer, which is 60fps 1/60th shutter speed. Are there any drawbacks to doing this? I have no intention of using slow motion ever for this particular footage, so to me it seems like I should just go with what I prefer, but then again I can't help but wonder when 99.9% of opinion out there says not to do that and to stick with a 180 degree shutter. What do you guys think?
 
Nothing is ever really "wrong" if you are doing what you like or what works best for the project. If it works then it works. If it doesn't, change to what does. You're the best person to judge what's right in this case.
 
joker454 said:
but then again I can't help but wonder when 99.9% of opinion out there says not to do that and to stick with a 180 degree shutter.
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Well, first of all, understand that lots of people give advice when they don't really know what they're talking about, they're just repeating what they've heard said over and over, so -- don't worry about the preponderance of numbers here. The fact of the matter is that what they're talking about is not the same thing as what you're talking about.

The 180-degree shutter is used for footage that is intended to look like film, and when shooting 60fps you use a 1/120 shutter because that is what a film camera would use. But that 60fps @ 1/120 look is solely for slow motion, and that's not what you're doing.

When shooting "live" stuff, the standard is *not* to use 180 degrees or 1/120, it is to use 1/60. That's what live events are typically shot at, so every time you watch a football game or an awards show or the news or anything like that, you're seeing 60p (or 60i) at 1/60th.

If that's the look you like, go for it. Only question would be about delivery; whatever streaming platform you're using you'll want to make sure it supports a full 60fps playback rate. Vimeo used to convert everything to 24/25 fps a few years back, I haven't checked if they've updated that but just make sure that whatever you're using can support streaming a full 60fps and you'll be fine with 1/60 @ 60fps. Just so long as nobody is under the illusion that you're trying to make it look "like film", that you're embracing the live, looking-through-a-window look of 60p.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm new to full frame filming so I'm trying not to get caught up in the numbers game, especially when it can be so case by case sometimes. I'll go with what looks right for me then and stick to 60fps at 1/60th shutter. I've got the delivery part handled since they are my websites, so all videos are available to members at full 60fps. Thanks again!
 
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