Panasonic X900M Iris/Gain question..Shooting 1080p/60fps

[pustule]

Hey guys, I'm a brand new panasonic X900M owner and shot my first test 1080p/60fps video last evening. I noticed it was kind of noisy and I want to understand the Iris/Gain area better. I know adding any db will increase the noise, but I'm wondering what settings people recommend to use when it's indoors with low lighting.

I've read some forum posts where people say you want to shoot 1/60 with 60fps, and others saying to shoot 1/120 with 60fps. Can anyone help me better understand what the optimum settings are when shooting in 1080p/60fps?

Thanks for the info and help! Really excited to mess around with this camcorder more!

 

[mschagen]

Hi Postule, I myself own the x929 but that one is very similar to the x900. When shooting with little light there are several options:
- Use the picture settings in the menu to set the sharpness to -2. This will soften the image a little and even out the noise a little without softening the image too much.
- Use a software program on your computer to reduce noise. It requires a bit more effort then the first option but results can be better. I've heard good stories on a program called neat video.
- Enable the slow shutter setting in your camera to set your shutter to 1/30 of a second. this will effectively reduce the framerate of your footage to 30 fps and you will need less gain.
- Use the low-light scene mode. This will let the camera use a special noise reduction algorithm. Side effects can be ghost-trails and softening of the image. I would not recommend it when there is substantial motion in your footage. Again, noise reduction on the pc may give better results, you must decide for yourself the most acceptable solution.

The general advice is to use a shutter speed which is half (or double, depending how you look at it) your frame rate to get natural looking motion. At least, this is what has been used for films (celluloid). So 60fps would require a shutter speed of 1/120. But when there is little light, slower shutter speeds like 1/60 (or even 1/30) might be more appropriate. And when filming fast motion like sports under sufficient light faster shutter speeds like 1/250 might give nicer results. Faster shutter speeds make the autofocus and image stabilisation more effective. Furthermore, faster shutter speeds might be more effective when you view your footage back on a tv which does frame interpolation and effectively shows you 120fps or 240fps. Opinions differ on this subject, some stick to the 1/60 and will not set any other shutter speed, I think higher shutter speeds are sometimes appropriate.