GH2 Shooting a wedding: 1080 Vs 720?

A

asingfield

Active member
Hi guys, shooting a wedding soon.Just seeing the pros/cons of shooting it 1080p.
The footage will be going to DVD not Bluray. I've heard that 720 is better for downscaling to SD/DVD. Is that true?

Cheers Aaron
 
If you want smoother, video-like motion, then 720p is the way to go. If you want a filmic 'look', then 24p is a better option as it has more detail (though I doubt that extra detail will be noticeable at all on SD DVD).

Though, I notice you're in Australia, so I assume you'll be using a PAL GH2 with the intention of putting a PAL DVD together? If that's the case, then I highly recommend shooting 720p, and then deciding later whether you want to drop every other frame for the 'film-look' (ie 25p), or leave it as-is for a smooth 'video-live-look'.

If you use 24p with the intention of going to a PAL DVD, you may encounter some serious problems, which are best to be avoided really.

Another advantage of using 720p is that there's next to no rolling shutter.


So pros and cons...

1080p Pros:
Much higher detail, and sharpness
Film-like motion

1080p Cons:
More rolling shutter than 720p
Can't be used for PAL stuff unless converted to 25p via 4% speed increase (audio will increase in pitch, which is very noticeable if you're familiar with the voices)

720p Pros:
Less rolling shutter
Smooth live-looking motion
Great for PAL DVDs at either 50p or 25p (if you have a PAL GH2 that is)

720p Cons:
Not a great bitrate & detail is less than 1080p (these two points shouldn't matter for DVD)



Overall, I recommend 720p :)
 
Last edited:
Matthew P said:
If you want smoother, video-like motion, then 720p is the way to go. If you want a filmic 'look', then 24p is a better option as it has more detail (though I doubt that extra detail will be noticeable at all on SD DVD).

Though, I notice you're in Australia, so I assume you'll be using a PAL GH2 with the intention of putting a PAL DVD together? If that's the case, then I highly recommend shooting 720p, and then deciding later whether you want to drop every other frame for the 'film-look' (ie 25p), or leave it as-is for a smooth 'video-live-look'.

If you use 24p with the intention of going to a PAL DVD, you may encounter some serious problems, which are best to be avoided really.

Another advantage of using 720p is that there's next to no rolling shutter.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i thought that was goiing to be an issue; not 25p with 1080... might have to stick with 720
 
i tend to stick with 720 too for event stuff with things out of your control especially with manual primes as jello is more noticeable. the option to do slow mo is another bonus. remember though if your shooting on a gh1 with higher bitrates than 35Mbit don't drop your shutter below 1/50th or you will get codec breakup.
 
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