Settings for Stills

[Dan Rizzuto]

Hey everyone!
Just received my Epic Dragon a week ago and am going to be testing it out shooting headshots and pulling frames for final output. I'm curious what settings any of you have used for your best results? Personally I'm thinking 6K, 24fps, 5:1 compression...besides frame rate I'm really wondering what the best shutter angle would be for strictly headshots. Thanks so much for sharing your formulas and the advice!!

 

[Gunleik Groven]

I'd play with lower frame rates with as low compression as possible.
Especially for prints.
Just a hunch.

Is it MX or Dragon?

I'd guess Dragon, if it shoots 6k.

Good luck!

 

[Dan Rizzuto]

It is a Dragon ya. I think you're right maybe a 3:1 for prints! thx

 

[Chad Lancaster]

if you go to a lower frame rate you can even get below 3:1

 

[Dan Rizzuto]

Hey Chad! Any ideas on Shutter Angle? thx!

 

[Jan Balster]

I'd play with lower frame rates with as low compression as possible.
Especially for prints.
Just a hunch.

Is it MX or Dragon?

I'd guess Dragon, if it shoots 6k.

Good luck!

Drop the compression to as low as you can go. If it he final use is stills only, drop your frame rate to below 23.98 to get a lower compression, like 3:1 or 2:1, and use the highest shutter you can.

Good luck,

- Jan

 

[Mike Finegan]

I only have Scarlet, but shooting at 1/120th of a second gives still frame results similar to what I would shoot fashion with my 5DMk3.
Unless you really want lots of motion blur.
I doubt you need less than 3:1 compression!
You can always capture at 6K and post to 5K if you feel like any detail was lost using 3:1.
In a week or two I will post side by side comparison - same lighting, model, shutter speed/angle with similar (except for crop factor) Canon L series for Red Scarlet and 5DMk3.
Goal was to get as close to identical results using Scarlet versus 5DMk3. One or two surprises.
Thx
Mike

 

[Gary Paul Walker]

I only have Scarlet, but shooting at 1/120th of a second gives still frame results similar to what I would shoot fashion with my 5DMk3.
Unless you really want lots of motion blur.
I doubt you need less than 3:1 compression!
You can always capture at 6K and post to 5K if you feel like any detail was lost using 3:1.
In a week or two I will post side by side comparison - same lighting, model, shutter speed/angle with similar (except for crop factor) Canon L series for Red Scarlet and 5DMk3.
Goal was to get as close to identical results using Scarlet versus 5DMk3. One or two surprises.
Thx
Mike

I'd like to see these tests after hearing a very heated argument between a wedding photographer and wedding videographer!

 

[Lauren Keegan]

+1 Would also like to see these tests.

 

[Dominik Muench]

I shot these at ISO 250 6K - 8fps....which gives 2:1 compression the shutter angles for these ranged from 1/96s to 1/250s, these are all available light with black shading for the corresponding shutter speeds, the shots of the 3 girls were all under streetlights and car headlights, so extremely underexposed, I wanted to see how far I can push this thing:

 

[Marcos Montenegro]

Depending on available light, I try to shoot 320 ISO with the lowest possible compression (max 3:1) and 6K to get the entire sensor at play. Avoid hand held; sticks only. The shutter angle setting depends entirely on what you're shooting and your final objective, so play around and see what works best. As far as fps, I like to stay around 8-15, but it depends on my subject. For example, if photographing children or moving subjects I rather just shoot 24fps and get the instant I want, but if its adults or relative still subjects then I can go lower.

Good luck!

 

[Gregory Dillard]

I wonder how these look now on the EPIC-W? Nice stills!

 

[Alberto Guglielmi]

Shooting headshots then people are not going to move that much.
Is it indoor lighting or outdoor? In any case, use the same shutter speed you would use with a regular still camera. Photographers have all their own "speeds" in mind. I tend to be on the slower side.
The shutter angle is not relevant to you, unless you want to use the clips for BOTH motion and still. Then it requires all different calculations on how to approach shooting it.

My 2 cents. I did a lot of comparisons, and I can tell you that (IMHO) the quality of a Dragon or Helium still is better than a Canon 5D, but not as good as a Leica. You can check some work on my website. https://albertog.com/Motion-and-Stills/Fashion-Lifestyle/1/thumbs - For the first two projects in this group, all the stills are pulled from motion or shot separately.
Said so, we are splitting hairs and it is worth using the Dragon for stills if you are also shooting motion with it. Either one after the other, or together. If you are only shooting stills. most of the still cameras give you a better raw file for editing afterwards, and a much easier process overall. For as much as I love the RED, it is not as usable as a still camera as one that was born with that in mind.

 

[Bruce Jordan]

I haven't shot stills before so forgive my ignorance - I heard that shooting at a higher framerate (Motion + Stills) would get you more sharpness when pulling stills. But here you guys are mentioning very low framerates.

Is the reason you guys are shooting at or around 8fps to get more resolution from a 2:1 or 3:1 compression? For print purposes?

 

[Akin A]

I haven't shot stills before so forgive my ignorance - I heard that shooting at a higher framerate (Motion + Stills) would get you more sharpness when pulling stills. But here you guys are mentioning very low framerates.

Is the reason you guys are shooting at or around 8fps to get more resolution from a 2:1 or 3:1 compression? For print purposes?

The lower frame rate will allow a lower compression ratio, which leads to more detail. The sharpness is more related to the shutter speed, but a lower compression will also appear sharper.
I shoot studio stills on Epic Dragon 12 fps, RC 2:1, 1/48s (for more light so that I don't have to shoot at F/1.4 and potentially miss focus). I hold each pose for a second so that I'm not blurred due to the longer shutter.

Check my IG page linked below for examples.

 

[Dominik Muench]

I haven't shot stills before so forgive my ignorance - I heard that shooting at a higher framerate (Motion + Stills) would get you more sharpness when pulling stills. But here you guys are mentioning very low framerates.

Is the reason you guys are shooting at or around 8fps to get more resolution from a 2:1 or 3:1 compression? For print purposes?

the framerate has nothing to do with sharpness in this case. its shutter speed, you need to think in the same realm as with stills images. on a DSLR camera you can take a single image with whatever shutter speed you like..1/50 or 1/500...the same goes for the red.

so lets say you want to shoot stills. you take the framerate down to 8fps to get the best 2:1 compression ration....but then you need to pick the shutter speed....which is the main factor for sharp crisp images....the faster the shutter....the sharper the images (given that your focus is on point of course)....when shooting handheld i usually work around the 1/250 or upwards...sometimes during the middle of the day i even shoot 1/500 or 1/800. THAT will give you crisp images with minimal motion blur.

This was shot handheld F8 with a shutter speed of 1/800:https://www.instagram.com/p/BeOr1dog8uR/?taken-by=drdominikmuench

This at F2.8 with a shutter speed of 1/250: https://www.instagram.com/p/BW6JyJgAtSz/?taken-by=drdominikmuench