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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Slow-mo shutter

Linda Barzini

Linda Barzini

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When shooting slow motion, such as pouring red wine into a glass (white background), is there ever a reason to shoot witth the shutter different than 2 x fps? For example, if I shoot at 120fps, I would select 1/240th shutter.
 
Linda Barzini said:
When shooting slow motion, such as pouring red wine into a glass (white background), is there ever a reason to shoot witth the shutter different than 2 x fps? For example, if I shoot at 120fps, I would select 1/240th shutter.
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If you shoot less than 2 X fps, even at 120fps, it will look like crappy video. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise unless you do the tests yourself and decide you can live with the motion blur.
 
Damn it. All that slow mo I shot the other day is gonna look like crappy video. Depends on what you are shooting. Don't be shy of a 360 shutter at 120fps if you need the light. Your shutter speed is still 120th of a second, so it's pretty fast. But I agree test to make sure you like it.

Nick
 
One Phantom tech that I know actually recommends shutter angles narrower than 180 for some high speed subjects like liquids. This is because when the shot is held longer than a few seconds, the viewer's eye requires more detail to stay engaged. Too much motion blur can reduce detail, thus making the shot less impactful. Similar concept to larger screens requiring more resolution. Of course, sometimes you just don't have the light to cut the shutter or you are going for a different effect.
 
Satsuki Murashige said:
One Phantom tech that I know actually recommends shutter angles narrower than 180 for some high speed subjects like liquids. This is because when the shot is held longer than a few seconds, the viewer's eye requires more detail to stay engaged. Too much motion blur can reduce detail, thus making the shot less impactful. Similar concept to larger screens requiring more resolution. Of course, sometimes you just don't have the light to cut the shutter or you are going for a different effect.
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Yep. This question comes up every few months and it's always the same back forth. If you don't want video like motion blur, keep your shutter at 180 degrees or less. Some people don't mind the motion blur but it makes me crazy. Test for yourself.
 
This is a bigger subject than just about slomo shots. I usually find that the traditional 180 degrees even on normal speeds looks a bit too "smeared" for high resolution. It's fine if the lenses have a bit of a character, blurring the details and if the final image isn't supposed to be sharp but more like how the Alexa looks, then it works good because the image isn't supposed to be sharp high resolution. But for a sharp 4K output where details are important, I usually find that going under 180 two or three steps (camera setting steps), down to like 135 will generate much more sharpness in small movements. Whenever something moves in 4K resolution you loose that resolution and the effective resolution our eyes see is considered lower than HD. That's one of the reasons why so many people really can't see the difference between 4K and HD. If shooting at a sharp T4.0 or even T8.0 and a little faster shutter than 180, the details are gonna pop substantially better in 4K compared to a shot at T2.0 at 180, especially in movements.

However, having a faster shutter while doing pans and similar will generate more "stutters" that a smoother image doesn't have. This is in my opinion the biggest difference between digital CMOS sensors and 35mm film. The panning movement of a digital shot will "stutter" and feel like a stroboscope. At a certain panning speed it doesn't look good at all. Most visible example of this I've seen is in the first episode of the series 11.22.63. When the main character goes back in time to 1960 for the first time, there's a panning shot establishing all the events that happen in those first few seconds in time. This panning reveal shot has a lot of stroboscopic stutters. I haven't tried the motion mount, but it's supposed to help out in those situations.

For pouring wine and similar commercial shots, keep it a bit crisper than relative shutter when shooting higher speeds. And don't use tungsten, I find that it generally looks more muddy and red wine pops better with daylight sources. However, don't go to heavy on getting a sharper shutter. Too much and it will feel stroboscopic even for small movements. It's generally a try out every time. Do some tests pouring wine in different shutters before shooting and see what you feel looks best.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
This is a bigger subject than just about slomo shots. I usually find that the traditional 180 degrees even on normal speeds looks a bit too "smeared" for high resolution. It's fine if the lenses have a bit of a character, blurring the details and if the final image isn't supposed to be sharp but more like how the Alexa looks, then it works good because the image isn't supposed to be sharp high resolution. But for a sharp 4K output where details are important, I usually find that going under 180 two or three steps (camera setting steps), down to like 135 will generate much more sharpness in small movements. Whenever something moves in 4K resolution you loose that resolution and the effective resolution our eyes see is considered lower than HD. That's one of the reasons why so many people really can't see the difference between 4K and HD. If shooting at a sharp T4.0 or even T8.0 and a little faster shutter than 180, the details are gonna pop substantially better in 4K compared to a shot at T2.0 at 180, especially in movements.

However, having a faster shutter while doing pans and similar will generate more "stutters" that a smoother image doesn't have. This is in my opinion the biggest difference between digital CMOS sensors and 35mm film. The panning movement of a digital shot will "stutter" and feel like a stroboscope. At a certain panning speed it doesn't look good at all. Most visible example of this I've seen is in the first episode of the series 11.22.63. When the main character goes back in time to 1960 for the first time, there's a panning shot establishing all the events that happen in those first few seconds in time. This panning reveal shot has a lot of stroboscopic stutters. I haven't tried the motion mount, but it's supposed to help out in those situations.

For pouring wine and similar commercial shots, keep it a bit crisper than relative shutter when shooting higher speeds. And don't use tungsten, I find that it generally looks more muddy and red wine pops better with daylight sources. However, don't go to heavy on getting a sharper shutter. Too much and it will feel stroboscopic even for small movements. It's generally a try out every time. Do some tests pouring wine in different shutters before shooting and see what you feel looks best.
Click to expand...

this is one of the benefits of a slow NAB. If things were in a frenzy at NAB we would all be commenting on the newest gadgets and a post like yours would have either not been made or would have been buried.

Great observations and succinctly put!
 
Elsie N said:
this is one of the benefits of a slow NAB. If things were in a frenzy at NAB we would all be commenting on the newest gadgets and a post like yours would have either not been made or would have been buried.

Great observations and succinctly put!
Click to expand...


A perfect observation. And a shout out to the old Unilux:)
 
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