Does shutter speed matter with videos?

[sarah_lange1]

<p>Hi, <br>

I'm learning to make videos with the D5100. <br>

Does shutter speed matter with videos? I'm trying to figure out best setting for video i.e. Auto, P, A, M......<br>

When I put on P or another auto setting the shutter speed is often quite low. Would matter certainly with stills but does it matter with video? After all the shutters is always open anyway, right? <br>

When on M, it doesn't seem to matter how I set SS and Aperture. It always looks the same. </p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

 

[Matt Laur]

<p>The people over at Photoflex always put up some interesting tutorials (mostly, showing their lighting gear in use, of course - that's their line of work!). But <a href="http://www.photoflex.com/pls/lighting-rain-and-pulling-stills-from-a-canon-eos-1dc"><strong>this tutorial</strong></a> specifically shows some of the different looks that come from using different shutter speeds as you shoot video. The difference can be quite dramatic.<br /><br />In short, the reason that a lot of people use ND filters while shooting video is so they can slow down that shutter for a smoother look. Definitely watch the tutorial, above. If you have the bandwidth, be sure you're watching it with the best possible quality.</p>

[sarah_lange1]

<p>Thank you very much, I will watch that video!</p>

[mark_medin]

<p>It does matter. There's a loss of motion blur at higher shutter speeds giving what's termed a "nervous" feeling to the video. Matt is right in recommending you to experiment. There are instances where you might want to use the higher speed shutter's quality for an effect depending on the subject.</p>

<p>I use ND filters myself if needed, depending on the ISO and frame rate I shoot.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>The mechanical shutter plays no part in movie recording. Exposure is controlled by variation in lens aperture and ISO sensitivity under automatic control of the camera. The only manual control you have over the "shutter" is to select PAL or NTSC standard video, which will switch the frame rate between 25 and 30 FPS, with 24 FPS available in HD video mode as a further option. There's no high speed mode as on some of Nikon's other cameras. See pp 107-109 of the manual for movie options - which appear to be quite limited.</p>

<p>The camera may additionally control the electronic gating time in bright light, but this is undocumented and not under user control. In other words the video function of the camera is pretty much auto-everything.</p>

[sarah_lange1]

<p>Thank you very much Mark and Rodeo. </p>

[eric_schoch]

<p>The general rule of thumb for DSLR video is to set the camera's shutter speed to the inverse of twice the frame rate. So if you are shooting 30-frames-per-second video, the camera shutter speed would normally be set to 1/60th of a second. If you're shooting 24 frames per second, set the shutter to 1/50th of a second, the closest available to 1/48th. I've seen some suggestions that when shooting with fluorescent light, 1/50th may result in some flickering and so 1/60th may be preferable.</p>

<p>So in general: Shoot in manual - you don't want to use an automatic mode and have the camera mess with either the shutter speed or the aperture while you're recording. Set the shutter speed depending on the frame rate. Set the aperture to get the depth of field you need and want. Adjust the ISO to get the proper exposure. (And set the color balance to match the lighting.) If the light conditions are too bright, you may need to use a neutral density filter.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Eric, the D5100 isn't a D800. There is <em>no way</em> to directly control the "shutter" speed in movie mode. The only influence you have is to apply exposure compensation, set the aperture prior to shooting, or throw more or less light at the scene. In movie mode the camera takes <em>complete control</em> of both the gating time and ISO sensitivity. Putting the camera into manual gets you no more control than using aperture priority mode.</p>

<p>To quote from page 108 of the D5100 manual:</p>

<blockquote>

<p align="LEFT">"Matrix metering is used regardless of the metering method selected. Shutter speed and ISO sensitivity are adjusted automatically. The settings available during recording are as follows:"</p>

</blockquote>

<p align="LEFT">Then follows a table showing that none of the modes allow control of the shutter or ISO sensitivity, and that only A and M mode allow the aperture to be controlled.</p>

[eric_schoch]

<p>Ah, I see. My apologies, I didn't realize that there was such a significant difference between the D5100 and the D5200 that I've been shooting video with recently. So, I'd say the rules of thumb still hold, but applying them in the D5100 is apparently problematic.</p>

<p>A 3-part series of posts at this site looks to helpful regarding D5100 video: http://digitaladvice.littlehole.net/archives/140.</p>

<p>But I'll let those with first-hand D5100 experience comment further...</p>