Lowest Shutter Speed for 5D Video at DVinfo.net

Nick Papworth · April 1st, 2010, 08:45 AM

Hey all,

I just wanted to check definitively what the slowest shutter speed you can shoot video at is on the 5D?
Although in Manual mode it does not appear to go below 30, i've heard people talk of getting the camera to lower shutter speeds in some auto modes to compensate for the light.
Is this a true shutter speed change, or is it just something compensating within the chip?

Sorry if this is something that has already been brought up, but i couldn't find any answers.

Many thanks,

Nick

Steve Phillipps · April 1st, 2010, 09:04 AM

Quite obviously the lowest shutter speed useable is that of your frame rate, ie at 30P it would be 1/30th, ie you can't fit 30 lots of 1/2 second exposures into a second!
Steve

Nick Papworth · April 1st, 2010, 10:24 AM

Thank you for the slightly pedantic answer... :)

What i am trying to establish is whether there is anyway that will allow the shutter speed to almost cheat the fps to allow the shooting of heavy motion blurred video for a particular aesthetic look.

What i wanted to check is whether this was feasible (even hackable/upgradeable) ala the GH1 Micro 4/3rds Photography: GH1 video recording at slow shutter speed

Thanks,

Nick

Matthew Roddy · April 1st, 2010, 11:38 AM

I agree with Nick.
I've seen video where (I guessed) the shutter was left open for abnormally longer time slices, allowing for heavy "streaking" and motion blurring.
I've wondered how to do this too.

Steve Phillipps · April 1st, 2010, 12:09 PM

Sorry Nick, didn't mean anything by it - just checking in case you weren't realising the obvious.
On the old Canon XL Hi 8 cameras you could use a slow shutter, which would give a blurry movement, down to 1/6th second I think, and I always assumed that the way it did it was to shoot a 6fps. Presumably you'd get the same effect at 6fps on the Varicam but I've never tried it. Again, the laws of physics dictate that you can't have a longer shutter speed than the reciprocal of your frame rate. Does the 5D allow undercranking or is it just 30p?
Plenty of ways to make the effect in post I'm sure.
Steve

Kin Lau · April 1st, 2010, 12:26 PM

The 5Dm2 can shoot @ 4fps, so the lowest shutter speed would be 1/4 second if you want to try it that way.

Bill Binder · April 1st, 2010, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kin Lau

The 5Dm2 can shoot @ 4fps, so the lowest shutter speed would be 1/4 second if you want to try it that way.

With the shutter? You're camera won't last very long that way, but yeah, that would work, lol...

Bill Binder · April 1st, 2010, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Phillipps

Sorry Nick, didn't mean anything by it - just checking in case you weren't realising the obvious.
On the old Canon XL Hi 8 cameras you could use a slow shutter, which would give a blurry movement, down to 1/6th second I think, and I always assumed that the way it did it was to shoot a 6fps. Presumably you'd get the same effect at 6fps on the Varicam but I've never tried it. Again, the laws of physics dictate that you can't have a longer shutter speed than the reciprocal of your frame rate. Does the 5D allow undercranking or is it just 30p?
Plenty of ways to make the effect in post I'm sure.
Steve

Some (more consumer-ish/prosumer-ish) cams that did this kind of thing didn't actually/literally undercrank in the sense that the file created was literally 6 fps. They tended to just repeat the frames, so 6 unique frames per second each repeated 4 times, such that you still got a 29.97 or 60i source (or whatever), but effectively it was just undercranked. Same result really, but you don't get the benefit of a smaller file, etc.

Keith Moreau · April 3rd, 2010, 12:33 AM

Some camcorders, even high end camcorders like my Sony EX1, do have a 'slow shutter' mode, where light is accumulated over several frames. For scenes that don't have much movement, the effect is like turning night into day, it's quite remarkable. The side effect is the blurry music-video look with movement.

I don't think the 5D can do this in video mode thought, I believe the lowest shutter speed is 'open' or 1/30 for 30fps, 1/24 for 24fps. I like the open shutter look, I think the motion blur approximates film more closely than a 180 degree shutter speed (1/2 of the frame rate).

You could put the 5D in still 'bulb' mode, where the shutter is open the whole time, then use the high speed still mode to get what you want, string the images together in something like Quicktime player (I do it all the time for timelapses). This would approximate the effect, but you'd use up a lot of shutter cycles on your camera.

April 1st, 2010, 08:45 AM	#1
Nick Papworth New Boot Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London Posts: 9	Lowest Shutter Speed for 5D Video Hey all, I just wanted to check definitively what the slowest shutter speed you can shoot video at is on the 5D? Although in Manual mode it does not appear to go below 30, i've heard people talk of getting the camera to lower shutter speeds in some auto modes to compensate for the light. Is this a true shutter speed change, or is it just something compensating within the chip? Sorry if this is something that has already been brought up, but i couldn't find any answers. Many thanks, Nick

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April 1st, 2010, 09:04 AM	#2
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	Quite obviously the lowest shutter speed useable is that of your frame rate, ie at 30P it would be 1/30th, ie you can't fit 30 lots of 1/2 second exposures into a second! Steve

April 1st, 2010, 10:24 AM	#3
Nick Papworth New Boot Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London Posts: 9	Thank you for the slightly pedantic answer... :) What i am trying to establish is whether there is anyway that will allow the shutter speed to almost cheat the fps to allow the shooting of heavy motion blurred video for a particular aesthetic look. What i wanted to check is whether this was feasible (even hackable/upgradeable) ala the GH1 Micro 4/3rds Photography: GH1 video recording at slow shutter speed Thanks, Nick

April 1st, 2010, 11:38 AM	#4
Matthew Roddy Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Riverside, Ca Posts: 307	I agree with Nick. I've seen video where (I guessed) the shutter was left open for abnormally longer time slices, allowing for heavy "streaking" and motion blurring. I've wondered how to do this too.

April 1st, 2010, 12:09 PM	#5
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	Sorry Nick, didn't mean anything by it - just checking in case you weren't realising the obvious. On the old Canon XL Hi 8 cameras you could use a slow shutter, which would give a blurry movement, down to 1/6th second I think, and I always assumed that the way it did it was to shoot a 6fps. Presumably you'd get the same effect at 6fps on the Varicam but I've never tried it. Again, the laws of physics dictate that you can't have a longer shutter speed than the reciprocal of your frame rate. Does the 5D allow undercranking or is it just 30p? Plenty of ways to make the effect in post I'm sure. Steve

April 1st, 2010, 12:26 PM	#6
Kin Lau Major Player Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ottawa, ON Posts: 385	The 5Dm2 can shoot @ 4fps, so the lowest shutter speed would be 1/4 second if you want to try it that way.

April 3rd, 2010, 12:33 AM	#9
Keith Moreau Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane, California Posts: 530	Some camcorders, even high end camcorders like my Sony EX1, do have a 'slow shutter' mode, where light is accumulated over several frames. For scenes that don't have much movement, the effect is like turning night into day, it's quite remarkable. The side effect is the blurry music-video look with movement. I don't think the 5D can do this in video mode thought, I believe the lowest shutter speed is 'open' or 1/30 for 30fps, 1/24 for 24fps. I like the open shutter look, I think the motion blur approximates film more closely than a 180 degree shutter speed (1/2 of the frame rate). You could put the 5D in still 'bulb' mode, where the shutter is open the whole time, then use the high speed still mode to get what you want, string the images together in something like Quicktime player (I do it all the time for timelapses). This would approximate the effect, but you'd use up a lot of shutter cycles on your camera.