XL1s resolution halved at low shutter speed?

[Patrick Moreau]

Hello everybody

I remember a thread from before about this but I don't believe it was for a Canon and the answers did not seem to be 100% sure.

So I'm wondering if you are shooting 60i and you bring the shutter speed down to 1/30 is the resolution cut in half. I have read that this is the cae for the sony camcorders, but that Canon handles it differently. With my own tests at 1/60 and 1/30, I did not notice any obvious degredation but that doesn't necessarily mean it isnt there.

Anybody know for sure how this works for the canon camcorders or where I could find this info?

[Rob Lohman]

Exact information is not known. I think the resolution might drop
a bit (not in frame mode!), but as I've said a couple of times over
the last couple of weeks: who cares? (yes, I know this sounds "harsh").

Given the following:

1. if you NEED such a slow shutter speed and it looks good to your eye, why not use it?

2. if you can work AROUND using a slow shutter speed then don't take the chance of lowered resolution and do so

With my XL1S I've never ever worried about frame mode and or
shutter speeds and resolution. Not once. I shot with what worked
for me (looks wise) and got the shots I needed.

Most people who see my stuff can't see the maximum resolution of
the XL1S anyway. Yes I know it is important to keep the maximum
resolution, but this only comes after getting the "look" and the
shot (in my very humble opinion)!

When seeing some great shots or stories/movies I've never
thought: hey, was that shot perhaps a bit out of focus or a third
generation optical film effect etc.

[Patrick Moreau]

Rob

I understand where your coming from. I was going to include that in my post but I didn't think it would be productive for answers.

I totally agree that we should go with what works, and when I ran my own tests I was happy with how it came out. I still ask the question becaue often the situation is less than optimal so I would like to know how my camera will handle that. While at a wedding, if the lighting is really bad, it is good to know if your choice is between grain and a hit in resolution or if you just get a little motion blur. In addition, if I need to scale some footage up by a couple percent in post, it is good to know if it can handle that. Of course I could do a test for every possible situation I can think of but it seems much more effecient if somebody here knows how the camera handles it. For me, every wedding and every wedding edit varies, and without it being possible to test every situation, I need to be able to predict what I will get, and I think this is an important part of that process.

With that being said, I have read that sony camcorders such as the pd150 definitely lose half the resolution at 1/30 compared to 1/60 when shooting 60i. I have also read that Canon handles this differently. I cannot seem to find out if that is better, the same, or worse.

With all of that being said, I do agree Rob that whether or not something works should come from what we see, but if I can learn more before I make that decision, I will gladly do so.

[Rob Lohman]

Thanks for clarifying your position. As said, it will drop some
resolution. How much I honoustly don't know and I doubt anyone
else has a definitive number (it also depends on motion in your
scene probably etc.).

In your example (wedding / too dark) I would first drop the shutter
if that still gives me a good enough image motion blur wise. Only
after that would I up the gain. Nobody will be able to see the
resolution drop. They will however probably see the change in
motion blur which (depending on the scene) might be annoying
if cut together with faster shutter scenes. However that will
largely depend on the kind of footage you have in those scenes.