60 Shutter Speed > Footage Out Of Focus
 

hi guys. i just shot a video with the shutter speed set to 60. am now importing it into imovie and can see that the crisp and sharp image i had on the lcd panel during recording now looks 10-15% out of focus. is this anyhow related to the shutter speed? would it be different if i set it to 50?

Won't swear that it's the source of your issue but the faster the shutter speed. the wider the iris for a given light level. The wider the iris, the narrower the depth of field for sharp focus. Usually one of people's issues with DV cameras are that they are TOO in-focus due to the deep depth of focus with most of the lenses used, making it difficult to use selective focus as a creative tool.

A lower shutter speed would in fact (probably) force you to stop down the iris, which would in turn make for a wider depth of focus, as Steve explains.

However, I suspect that your camera's viewfinder simply doesn't have enough resolution to tell you whether you're in focus or not. Since you don't mention which camera you're shooting with, it's hard to say for sure.

If your EVF is low-res (as most are in all but the most pricey cameras), things may look very sharp while shooting but in fact turn out to be quite soft. This is where an external monitor with more resolution can be very handy.