Shooting pmw-350 at an airshow.

[Anders Lundin]

Hello! I just got my new pmw-350 and I am like a kid. It's an amazing camera.
Next weekend I am going to shoot an airshow. Do you guys have any tips for what kind of shutterspeed I should use. Is it the same as usual, that you suppose to double the number of framerate to get the accurate shutterspeed? So if you are shooting 1080p 25 you should use 50 in shutterspeed? Also I am curios how you tweak the viewfinder.

Would also be great to hear if anyone have any tips when it comes to take pics when you are flying.
I am a pilot wich means I have a lot of opportunities to shoot in the air but it's not that easy.
I use my EX1 without any gyro and it may be almost impossible to get it to look good.
Anyone have any tips
/Anders Lundin

[Vincent Oliver]

I shot a lot of footage from the air on my recent trip to Africa using a EX3. I was in light aircraft and yes keeping the image steady was a problem. The higher up we went the more stable the shot. I also used Mercalli software to smooth out the bumps.

The footage is at about 2 minutes in on this clip

Africa House Safaris

[Anders Lundin]

Thanks for your replay. It's a beautiful film and it must have been a thrill shooting it!
The pictures from your flying looks steady and nice!

I think I zoom in to much all the time and I have to fly at a lower altitude and also use apples motion to make it even more steady.
/Anders

[Bruce Rawlings]

Golden rule when you have not got a stabilizer is to stay on wide angle. Shooting in slo mo would also smooth out the bumps and not really be noticed.

[Andy Taplin]

If you are shooting fast movement you might want to consider 720 50P which will give you sharper images with fast movement.

Set the shutter to 180 degrees and then it will trace the frame rate and always be double - so 25P will be 1/50th, 50P 1/100th etc.

[Anders Lundin]

Thanks for your answer! I hope I can post some clips from the airshow. And I hope it's ok weather.
Here in Sweden it's like a lottery, you never know from day to day.
Any way thanks for your replys!
Anders

[Duncan Craig]

I think 720p50 with a shutter of 1/100th of a second won't be any sharper then 1080p25 with a similar shutter. But it'll have twice the frame rate. I don't expect that to be perceived as increased sharpness, just a smoother video look (if that what you want to achieve of course).

50p will slo-mo better, but if you are intending on the final result going to DVD using realtime 50p footage (ie not slo-mo) you should do some tests at trying to get good 50p to 50i conversion.

I believe if you are hoping to deliver in interlaced you should always shoot interlaced? Can anyone confirm that?

Duncan.

[Doug Jensen]

Anders,

Here's an air show I shot last summer with my EX3.

2009 Rhode Island Air Show Highlights on Vimeo

It was shot 1080/30P @ 1/60th shutter for most of it.
The slow-mo shots were done at 720/30P @ 1/60th shutter.

In my opinion, a shutter speed of 1/100 would be too fast. What some people forget is that you do want some motion blur. And, in my opinion, shooting interlaced would make it look like a home movie. If I was in your shoes, I'd shoot 1080/25P @ 1/50th.

[Anders Lundin]

That's a really cool looking video Doug. I like the speed building up with the music combining with the slow motion. Really cool!
Thanks everyone for all your advice really nice to be able to get help like this.
/Anders

[Dean Harrington]

just beautiful ... !