720 or 1080

[Ron Aerts]

If you know that your final product (of mostly fast moving shots) ends up on tv and internet and not big screen, does it make sense to use 720p50? I mean natively recorded with the F3. You'll have the advantage of the 50 frames.
What exactly happens when you switch to the 720p format? Is the sensordata being scaled or is there a cutout? Maybe it is better to do the scaling in the NLE, so under controlled conditions.
I found 720p easier to convert to DVD standard than 1080p.
I would like to hear some opinions.
Thanks

[Nate Weaver]

The fastest framerate in wide use as a broadcast deliverable is 1080i29.97 in the states, or 1080i25 in Europe. That is 59.94 (or 50) separate images, as fields, per second.

There's really nothing to be gained by shooting 50 progressive frames per second (for broadcast), unless your broadcast outlet will specifically take 720p50 as a broadcast deliverable. 1080p 60 or 50 doesn't exist in the broadcast world yet.

ESPN used to be a proponent of 720p60, but as far as I know they went to 1080i some time ago. There might be some holdouts, but I have yet to see one.

As far as internet, if you encode a p50 or 60 image for streaming, it is almost certain that the end viewers computer will be unable to sustain that viewing framerate, and they will either drop frames or playback will be slowed. Viewing such a file in a Flash viewer would likely make the users fans sound like a 747 on takeoff.

On the F3, 720p is scaled from the sensor, not windowed.

[Richard Cavell]

My experience, for what it's worth...

I've tested all the different major resolution/frame rate options with the EX1R. By going to 50 frames per second instead of 25, you reduce motion blur and reduce the amount of light being captured by each frame, assuming you're using a typical shutter speed. I shoot under fluorescent lights that pulse at the mains frequency, and by going to 50 fps I noticeably affect colour/white balance of my image. I like to record at 50 or 60 fps and play it back at 25 for slow-motion.

But as Nate suggests, if you're not going to be able to play it out at 50fps, you don't gain much. I can confirm that for the EX1R, it uses the same area of the sensor and just converts it internally.

Is this the time to bring up The Hobbit being shot at 48 fps, and perhaps played out at 48 fps?

Richard

[Richard Boghosian]

Originally Posted by Ron Aerts

If you know that your final product (of mostly fast moving shots) ends up on tv and internet and not big screen, does it make sense to use 720p50? I mean natively recorded with the F3. You'll have the advantage of the 50 frames.
What exactly happens when you switch to the 720p format? Is the sensordata being scaled or is there a cutout? Maybe it is better to do the scaling in the NLE, so under controlled conditions.
I found 720p easier to convert to DVD standard than 1080p.
I would like to hear some opinions.
Thanks

You should shoot a test for yourself!!!! But, I will tell you that the same scene, shot by the F-3 in 720 vs 1080 is soft. I simply do not use it. Was hoping for nice slow mo 1/2 speed shots in my F-3, but the results are unacceptable to me. Waste of a good lens when you shoot in 720 on the F-3.