Let's discuss frame rates and shutter speed

[Filmarik]

Most of us are probably familiar with the 180 deg shutter speed rule.
But how relevant is it really when it comes to shooting with drones? Drones are usually moving at various speeds in various directions during recording and I'd like to encourage discussion about the frame rates and shutter speed. Which works best for you as a go-to setting and why? These days it does not really mater if you live in PAL or SECAM (50Hz or 60Hz) region and sticking to either 25fps or 30fps is not an issue for smooth playback on various devices and TVs but rather matter of personal choice or a production requirement.
Purely for most visually pleasing results and also to avoid often seen distracting jittery look, as the drone moves or pans, what is your preferred or most used setting for fps and shutter speed when shooting videos? Cinematic landscapes, action, day, dusk, sunrise sunset or whatever..

 

[Phantomrain.org]

We use 4K 60 Frames for all the flights and than edit to 2K for the Sweet Spot on a wide screen computer . We can notice the difference between 1080 and 2k but not 2K from 4K thus the 2K sweet spot for quality and playback.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the water .

 

[Filmarik]

We use 4K 60 Frames for all the flights and than edit to 2K for the Sweet Spot on a wide screen computer . We can notice the difference between 1080 and 2k but not 2K from 4K thus the 2K sweet spot for quality and playback.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the water .

?? Isn't 1080 just another word for 2K? Not sure what you were trying to say.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

it is but there is slight difference to cater to Wide Screen Monitors>

2K is half of 4K. So it’s basically a 1080p display but with a much wider aspect ratio. 2K is therefore not quite the same as Regular 1080 but is a nice fit for the Wide Screen Monitors

The most common 2K resolution is 2560 x 1440. 2560 x 1440 is officially called QHD (Quad HD), because it contains four times the number of pixels as 720p. These extra pixels provide a larger picture and more detailed recording.

2048 x 1080 is 2K
2560 x 1440 is the Sweet Spot

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I don't worry about it as much as I used to.

Usually shoot 24fps, 100 iso, daylight exposure setting.
When flying normally, at reasonable altitude, normal slow to medium speeds (from height), filming general scenery, I don't worry about having to get my shutter speed exactly 50th/second, anywhere towards that from a more radical point will suffice.
If I'm flying low and fast, or turning more radically (not usual when trying to film something cinematic), then I might nail it down a bit more.

Eg. I go to a beach to do a nice run up along the coastal cliffs, general scenery, if it's golden hour either end of the day I'll put an ND8 on, if a bright sunny day an ND16, or 32 closer to midday to mid afternoon.
Blue hour I just leave an MCUV filter on.

I leave the MCUV on for all photography too, as added protection for the camera lens and it just seems to make photos clearer and a little more colour pop.

 

[Dave Maine]

I never use anything but a circular polarizer. Never had any strobing issues so that the 180 rule is totally irrelevant And the image gains some crispness with higher shutter speeds. Normally 4K 30 fps. If I need or want a lower res version it is easily done in post with no quality loss.

 

[DaveS]

I fly commercially and we own the Mavic 3 Pro. So, I mostly use 4K 24p, f-stop about 4 or 5.6 then I adjust the ISO based on the brightness of the day. If it's a very bright Texas day and ISO 100 isn't enough, I run the shutter speed up to compensate. Of course I use an ND filter but my highest is a 16ND. I'm seriously considering getting something more so I don't have to change the shutter speed.

 

[Meta4]

Most of us are probably familiar with the 180 deg shutter speed rule.
But how relevant is it really when it comes to shooting with drones?

My experience suggests that it's nowhere near as serious as many would have you believe.
It's uncommon to have subject movement close enough to matter.

 

[Ty Pilot]

One thing is for sure, threads about shutter speeds, frame rates, ND filters and resolution, as discussed on a 'drone' forum are almost usually split right down the middle, with one crowd suggesting there is a reason certain standards exist, and on the other side of the isle are those that don't see how those standards apply to drones. I would agree that in some cases, certain standards *can be dismissed on a drone.

In my opinion, it is when you operate with multiple cameras for a project, both in the air and on the ground that having a standard across your entire workflow, (especially camera settings), become advantageous.

If you're shooting on the ground and in the air for a project, you don't want to get into the habit of having one of the cameras (drone) use 'whatever' settings, because sooner or later in will come back to bite you in the tail.

*I always shoot on full manual control, on every camera I use, and setting the 180 shutter and using an ND filter (for video), is no more work or hassle (for me) than not, and the process has become automatic.

 

[Filmarik]

Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and reason guiding their decisionmaking when it comes to choosing fps and shutter speed. It seems to be quite a polarizing topic with opinions ranging from "it does not matter" to those who are rigorously sticking to 180 rule when "it does matter", and to me all those answers have indeed their own merit.
Thanks again to everyone for shedding more light on this topic, pun intended

 

[EricJT]

Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and reason guiding their decisionmaking when it comes to choosing fps and shutter speed. It seems to be quite a polarizing topic with opinions ranging from "it does not matter" to those who are rigorously sticking to 180 rule when "it does matter", and to me all those answers have indeed their own merit.
Thanks again to everyone for shedding more light on this topic, pun intended

I asked a similar question about a year ago....the net of what I took away is that when I shoot video in 4K at 60fps, everything when moving "appears" sharper than in lower fps. Since most of my videos are landscapes, I prefer the sharp detail vs movies that blur somewhat to emphasize motion.

 

[Filmarik]

I asked a similar question about a year ago....the net of what I took away is that when I shoot video in 4K at 60fps, everything when moving "appears" sharper than in lower fps. Since most of my videos are landscapes, I prefer the sharp detail vs movies that blur somewhat to emphasize motion.

May I ask why do you shoot at 60fps and not 30fps? Is it with slowing down the footage later on in post in mind or 60fps is your finished video framerate because you like the look of higher framerate footage?

 

[EricJT]

May I ask why do you shoot at 60fps and not 30fps? Is it with slowing down the footage later on in post in mind or 60fps is your finished video framerate because you like the look of higher framerate footage?

I like the look at 60fps.....everything appears very clear and I can view details in the frame that would be blurred at 30fps.

I enjoy using my Canon R5 and GoPro Hero 10 at 120fps and then slowing the footage down to 30fps...my granddaughters jumping into the pool or blowing soap bubbles looks cool in slow motion.

 

[Meta4]

I like the look at 60fps.....everything appears very clear and I can view details in the frame that would be blurred at 30fps.

Is that due to the frame rate or just using a faster shutter speed?

 

[Filmarik]

I was going to ask similar question. To what extent does the shutter speed contribute to that crispness and to what extent the frame rate? I do not really want to shoot 50 or 60 fps if I can achieve the same crispness at 25fps at 1/100s or 30fps at1/120s shutter speed.

 

[EricJT]

Is that due to the frame rate or just using a faster shutter speed?

My age is catching up on me.....from a much earlier post:

"You are absolutely correct...it is the shutter speed I increase to get the right exposure, rather than using an ND filter.

I tried a test where moving vehicles were in the frame and I saw no evidence of jerkiness."

TBH, not sure now why I use 60fps other than I prefer it for some personal reason.

 

[Kiwicbrthou]

Just out experimenting with this yesterday morning, shooting at 5.4K 30 fps with no nd filter on just after sunrise.
Going with the histogram and using the zebras a shutter speed of 60 was too slow and I was getting over exposures, playing around with the shutter speed and 120 was much better and even flying close to trees where you might expect to see some jittery footage there wasn’t.

 

[SkyPod]

I'm not a fan of motion blur so I shoot 60fps (1080, 2.7K or 4K). My clients like it better also.

 

[jephoto]

My age is catching up on me.....from a much earlier post:

"You are absolutely correct...it is the shutter speed I increase to get the right exposure, rather than using an ND filter.

I tried a test where moving vehicles were in the frame and I saw no evidence of jerkiness."

TBH, not sure now why I use 60fps other than I prefer it for some personal reason.

One good thing about 60FPS would be - if you apply the 180 rule- is the higher shutter speed of 1/120. You can potentially pull usable 4k still frames from video footage.
Obviously we can and do shoot stills at slower shutter speeds. But usually we are stationary when doing so.
And I’ve gotten excellent still frames at much lower than a 60th but if you really need a still photo while you’ve been shooting video it’s nice to have a sharp image to pull.

 

[FlySkyJumper]

?? Isn't 1080 just another word for 2K? Not sure what you were trying to say.

Yes