Let's discuss frame rates and shutter speed

[Filmarik]

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.

Some really good points there, thank you.
May I ask how important or critical for the final "look" of the video is sticking to the 180 rule? Wouldn't you achieve the same or very similar result with shooting 30fps at 1/120sec? Would there be a perceptible difference doing this instead of 60fps at 1/120sec?

 

[JelP]

IMO shooting at 30fps is better. Since the device has a limited bandwidth, more fps with the same bandwidth results in less details on each image

 

[Filmarik]

IMO shooting at 30fps is better. Since the device has a limited bandwidth, more fps with the same bandwidth results in less details on each image

Following that principle maybe shooting at 25fps with 1/100s could render video with even better image quality?
I am just trying to find a sweet spot

 

[NJGlover]

I’ve been curious about this as well. I normally shoot 4K 30fps at 100 ISO with a shutter speed of 60. I’ve been curious if multiples of 60 (120, 240 etc.) would result in the same effect. I guess I should set up a Litchi mission and test. When I shoot b-roll for others they almost always want me to shoot 24P and my ND32 is almost not enough. I’m flying a Mavic Pro 1, so I’m at a bit of a disadvantage compared to newer drones. Making due until an upgrade. I sure wish DJI a would announce that the Mavic 2 Pro will be made Remote ID compliant. Or that they will be building a RID module for $59.99.

 

[Tomcat043]

Not sure I'm in the correct thread, however, here it goes. I've not flown for
a while, due to back and heart surgery's. As I'm "old" my memory is not great.
Before my surgery's I had planned a flight with my Mav 2 Pro over a section of
rapids near where I live in Montana. My question is what would be the best camera
settings for low level over fast rapids. I'll be flying up stream and on a bright day.

 

[slup]

Not sure I'm in the correct thread, however, here it goes. I've not flown for
a while, due to back and heart surgery's. As I'm "old" my memory is not great.
Before my surgery's I had planned a flight with my Mav 2 Pro over a section of
rapids near where I live in Montana. My question is what would be the best camera
settings for low level over fast rapids. I'll be flying up stream and on a bright day.

The closer you fly to faster moving objects or the faster you fly past objects (or ground) the more important it will be to care about the motion blur to avoid stuttering & get a result similar to reality (what you see in reality).

"Closer" is approx. a distance closer than 30m (as a thumb rule)... & the motion blur importance will then increase the closer you get.

A good start is to start out following the "180 degree rule"... this mean that you use 2xset FPS as the shutter time. If using 30FPS you set the shutter at 1/60sec... & then either use a ND filter or close the aperture (if your drone have that) to keep a proper exposure.

If you feel the 180 degree rule gives to much motion blur... you can shorten the shutter speed to 1/120 or 1/240sec (if using 30FPS) and evaluate the result.

 

[jephoto]

Well, there’s lots of debate over whether you need to follow the “180“ rule, and my take on it is if you’re at a distance from moving objects, it doesn’t matter very much. It’s only when you get closer to things that are moving that you can tell the difference. And the difference is that Say you’re flying low over moving water, or waiving fields of grain, that, by following the 180 rule, you’ll get a very slight blurring of the moving things that are closer to the camera, which gives you a smoother looking video. You can shoot video it at 1/1000 of a second or higher And what will happen is anything that is moving (say for example, cars on a road) each of those 24, 30, 60, frames per second is frozen sharp and can look a bit jittery when you’re playing the video. That’s why people obsess over the 180 rule.

But for many people and many aerial situations doesn’t matter that much it all depends on what you are going for.

There are some wonderful examples when people are doing time lapse, which is a stream of still photos made into a movie. Where they slow the shutter down to 1/4 of the second, 1/8 of a second even in the daytime by using ND filters. And buildings and streets and things in the distance are sharp, but moving objects have a wonderful motion blur to them and gives you a very smooth movement of your subjects.
Of course, the drone is probably hovering stationary or moving very very slowly to keep objects in the distance, or non-moving objects, sharp while moving objects blur

 

[DaveS]

There are many good suggestions in this thread. Shooting 4K 60p will give you the ability to take a still frame out of the video that looks clean and sharp. On the other hand, many people don't like the look of 60p video played back at 60p. They say it has an "artificial," "video" look where 24p looks more "film-like". As usual it comes down to what is your artistic vision for the video.

As a former TV new reporter, if we had drones in my day, I would say I'd always shoot 4K 60p for the best looking video with no artistic look. However, as a creative person shooting drone video for my pleasure, if I were going to fly over a stream or creek or small river, I might shoot 4K 24p, then adjust the Shutter speed way down to 1/30 or even lower. I'd flying slowly over the water and stop if I came to a water fall or rapids because I like the blur you get with the rushing water and a slow shutter. It's totally your choice depending on what look you want. That's the great thing about these drone now, they offer us so many adjustments. Of course, if shooting with a slow shutter, I'd also want to shoot with the f-stop wide open for the most blur on the water, then I'd need good ND so I didn't blow out the shot. My preference is variable ND because you can usually adjust it higher than 16. Experiment. Have fun. Good luck.

 

[jephoto]

There are many good suggestions in this thread. Shooting 4K 60p will give you the ability to take a still frame out of the video that looks clean and sharp. On the other hand, many people don't like the look of 60p video played back at 60p. They say it has an "artificial," "video" look where 24p looks more "film-like". As usual it comes down to what is your artistic vision for the video.

As a former TV new reporter, if we had drones in my day, I would say I'd always shoot 4K 60p for the best looking video with no artistic look.

this is a perfect example of the “it depends on what you want” .
I’ve shot a lot of schools for their websites and if I want to be super efficient and give or the editor of the graphics on the site many more choices, I make sure to shoot at 4K/60 FPS at least a one 1/120 of a second or not use an empty filter at all and have much higher shutter speeds ,say 1/800 or 1/1000 sec @ f4-f5.6. This gives us the most flexibility in using it for video or pulling totally respectable still frames.
Long as I have a proper exposure and white balance, any steel frame, we pull will be more than enough resolution for a website.

Otherwise, of course, I’ll be shooting raw files for my stills.