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Canon EOS 60D and Slow Motion
Hey all,
Shooting a short documentary, and plan on getting some slow-mo shots. What’s the proper shutter speed for some smooth action? I’ve researched and found some people setting it all the way at 1/2000. I’ve done tests and received varying results, but this will be my first foray into “action” shots. Also, we plan on shooting some night shots, but mostly daylight.
My camera settings are:
1080/24p
Neutral PP
Canon EOS 60D
Variable NDs for daylight
Canon 50mm F1.8, Canon 18-55, and Zeiss Distagon T 25mm F2.0Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
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4 Replies
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Matt,
There’s a lot of great information on the web pertaining to your question. What you’re starting to dig into is what’s called the 180 degree shutter angle rule. To boil it down to it’s essence the rule states that you for what we perceive as “normal” motion blur a cinematographer should set their exposure (or shutter speed) to twice the frames per second rate. So if you shoot 24fps your shutter should be at 1/48. If you shoot at 30fps your shutter should be at 1/60. If you shoot at 60fps, your shutter should be 1/120…and so on and so on.Here’s a couple of links that will give you a good primer on the 180 degree rule. Start here and branch out on your own:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_disc_shutter
(2) https://inventorspot.com/articles/how_choose_shutter_speed_video_your_dslrBest of luck to ya!
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost -
Thanks Ryan, I am aware of the 180 degree shutter rule and how it works. This truly is great information, but I suppose I worded the question incorrectly. I had shot my slow motion at 60fps with a 1/120 shutter in the past, but I was wondering if it would be safe to shoot at a much higher shutter speed say 1/2000, or could that give some serious stuttering in post. I am aware of Twixtor, but would rather go with what I have (CS6 Suite) Can I utilize Premiere (or AE) shooting with a 1/2000 shutter, and still obtain some solid slow-mo?
Again, apologies for not properly wording my question.
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Yes. You “can” shoot slow-mo at 1/2000 but it may not be the desired look you want (see above links for more info). As you change your shutter speed you’re going to have more or less motion blur. Too little blur looks very strange to us and can negate your story by taking the viewer out of the experience.
I would run some test to see if it accomplishes what you want. If you’re trying to control light then I’d recommend picking up some ND filters or a variable ND filter so that you’re not dependent on the shutter speed to control exposure levels.
P.S. – Twixtor is a way of generating slow-motion footage from source material that was shot normal speed (i.e. 29.97 or 59.94). It will create in-between frames to “slow down” the footage. Depending on what you shoot it can do an amazing job, but processing times can be quite long.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost -
Thanks Ryan
More great info!
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