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5D III – Is it me? Am I missing something?
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been playing around with a 5D III while continuing to use our XDCam for the real work. As I’m sure most pros can understand one wants to be fairly familiar with the ins and outs of any new gear before taking it out on a gig.
OK, with that said, one thing that has really stuck out for me from the beginning and through a few tests is the bad smearing on pans. Horizontal motion going through the frame doesn’t look great, but pans are really soft. Oddly enough tilts (vertical motion) does not seem to have the same problem and remains fairly sharp throughout.
I’ve tried different shutter speeds using the Time Value setting and a 500th of a second looks about the same as a 60th. So what gives? Am I missing something basic, or is it just the way it is with this camera?
Second question: Any “ideal” settings for shooting video in terms of ISO under different conditions? Put another way, what’s the highest I can go before noise becomes obvious? On a regular camera I seldom move off unity gain and even then I try to keep use of the +9 setting to a minimum and only when really needed.
Thanx for any and all responses.
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17 Replies
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Nick,
I have not seen these issues when shooting with Canon’s native 1.23 firmware or with Magic Lantern 1.23 firmware. The latter lets you shoot 14bit uncompressed raw, no h.264 compression.
If you are setting up the camera to shoot 23.976, make sure you are in Manual (M) mode and set the shutter speed to 1/50 of a sec, this is closest to 1/48 with a shutter angle of about 178 degrees.
ISO should be set in multiples of 160. Use: 160, 320, 640, 1250 (as there is no 1280). (160 and its multiples look the “cleanest” because its really a native ISO rating with the exposure pulled down, which hides more of the digital noise.) I find that 640 seems to be the native ISO when shooting video mode.
If you pan on something too close you will see the judder. This is an anomaly of 24p. You would see the same thing if shooting 35mm in a Panavision camera. Just make sure you are at the optimal speed when Panning to avoid this short fall or have something cross the frame as you follow it.
Warren Eig
O 310-470-0905email: warren@babyboompictures.com
website: https://www.BabyBoomPictures.comREEL: https://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/Reels.html
For Camera Accessories – Monitors and Batteries
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Thanx, Warren! I’ve been shooting in 60i. Shouldn’t that make the judder better (less) rather than worse (more pronounced)? I’m going more for the look that will cut well with our regular camera which is 60i.
Also, the camera is only a couple of weeks old, should it not already have the latest firmware?
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Nick,
It should have the latest firmware of 1.2.3. You can check in the menus. So you want to set your camera to 29.97 or 30 NTSC 60i correct? Set the HDMI frame rate to 60i.
Warren Eig
O 310-470-0905email: warren@babyboompictures.com
website: https://www.BabyBoomPictures.comREEL: https://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/Reels.html
For Camera Accessories – Monitors and Batteries
website: https://www.EigRig.com -
Again, thanx Warren. That’s how I have it set. Perhaps what I’m seeing is a camera that’s not meant to be panned?
You’re ISO speed advice was very valuable.
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Nick,
I pan and don’t have this problem. I am also not shooting interlaced as you are. Can you go to a camera store and try to see if you get the same results with a demo? If you don’t, if could be something with your camera. What shutter speed are you setting you camera to? 1/120 (for 60i or 59.94) or 1/60 (for 30p or 29.97)?
Warren Eig
O 310-470-0905email: warren@babyboompictures.com
website: https://www.BabyBoomPictures.comREEL: https://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/Reels.html
For Camera Accessories – Monitors and Batteries
website: https://www.EigRig.com -
I thought I had tried them in my attempt to go from a 60th to 500th. I will spend more time over the weekend experimenting. Your time and input are greatly appreciated.
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Hi Nick,
I noticed you mentioned that the 5D MKIII using the Magic Lantern firmware allows you to shoot 14 Bit 2K raw footage… am I to assume then that the 5D MKIII Raw footage is of higher quality than the Sony NEX-FS700 that records 12 Bit 2K Raw footage using the Odyssey 7Q Monitor/Recorder?
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[Devinda Fernando] “I noticed you mentioned that the 5D MKIII using the Magic Lantern firmware allows you to shoot 14 Bit 2K raw footage”
That wasn’t me. It was Warren Eig. I’m a newbee trying to learn the ins and outs of the 5D III because I’ve seen so many others doing nice stuff with it.
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Devinda,
The 5D Mark iii with ML shoots 1920×1080 and various crop modes that are close to 2K. Some call 1920×1080 2K, others call it HD. I haven’t used the Sony NEX-FS700, but the 5D is a full frame camera sensor, so resolution should be higher than an APC sized sensor.
Warren Eig
O 310-470-0905email: warren@babyboompictures.com
website: https://www.BabyBoomPictures.comREEL: https://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/Reels.html
For Camera Accessories – Monitors and Batteries
website: https://www.EigRig.com -
Hi Warren, thanks for the reply. I saw the reviews of the Magic Lantern firmware and I guess what I mean by 2K is actually HD (1080 x 1920) which is what I believe the Sony FS700 also shoots. That is in terms of Frame Size. The Sony FS700 Sensor is also full frame 35mm, so unless one records more “detail per square inch” so to speak, they would both be even on that aspect, right?
But is the quality of the 5D better than the Sony? – and by that I mean is it a higher resolution, or a better color space recording? I’m going to assume that 14 Bit is better than 12 bit but was hoping someone had actually used these two formats in a real life situation and could testify from experience? I would love to test it out still waiting for my Sony to arrive, I currently shoot with a 5D MK3 but I really don’t see much of a difference between the quality of normal H.264 footage converted to Apple Pro Res and 2K Raw using the Magic Lantern firmware?
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