I have started using my 1DMK4 for video, and am getting a sort of jerky stutter in any shots with movement, (like tracking shots). I can see it in the .MOV files right out of the camera, so it is not a Premiere Pro issue. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Whats your shutter speed at?

I used Av and various apertures, but don't know what shutter speed the camera selected. I would guess that the shutter speed would have been pretty high for some clips >1000th for instance. Are you thinking that I should use a slower shutter speed? And is there a way I can check what the shutter speed was from the video file properties? It's all way too complicated compared to stills. :-(

That's your problem, if you are shooting at 25fps your shutter needs to be set at 50. if you are shooting a 50fps your shutter needs to be 100. Always try to get the shutter at 180 degrees.

Second the shutter speed. Though that generally shows up as a strobing, unnatural motion that's pretty consistent. If its more of a stutter that randomly shows up, it could be the playback on your computer. If I have a 1080p video playing full screen it tends to be jerky. Shrinking to half cures it. (time for a new video card!)

Hey Robert,
He said that he was letting the camera pick the shutter speed so it could be all over the place and then only showing up when it jumps up to make up for other exposure issues. I'm of the mind set that you should only shoot video with Canon DSLRs in full manual mode.

Yep - echoing all the above.

When shooting DSLR video you should choose your shutter speed (always 180* unless you have a reason otherwise - and there are valid reasons to ramp the shutter), then choose your aperture, and then choose your ISO. If your still overexposed, time for NDs.

I figured out very quickly that to keep DSLR footage looking nice in the middle of the day and not heavily diffracted you NEED NDs since shooting at large apertures is usually the reason to shoot on DSLR anyway (at least in my opinion).

Thanks for your help guys. I think it must be the shutter speed because I wondered about the computer not keeping up, so I exported one of the worst clips to view on my TV, and it was exactly the same.

My only ND is an 8 stop Formatt/Hitech i use for stills, and that is far too much. I also have one of those variable NDs, but it is the Chinese knock-off (not the Singh Ray) and it does nasty things to colours and causes vignettes. I'll see how I get on with a CPF.

Hey Robert,
He said that he was letting the camera pick the shutter speed so it could be all over the place and then only showing up when it jumps up to make up for other exposure issues. I'm of the mind set that you should only shoot video with Canon DSLRs in full manual mode.

Understood but without an example gotta cover all possibilities. :). And I always shoot manual too.

I've now had a chance to try some close-up tracking shots at 1/50th, and they are _much_ better. Thanks for your help.

Getting the shutter speed right is important. Also be aware of the maximum, recommended panning speed, according to the ASC. It works out to about 7 second from one edge of the screen to the other. That's *really* slow.

As it turns out, you can pan quickly (aside from the jello it causes on DSLRs), or you can pan slowly, as the ASC recommends. When it's fast, the pan is over before you notice the stuttering. When it's slow the judder is acceptable. It's that mid-speed that is a problem.

That said, you can often get away with a mid speed pan when tracking the object of interest. The audience looks at the shiny object and doesn't notice that the background is juddering. You, as the shooter, might notice it because you will be more critical of your own work, and you will watch the scene over and over while out of context. The audience is (hopefully) into your story and will only see the tracking shot once. In that situation, they are unlikely to be conscious of the judder - assuming a 1/50th shutter speed and a story that holds their interest. ;)

The "jerkiness" may not be the shutter speed at all. In my experience, when the aperture changes whilst shooting video, it's a very abrupt change, and looks bad in the file. I'd never use anything other than 'M' for manual on any DSLR. This is one of the main advantages of a true video lens, as opposed to the regular lenses we typically use on our cameras for stills. The electronic irises on these cameras are programmed for speed, not smoothness.

Sorry, what is ASC?

American Society of Camera dudes (cinematographers)

I am trying hard to get to grips with shooting video with a DSLR, but finding it a steep learning curve compared with stills. Do I understand it correctly that DSLR footage is AVCHD, and that it is desirable to convert this to something like Cineform's Neoscene before editing? Or is that overkill for home videos? It's just that I now have a tracking shot that moved five feet in 70 seconds, (shot at 70mm on an APS/H camera) and while I am sure the tracking speed was smooth, it appears to suddenly accelerate momentarily when viewed in Premiere Pro CS5. It's the same when speeding up the footage two times, and is possibly a reduced version of the same jerky movement I spoke about at the start of this thread.

DSLR footage is an H264 quicktime file. Post up your shot you are talking about and we can comment better.

It's h.264 and not AVCHD, but that's splitting hairs. The bottom line is that, like AVCHD, it has a long-GOP (group of pictures) structure so it's a poor editing format. I highly recommend Cineform Neoscene. Then again, CS5 handles Canon MOV files pretty well on a powerful computer.

You might try looking at the frames one at a time while measuring the motion. It's possible that the camera dropped some frames if your card couldn't keep up. It's also possible that your computer can't keep up. Frame by frame analysis would prove it out - especially if you find that you get a duplicate.

Thought I'd just say I no longer get the jerky footage. I followed advice and always shoot at 1/50th, and keep the movement in tracking shots very slow (and speed up in Premiere pro if needed). I have also found that Premiere Pro's Frame Blend adds that last bit of smoothing.

I used to get jerkiness on an early firmware version but with subsequent updates it went away ages ago, and I haven't had to worry about it since. Then recently I was trying a mini jib and found jerkiness evident in those shots. The shot was one that dropped diagonally into a room scene at a moderate speed.

As always, manual settings, 1/25 shutter 50 - then something like f4 and a moderate iso of 320 I think it was.

I reinstalled the latest firmware update and will check it out again when I get a minute.

It's that "moderate speed" that can get you. I've seen the same on some of my jib shots that I've done that weren't tracking anything. I was just showing the space.

According to the ASC tables, panning should take 7 seconds or more (roughly) from edge to edge. You can go faster when tracking a person or vehicle. And (aside from rolling shutter issues), you can whip pan. A whip is abrupt enough that the move is disorienting, so the judder isn't noticed.

What I've learned is that I need to be more patient with non-tracking jib shots. If it will take too long or doesn't have high enough energy, I can add jump cuts in post. And if one values smoothness over sharpness, consider 1/30 or 1/25.