I traded my 7D for a 6D recently, and was thrilled about the increased sensor, until I started to review my video experiments. I loved the look of, for example, a 50mm 1.4 on the 7D. At first I thought I would get the same basic results with the 6D, just larger. So far I'm kinda worried...

There is a lot of noise all the time, blotchy fuzzy grain, and nothing is very sharp, even when tested using one of the contrasty presets and a fast lens on f1.4. Watching it played back the fuzz looks nasty until I pause it, at which point I see an almost-usable still image. I'm wondering if there's something obvious I have neglected to set up in the slightly different menu. I almost feel like I'm recording SD or 720p.

I've had to do radical noise reduction just to get the noise down below ugly. Here is a video of what I'm talking about (with the ISO cranked, but the fuzziness is always there), and some of the NR first aid I've been doing. Canon 6D Noise Reduction with NeatVideo Denoiser - YouTube

On the 6D I have been using Canon EF 17-40mm L and a Canon 50mm 1.4.

Please take a look at my settings and tell me if I'm overlooking something obvious.

Thanks people!

Casey, i can see this...
Auto light optimizer is on off it should be standard.
Long exposure noise reduction (this may be wrong defo) turn off you have it on auto.
turn contrast all the way down on video!! sharp all way down sats are good
ok for stills.

Thanks! And double-thanks for offering constructive advice and not: Hey idiot, ...

Also, I pulled a bunch of files into FCP X and while paused the image was good, but while playing was very fuzzy. However, when I exported the movie, the output file looked very good. What is going on here?

Not sure but let me know any more info you need I have two 6ds. Mine seem great. Try work at 160, 320, 640, 1250, 1600, 2500, 3200, ISO reports are said to be better picture quality in video mode!! Also I have found is that the exposure is a notch darker than most dslrs so I work at one notch to the right of the middle of the meter bar. So a stop up not stop down I think you pronounce it that way. Steve

Thanks, Steve. My main confusion right now is over why my footage--1080p/24p--looks so piss-poor when I viewed in normal viewer apps (iPhoto->Quicktime, FCP X, After Effects 5.5 and MPlayer, but looks comparatively excellent when rendered. ??? Continuing with this workflow would be ass-backwards.

And in FCP X I looked at the proxy file version (this looked even worse) and also the original (the one I'm complaining about :)

I feel like an idiot, as I never had this issue with my 7D.

I love the DIGIC5!

Mmm strange! I am cs6 and all is good! Have you done anything different to the monitor? Any loose connections, playback settings?

Thanks, Steve. My main confusion right now is over why my footage--1080p/24p--looks so piss-poor when I viewed in normal viewer apps (iPhoto->Quicktime, FCP X, After Effects 5.5 and MPlayer, but looks comparatively excellent when rendered. ???


I would assume the FCPX is set for performance rather than higher quality playback. You can toggle it to display higher quality video preview.

I would assume the FCPX is set for performance rather than higher quality playback. You can toggle it to display higher quality video preview.

I knew it! Something really simple. I'll give it a shot at the NLE tomorrow. Thanks, fellas!

One more thing on the edit side of things - sometimes if your canvas in FCPX is scaling to a weird size (i.e. anything but 100%) the image starts to alias. This is especially apparent on text and graphics, but I've also seen it often in detailed video. Make sure you're viewing back at 50% or 100% when assessing quality.