Frame rate question

I got a 7d recently and while my main interest is wildlife shooting, I would like to take some videos on ocassion. I was curious what most users consider to be the best frame rate for general videos. I am aware that 24p is generally used to mimic the effect generally seen in movies, but I wasn't sure if this would look pleasing in all situations. Anyone have a preference for wildlife videos?

Assuming you aren't looking at full HD in the final production I would up it to 50 or 60 fps as this will give greater latitude if you want to slow the action down. The down side is you may not be able to shoot 1080 at that speed. If the camera will let you it will munch memory at twice the rate, increase processor temperature and encourage the camera to stop more frequently.

If you are happy rendering out at 720 you then have to offset the option that 1080 would have allowed you a level of latitude in software zooming. It's all a compromise.

While I don't have the facility myself I am assuming (by some of the videos on here) that certain editing/effects suites will interpolate missing frames to establish smooth slo-mo so, armed with that, go for 25 or 24 fps 1080 as full HD is just so sexy.

A good and tough question to answer.

I've been shooting a lot in 24fps (23.976) lately, but I'm not entirely sure that's the best in all situations. I've been thinking that maybe I should be shooting some stuff at a higher frame rate. 30fps (29.97) will give you more frames per second to work with. So it might actually be smoother to your eye. It will allow you to do a better slow-mo effect, but if you want to do that then you might want to shoot specifically for slow-mo at 60fps (59.974) and then render it at a lower frame rate.

But there is no one solid answer. A lot of it depends on what you're shooting and what the effect is you're looking for. As an example, birds may want a higher frame rate to help fill in some of those very fast motions that they do. The same with other animals, but then you need to have the light to be able to shoot at the preferred 180 degree shutter. 60fps looks really good at a shutter speed of 1/125th, but you need the light to shoot at the faster shutter as well as a decent f-stop to keep the creature in focus.

Luckily you have a lot of options in the 7D to do many of the things you want to do. Try it out and see what looks best for you. Spending a day of shooting tests will pay off in the end when you really need/want to shoot for real.

You don't get a lot of choice with the 7D it's either 24fps at 1080 or 60fps at 720, you don't get the option of 60fps at 1080 unfortunately. I've just shot some at 24fps and am editing it at the moment I expect it will go on YouTube in due course.

I shot this at 24fps but not a lot of high speed action, balanced on a monopod a bit impromptu.

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=P5UTZkPvNKo

Thanks for the replies so far. Good point about the higher frame rates. Shooting with 7d and 100-400, I try to be at 1/125s anyway for optimal results (handheld). This is especially true when shooting from the kayak.

John Sims wrote in post #13554527
Assuming you aren't looking at full HD in the final production I would up it to 50 or 60 fps as this will give greater latitude if you want to slow the action down.

Quick to get to the point! The thing about the subject of wildlife in specific, is that capture speed does not equal playback speed, as animals of different sizes move at different "speeds" in relation to us and need to be viewed at a specific rate to seem natural in motion.

Shoot birds or other similar sized animals at anything less than 50fps and a 1/100th shutter, and you may expect to end up with little blurry things zipping around. Shooting 60p and playing back at 24p basically gives you a 2.5x slowdown should you need it. If it's bigger than you, it probably doesn't need slow-down.

1080p30 is enough for most things if you need just a bit of slow-down. Also, the video is an excellent showcase of why one needs to use a tripod with a fluid head, if it can be helped.

Shooting with a 100-400 handheld on a kayak? I personally wouldn't use anything longer than 70mm or so if shooting without a tripod, in fact, you may want to bring a wide-angle along for the kayak thing. Well, in any case, don't forget that every frame rate has an acceptable limit for shutter speed before it starts looking too choppy. So for example, using 1/125th at 24fps will start making the video looking very jittery, but for 60p it's alright.

happy I have a 5D2

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #13555213
Quick to get to the point! The thing about the subject of wildlife in specific, is that capture speed does not equal playback speed, as animals of different sizes move at different "speeds" in relation to us and need to be viewed at a specific rate to seem natural in motion.

Shoot birds or other similar sized animals at anything less than 50fps and a 1/100th shutter, and you may expect to end up with little blurry things zipping around. Shooting 60p and playing back at 24p basically gives you a 2.5x slowdown should you need it. If it's bigger than you, it probably doesn't need slow-down.

1080p30 is enough for most things if you need just a bit of slow-down. Also, the video is an excellent showcase of why one needs to use a tripod with a fluid head, if it can be helped.

Shooting with a 100-400 handheld on a kayak? I personally wouldn't use anything longer than 70mm or so if shooting without a tripod, in fact, you may want to bring a wide-angle along for the kayak thing. Well, in any case, don't forget that every frame rate has an acceptable limit for shutter speed before it starts looking too choppy. So for example, using 1/125th at 24fps will start making the video looking very jittery, but for 60p it's alright.

I shoot wildlife mostly, so thats why I use the 100-400. Kayaks are actually fairly stable and I know of several people that use 500l on a kayak and one uses an 800l handheld with excellent results. It's really about avoiding wind when possible. I only shoot on flat water and not on moving rivers. A tripod actually tends to cause more motion since it is connected to the kayak floor than the body which tends to try to compensate for the motion more. I also use a 22" wide kayak that is really stable.

This has been for stills only. I don't know that video would turn out very good with all the motion now that I think about it...

Daniel, there is a whole world of difference between shooting stills handheld with a 100-400 and shooting video with that same lens. It will be a total disaster. With stills you are using a high shutter speed to eliminate hand held motion for only one frame. With video you are going to be shooting 24 to 60fps and you will see every movement, bob, weave and dip of the water with that long lens.

I know, here's an example of some video I shot shot hand held with my 7D and 70-200mm f4L. The interview at the end was on sticks.

http://www.youtube.com …DskLqmbL2yvGSfa​XhIgmEjz85

ChasWG wrote in post #13560318
Daniel, there is a whole world of difference between shooting stills handheld with a 100-400 and shooting video with that same lens. It will be a total disaster. With stills you are using a high shutter speed to eliminate hand held motion for only one frame. With video you are going to be shooting 24 to 60fps and you will see every movement, bob, weave and dip of the water with that long lens.

I know, here's an example of some video I shot shot hand held with my 7D and 70-200mm f4L. The interview at the end was on sticks.

http://www.youtube.com …DskLqmbL2yvGSfa​XhIgmEjz85

Looks like I'll have to stick with using the tripod in my blind

KayakPhotos wrote in post #13560823
Looks like I'll have to stick with using the tripod in my blind

Check out this video I shot last week using my 70-200 plus a 1.4X TC to shoot some water birds down in Florida. This was off of a very small, cheesy tripod as I couldn't take my large, heavy tripod on vacation.

http://vimeo.com/34241​666

ChasWG wrote in post #13604961
Check out this video I shot last week using my 70-200 plus a 1.4X TC to shoot some water birds down in Florida. This was off of a very small, cheesy tripod as I couldn't take my large, heavy tripod on vacation.

http://vimeo.com/34241​666

Thanks for the link. What program do you use to edit your video?

Vegas is what I've been using lately.