Choose the right shutter speed for video recordings

Wednesday 12 July 2023, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 4,655 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Do you enjoy recording video now and then? You probably put your camera in video mode and started recording. That is fine for the occasional clip. If you do it more often, pay attention to the right shutter speed setting. The rule is twice the frame rate.

Video means making continuous recordings. If you set your camera to 25 frames per second (25 fps), 25 images are captured per second. If you set your camera to 50 fps, that is 50 images per second. At 100 fps, you capture no fewer than 100 images per second.

For the best results, you need to match the shutter speed to your frame rate. If you film at 25 fps, set your shutter speed to 1/50 second. If you film at 50 fps, 1/100 second is the best shutter speed. It is always twice the chosen frame rate.

Why this is necessary is a slightly difficult story to explain, and I do not want to burden you with it in this article. It comes down to any movement in your image looking more attractive and smoother if you take this into account. So always set your shutter speed to twice the frame rate and leave it there.

What about your exposure, you may be wondering? That is a good question, because a fixed shutter speed leaves you with only aperture and ISO to control your exposure. Since you probably also want a specific depth of field, in practice you are left with only ISO.

Although you can film using any exposure setting, manual is often the best option.
Setting the exposure using only the ISO value places quite a few limitations on you. Especially when there is a lot of light available. For that reason, neutral density filters are always used. This can be a built-in neutral density filter in cameras specifically intended for video.

Does your camera not have a built-in neutral density filter? Then you need to use a separate filter. A variable neutral density filter is the most flexible option. This gives you an extra control to set your exposure correctly with the right shutter speed.

If you film regularly, make sure you have a variable neutral density filter. This lets you achieve a good shutter speed so that the movement in your film will look perfect.

If, however, you only record a bit of video now and then and are not too concerned about quality, I would not worry about it too much and simply make sure the exposure is right, regardless of the shutter speed.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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2 comments

Paul eos wrote on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 15:32 | reply
I regularly film with my camera, but in the beginning I also made many mistakes because there is so little information to be found about it. To get started with filming, Nando and Rob's explanation is very interesting and it helps you avoid the beginner's problems that I had to go through to my cost and shame. But now I would like to take things a bit further, and that is the problem now. At Photofacts there is still nothing available for the somewhat more advanced filmmaker, whereas there is plenty of choice for the photographer. I therefore still hope for a follow-up from Rob Dijkstra.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 16:12 | reply
I’d be happy to take a look at that, Paul. I just can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to say much. Maybe you can help me by telling me what you’d like to hear. You can do that via email, or in a reply to this comment.
Translated from Dutch.

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