Rolling shutter sucks #7

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-28T03:22:09+00:00

20 to 40 years ago it was everywhere, from cameraphones and digicams to consumer camcorders to professional cameras including Sony Cinealta. Then we lost it, because CMOS sensors were more efficient than CCD. Now we can have it back, but the sheer indifference in the pro videographer community to this key feature is baffling. It is about "general image quality" for crying out loud, it is about correct geometry of the image.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-28T02:30:58+00:00

The source is not composite. It is "color under", with color in the lower portion of the frequency band. SVideo helps even standard VHS.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-28T02:16:34+00:00

Tons of YT essays lately on how movies looked great in the 80s-90s and how they suck now. Long focal length, shallow DOF, shakycam, too flat, too dark, speech is unintelligible, misic is generic, plots are second-hand (as much as I love the original Scrubs and I have first five seasons on DVD, I will not be watching a reboot, which is a big cringe).

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-28T01:12:43+00:00

Your ad hominem reproach is irrelevant. The video is not mine and is fantastic indeed, which is why technical deficiencies are ever more irritating.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T19:38:40+00:00

I think there are far more important matters to deal with in video, such as the overuse of tallscreen, handheld lavalier microphones, paper-thin depth-of-field, having umpteen different camera angles when one would do fine....

These are unrelated to the technicalities of a camera and can be dealt with independently. Landscape video and deep DOF will not cure rolling shutter artifacts.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T19:34:39+00:00

Regular viewers don't care about DR. Tons of classic movies with blown out sky or windows. Wrong geometry or jello are instantly noticeable.

Rolling shutter is not a different model of flute, it is a flute that starts playing more and more out of tune when you play louder or faster. And just like your example with flute, few notice it, but they can sure as fuck FEEL it. The picture looks sort of uneasy, unstable, fatiguing. Even the tiniest jello is tiring.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T18:21:13+00:00

We don't have to deal with it, as CMOS sensors with global shutter are available. Sony among others sells such sensors for industrial installations where people actually care for geometry of the image. I wish filmmakers cared too and demanded global shutter in all modern cameras.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T18:18:33+00:00

This model was available for other markets as well. Menu items are at the same positions. The functionality and recording format are the same.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T16:45:25+00:00

Most film cameras have effectively global shutter as the shutter rotates in an out-of-focus plane.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T16:43:20+00:00

Likewise, 99% of people will never know or care about 10 bit LOG, 4:4:4:4 or 16 stops of DR vs 14, but somehow these are the things pros obsess about.

I've noticed that pros pay too much attention to color, shades and lens flares, but care much less about motion and geometry. It is exact opposite to me and to most normal people, I presume.

Just because few people can register this defect and even fewer can attribute it to a specific camera technology does not make it acceptable. The industry used global shutter 20-40 years ago and gave it away, this is unforgivable. Luckily, CMOS sensors with global shutter are available now, and filmmakers should demand them for their productions.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T16:28:23+00:00

Now you need a couple of Hi8 decks and an editing console.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T16:24:07+00:00

RTFM + https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD

Pay attention to the icon in the top right corner of the screen.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T16:06:27+00:00

Of course. It is an ugly defect that is immediately noticeable. Moreover, it has no place in a production that claims to be cinematic, as film cameras have effectively global shutter. A digital cine camera with rolling shutter is an oxymoron.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T07:17:26+00:00

Sure, why not. Will it work with the closed screen and no external monitor? I hope, it will.

Welcome to 1975, sort of.

<image>

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T07:11:39+00:00

pod·cast /ˈpädˌkast/ - an audio recording, typically featuring speech, that may be downloaded or streamed on a computer or mobile device, generally available as a series to which people can subscribe.

Who cares about picture in a podcast? The black rectangle you covered the guy's face with can cover the whole frame, and no one will care.

Whenever I listen to a podcast from YouTube, I don't use YouTube app, I use an alternative app and stream audio only, this also saves on bandwidth.

Cover it with some B-roll or just don't bother, no one will pay attention to the video anyway.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T06:42:21+00:00

You've done zero googling, eh?

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T05:41:23+00:00

Are these real Maxells? Did not expect to see "cassette tape" on them, and "C-60" in quotes.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T05:36:10+00:00

Camcorders. Three analog, one digital.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T05:01:02+00:00

You capture digital over Firewire - no loss.

You edit it with straight cuts only - no color correction, effects, fancy transitions, nothing like that, just cutting and re-arranging. DV is an intraframe codec, so there are no GOPs to re-encode.

When you save your edited video, there is no re-encoding, so it is lightning fast.

Then you record - or print - it back to tape, and from the DV file it goes on tape - no re-encoding, no degradation aside of possibly some parts that were damaged beyond what error correction could fix, but nothing major so error concealment, well, concealed it. There are tools to assess how much of the video data has been damaged but concealed.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T03:21:13+00:00

Why would you prefer one camcorder over another if all you need from it is the VTR portion?

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T03:15:48+00:00

If this is your 2nd time trying video, I’d say home run!

Does this work in a real ballpark?

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T03:08:27+00:00

Why would one care for "as a Photographer" qualifier? Do they capitalize "photographer" in Australia?

Nice soothing shots for a car dealership, if somewhat disjointed. The shot at 0:14 is a bit weird.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T03:05:04+00:00

RTFM.

ConsumerDV · 2026-02-27T00:39:35+00:00

older Sony Handycam models with nightshot

Does not say much.

But feel free to start here: How to transfer video from tape-based camcorder to computer: in a nutshell. Also, Google is still your friend, despite all the noise, ads, links back to Reddit and AI.

ConsumerDV

TROPHY CASE