D3100 Grainy video

[lapetus]

So I am starting a tech channel and I am going to use my d3100 dslr. The only problem is the film quallity looks very bad. I have good lighting with some studio lights I got from a friend. 

 

The screen on the camera shows the film in focus but looking at it after it looks like this 

 

 

Is this a setting i need to change or something else?

 

Please help

 

Thanks Lapetus.

 

[ZetZet]

I don't see any grain, just learn how to focus better that's about it.

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

 

You just need to learn to focus more,-  

 

TIP - if you focus, and then move the camera, things will go out of focus

 

You can try stopping down your aperture to have more of it in focus and a bigger focus plane but obviously you will lose depth of field and the image will be darker

 

The thing that happened with the lights were due to your shutter speed

[lapetus]

that is great thanks. Did the colors look ok in the film or do it need some color correction?

[amp88]

You might find it easier to manually focus with an add-on viewfinder (especially when doing 'macro'-type video in an environment with studio lighting). There are a few options, but if you can stretch to it one of the Zacuto Z-Finder models would be a good choice (check the compatibility with your camera first though!). If you're not sure whether it would help, consider renting one for a few days before buying (they're available from a number of camera rental sites) or read/watch some reviews.

[ALwin]

You just need to learn to focus more,-  

 

TIP - if you focus, and then move the camera, things will go out of focus

 

You can try stopping down your aperture to have more of it in focus and a bigger focus plane but obviously you will lose depth of field and the image will be darker

 

The thing that happened with the lights were due to your shutter speed

 

He will not lose depth of field, it just won't be shallow.  Depth of Field is basically saying how "deep" the sharpness of objects around the focus plane.  A wide aperture such as f/2.8 will have a very shallow depth of field, meaning apart from the primary plane in focus, anything a few mm in front or behind and beyond that focus plane will be blurred.  By making the aperture smaller, the depth of field is increased, so even if the primary focus plane is focused on (for example the eyes of a person in portrait photos), even parts of the scene a few inches in front and behind that main focus plane will appear sharp but objects outside of that range will be blurred.  The focus plane will always remain the same, it does not increase or decrease.

 

That's one of the reasons that makes filming with a DSLR harder, larger sensors mean shallower dept of fields.  A tiny compact camera sensor at f/2.8 will have a larger depth of field than a full frame 35mm sensor camera at f/2.8.

 

@OP

So with wide apertures and large sensor cameras, any shift in camera position can cause out of focus shots.

 

And to check focus with a DSLR for video, as someone above suggested you can use a Zacuto Z-finder which is like a magnifying loupe for your camera's LCD.  Or if your camera has HDMI out, get a field monitor like the SmallHD DP4 which has focus assist features.

[ShadowCaptain]

He will not lose depth of field, it just won't be shallow.  Depth of Field is basically saying how "deep" the sharpness of objects are in focus.  A wide aperture such as f/2.8 will have a very shallow depth of field, meaning apart from the primary point in focus, anything a few mm in front or behind and beyond that focus plane will be blurred.  By making the aperture smaller, the depth of field is increased, so even if the primary focus point is focused on (for example the eyes of a person in portrait photos), even parts of the scene a few inches in front and behind that main focus point will appear sharp but objects outside of that range will be blurred.  The focus plane will always remain the same, it does not increase or decrease.

 

I was just trying to put it into simple laymen terms, since he is clearly struggling just to focus the camera and I didnt fancy typing out 15 paragraphs about how depth of field,compression and other such things effect him

 

I was just trying to say, that  a smaller aperture, might help keep things in focus, since the depth of field will be less shallow, and more will be in focus

 

its like.. try focus an f0,95 noticlux... and then try focus at F11.. its 100000000000000x easier

[ALwin]

[ALwin]

I was just trying to put it into simple laymen terms, since he is clearly struggling just to focus the camera and I didnt fancy typing out 15 paragraphs about how depth of field,compression and other such things effect him

 

I was just trying to say, that  a smaller aperture, might help keep things in focus, since the depth of field will be shallower, and more will be in focus

 

its like.. try focus an f0,95 noticlux... and then try focus at F11.. its 100000000000000x easier

 

You mean a smaller aperture will keep the depth of field larger, not shallower

[ShadowCaptain]

You mean a smaller aperture will keep the depth of field larger, not shallower

 

Oops yes, less shallow. ill edit that to avoid confusion

[lapetus]

are there any other setting your guys would recommend me changing to get even better quality?

[ALwin]

are there any other setting your guys would recommend me changing to get even better quality?

 

What were your settings?  Can't tell you what you can adjust until we know what settings you used to film that video.

[ALwin]

Here's my comments from just looking at the video.

 

1. If you live in a country that uses 50hz for electricity, record in either 25p or 50p video, so you set your shutter speed to either 1/50th or 1/100th of a second.  When recording videos in DSLR, you tend to set your shutter speed to a value that is double your frame rate.  This comes from the days of film cameras.  So if your recording frame rate is 25p (25fps) you set the shutter speed to 1/50th of a second.  60hz countries, use 24p, 30p or 60p.

 

2. Don't use high ISO values. The D3100 is rated for ISO 100-12800, and cameras are very good at handling noise for the first third of whatever ISO they are rated.  So do not use anything above ISO800 for your camera.  But try to keep the ISO as low as possible.  Also don't use any Auto settings, use manual shutter, ISO and aperture.  Manual mode all the way.

 

3. And if ISO 800 doesn't give you enough exposure, either add more lights or widen the aperture.  But never sacrifice depth of field changes for lack of lights.  Changing the aperture changes the depth of field, so if you don't want the DOF to change the only way to get better exposure is to add more lights.

 

Learn how to read a camera's histogram.  It's not that hard, when looking at the camera's histogram, the left side is for the shadows/black and the right side is for the highlights.  You want your histogram to read/lean more towards the right, but of course not too far.  Also in post processing, a bit of over exposure can be easy to correct, but under exposure isn't.  It's easier to reduce highlights and blown out parts but details that get hidden in the shadows/blacks is harder to bring back out without causing grain or loss of quality.

 

This may be one of the hardest things to do, but try not to record in mixed lighting.  Fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, led lights, energy saver lights, etc. all work at different color temperatures.

 

You will need to invest in some accessories.  What do you have currently?

 

You will need to learn how to use an NLE very well.  Nikon's tend to have slight graininess in their videos even when recorded at the best settings.  But they can easily be smoothed out in post.

[lapetus]

I have 50hz and 24 fps. I cannot change the fps but if I have 60hz it have vertical lines

[ALwin]

I have 50hz and 24 fps. I cannot change the fps but if I have 60hz it have vertical lines

 

Ok 24fps is not that big of a deal away from 25 fps.  At 24p (24fps videos), as the camera doesn't have 1/48th of a second use 1/50th of a second shutter speed.

[lapetus]

ok cool. 1/50th shutter speed at 24fps

[.spider.]

 

1. If you live in a country that uses 50hz for electricity, record in either 25p or 50p video, so you set your shutter speed to either 1/50th or 1/100th of a second. 

It's not a big deal to record at 24p, 30p, 60p in a country with 50Hz mains frequency

[ALwin]

It's not a big deal to record at 24p, 30p, 60p in a country with 50Hz mains frequency

You're right, it's not.  I was just recommending it as a way to reduce flicker when shooting under certain artificial lights.

[Texhnlyze]

Sell your computer and get the 5D Mark III.

jk