Is this Normal with the Pocket Cinema Camera?

Hi Guys
I was hoping that some of you tech savvy's could help resolve this issues,
I just received my BMPCC and i did a test using Panasonic Lumix 12-35 with 30fps.
during record or even preview the screen as well as the footage flickers however when on 25fps or lower this does not happen.

I have tried a combination of settings and lenses but the issue with flickering still persists and it gets worse under florescent light.
has anyone else experienced this or is my camera faulty?

you can view the footage here:


Thanks

It looks like you're in a european country wih 50hz lights, but using settings optimized for a country like the US with 60hz lights (or vice versa).

See here: http://nitsantv.wordpress.com/2011/03/2 ... r-flicker/

By the way, 50hz vs 60hz is the whole reason PAL standardized on 25i and NTSC on 30i.

Hi Guys
I was hoping that some of you tech savvy's could help resolve this issues,
I

I presume you're not in the US or Japan, which are the only countries you can shoot 30 FPS in and NOT have flicker when under discharge lighting with a normal (180 deg) shutter.

Try 25 FPS with a 180 deg shutter.

jb

It looks like you're in a european country wih 50hz lights, but using settings optimized for a country like the US with 60hz lights (or vice versa).

Thanks for the feedback. I'm in Australia and i believe we are on 50hz but this means that i cant shoot with 30fps at all ? hmmm
i also checked the forum apparently some other folks have experienced the same issue with the BMCC and it was a faulty camera that was replaced.

It looks like you're in a european country wih 50hz lights, but using settings optimized for a country like the US with 60hz lights (or vice versa).

Thanks for the feedback. I'm in Australia and i believe we are on 50hz but this means that i cant shoot with 30fps at all ? hmmm
i also checked the forum apparently some other folks have experienced the same issue with the BMCC and it was a faulty camera that was replaced.

In Australia ANY camera shooting at 30 FPS will flicker under discharge lighting.

You can shoot at 25 FPS, or shoot using lights that aren't discharge (like tungsten)

It's not a faulty camera.

JB

You'll be fine at 30fps under daylight conditions. The issue is that the lights themselves flicker at 50hz. Your camera is accurately capturing their behavior.

Hi Guys
I was hoping that some of you tech savvy's could help resolve this issues,
I

I presume you're not in the US or Japan, which are the only countries you can shoot 30 FPS in and NOT have flicker when under discharge lighting with a normal (180 deg) shutter.

Try 25 FPS with a 180 deg shutter.

jb

Thanks for the feedback John,
as stated the camera operates fine with 25fps or lower.
so i cant shoot 30fps in Australia?

Thanks for the feedback John,
as stated the camera operates fine with 25fps or lower.
so i cant shoot 30fps in Australia?

You can if you don't have a discharge light source.

That's flouros, most sodium and mercury vapour lighting (street lights) and some LED's.

Downlights, older (now illegaL tungsten lighting works fine and daylight.

Some film style lights like KINO have ballasts that work at a high enough frequency that they also won't flicker at 30 FPS but most consumer lights will.

jb

It looks like you're in a european country wih 50hz lights, but using settings optimized for a country like the US with 60hz lights (or vice versa).

Thanks for the feedback. I'm in Australia and i believe we are on 50hz but this means that i cant shoot with 30fps at all ? hmmm
i also checked the forum apparently some other folks have experienced the same issue with the BMCC and it was a faulty camera that was replaced.

In Australia ANY camera shooting at 30 FPS will flicker under discharge lighting.

You can shoot at 25 FPS, or shoot using lights that aren't discharge (like tungsten)

It's not a faulty camera.

JB

Thanks, that explains, when i tilted the camera up the flickering disappeared.
Problem Solved.

Try 30 fps with a 216 degree shutter.

Hi Guys
I was hoping that some of you tech savvy's could help resolve this issues,
I

I presume you're not in the US or Japan, which are the only countries you can shoot 30 FPS in and NOT have flicker when under discharge lighting with a normal (180 deg) shutter.

Try 25 FPS with a 180 deg shutter.

jb

Thanks for the feedback John,
as stated the camera operates fine with 25fps or lower.
so i cant shoot 30fps in Australia?

Hami, we have ALWAYS been a PAL (25p/50i) country thanks to the Brits.

Hami, we have ALWAYS been a PAL (25p/50i) country thanks to the Brits.

Gan, it works during day light and under some tungsten lighting with 30fps however with florescent its flickering crazy.
yeah thanks to the Brits,

Try 30 fps with a 216 degree shutter.

Tried it all but its the lighting thats 50hz in Down Under

Hami, we have ALWAYS been a PAL (25p/50i) country thanks to the Brits.

Gan, it works during day light and under some tungsten lighting with 30fps however with florescent its flickering crazy.
yeah thanks to the Brits,

Yes thats the issue, our lights are 50khz. 30p is for NTSC's 60khz.

I had the same thing happen...

as a total NOOB to any higher end camera, and being here in the US i was shooting 25fps at 180 degree shutter angle and under night hard florescent lights it was FLICKER FLICKER FLICKER.

I thought something was wrong, until i read that in the US i should be shooting 24fps or 30fps.

Gonna test it again tonight to see if that helps. I think my white balance was set to natural light as well. The manual says Florescent lights should be 4500K for fluorescent light, I not knowing that had it at 6500K.

I am hoping it was just noob mistakes, as i LOVE everything else I have shot so far.

FINGERS CROSSED that i loose the strobe flicker on tonights shoot.

Color balance doesn't cause the flicker, but wrong framerate surely will. Currents switch at 60 Hz in the states, resulting in 120 strobes of light per second (one full cycle has to maxima of intensity). To avoid flickering you should use a framerate that is a clean fraction of 120 Hz, like 60 (120:2), 30 (120:4) or 24 (120:5) frames per second. The camera doesn't support it, but you could also use 40 or 20 Hz (120:3, 120:6). In Europe the currents switch at 50 Hz, thus the only useable framerates are 100 Hz, 50 Hz, 25 Hz.

Of course this is not an issue when working with natural lightsources or high frequency dimmers.

I am shooting in Japan this week and they actually use both 50 Hz and 60Hz... split 50-50, so that's really confusing.

Usually when I shoot there I do a test when I arrive - flourescents are everywhere in Japan - they have the worst lighting in the world which is wierd for such a beautiful country.

Having said that - what would be the recommended settings shooting 50Hz in Tokyo on the BMCC and the BMPCC?

And I know I have to go south in Japan and it is 60Hz where I am going... dam!

easy as pie.

http://www.red.com/tools/flicker-free-video

Thanks, Nikolay, for the usefull link. I was already starting to explain the math, when i saw your posting...

When shooting 24 fps - for cinema or bluray - i'd recommend 172.8° in 50Hz regions and 180° in 60Hz regions, but as we now know that 180° is bugged you should use 172.8° there as well.

When shooting 25 fps - for PAL tv - i'd recommend 150° in both regions (for the same reasons).