“Rolling Shutter” Plagues Nikon’s D300s Video

August 31, 2009 by admin

Nikon’s brand new D300s is hitting store shelves this week. It’s an incremental upgrade on the legendary D300. It adds a few new features but the big one for me was video.

Unfortunately, a problem that plagued Nikon’s first SLR video feature in the D90 continues with the D300s – rolling shutter. Basically fast moving objects or camera pans can result in some distortion due to how the camera’s sensor reads and outputs data. While not a deal breaker for me, it is disappointing that a problem that existed in a Nikon product from last year is still going unfixed on their latest mid-level flagship product.

You can see the problem first hand in the video above.

Read more about the problem (and a fix) at Chase Jarvis’ excellent blog.

Here’s some footage I shot during a recent vacation to Hawaii. It works much better when the camera is locked down:

Here are some additional videos I shot with the D300s earlier, mostly handheld:

Share and Enjoy:

Filed under: Tech Reviews
Tagged: d300s, nikon, rolling shutter, Video

Comments

View Comments to ““Rolling Shutter” Plagues Nikon’s D300s Video”

TC on August 31st, 2009 5:35 pm

Thanks. But let's remember, no one shooting video should ever be panning that fast. You point out that the camera has a hard time doing something that should not be done anyway. I don't think it's a deal breaker.
lonseidman on August 31st, 2009 5:43 pm

It's not just pans that are a problem — it's also fast moving objects too. I'll play with it a bit more this week and post some additional samples so people can make a better judgement.
Frederick Szczepanski on September 1st, 2009 3:47 pm

WOW! You have an awesome dog. And wow that is wobbly! It's a shame because the quality of the image(s) are so superb!
amrulkareem on September 6th, 2009 6:13 pm

hai, i bought mine too. but what could you say about the lines when we shoot under pendaflour light?
the jelly effect is not an issue, but the lines is kinda heartbreaking.
lonseidman on September 6th, 2009 8:00 pm

I haven't experienced that yet. I will say I took some great shots at a
birthday party yesterday. Looks like film. The D300s is really starting to
grow on me.
amrulkareem on September 7th, 2009 2:11 am

i mean shoot video. the pictures came out great. but the video. under pendaflour lights, u could see lines
ben on October 9th, 2009 12:06 am

I agree, watching the video of the D90, and 300, its definitely a weakness. Sure it shoots great stills, but the next generation should be able to provide both. There is nothing wrong for wanting both features as they will merge eventually.. plus who wants to carry a camera and a camcorder? If they get the frame rate up to 30fps i think a lot of these issues would be solved
ben on October 9th, 2009 4:06 am

I agree, watching the video of the D90, and 300, its definitely a weakness. Sure it shoots great stills, but the next generation should be able to provide both. There is nothing wrong for wanting both features as they will merge eventually.. plus who wants to carry a camera and a camcorder? If they get the frame rate up to 30fps i think a lot of these issues would be solved
Mike Huetz on March 15th, 2010 10:03 pm

Here is my fix: http://www.vimeo.com/10130633
Glen on March 19th, 2010 2:25 am

You say “you can fix this in software” when talking about the rolling shutter, what do you mean by this? Thanks!

Glen
jsvfoto on March 21st, 2010 1:46 am

Thanks for posting these. Is it my eyes or does the exposure change in the first video of your dog?
lonseidman on March 21st, 2010 2:39 am

It unfortunately does change.. My biggest complaint is that unless you hold
down the AE Lock button, the camera will continually adjust exposure.
Terribly annoying and I'm hoping that a future firmware update will allow
disabling of this 'feature.'
Casey on May 5th, 2010 10:36 pm

Thanks for the info on this camera. I was about to purchase one when I came across your review. Hot pixels and the rolling shutter are heart wrenching deal breakers. My first shoot was to be at the NHRA Summer Nationals and I'm more than a little concerned about the video capabilities of this setup. The D300 does have a live preview through the view finder does it not?
SadD300suser on July 25th, 2010 6:18 pm

I have a d300s and i work with video regularly, unfortunately I have had many issues with rolling shutter, lines that cross the screen, and glowy light under certain conditions. I am very sad to rely on this camera for video. It is an excellent photo camera.
Sebakl on August 19th, 2010 3:13 am

I'm about to buy the 300s, but now I'm disappointed and skeptical, after watching the video demonstrating the rolling shutter problem. Bummer ….Thanks for sharing tho, appreciate you are taking the time to upload it.
Mind me asking one thing tho, is it a raw footage or did you process it with something?
regards
Sebastian
lonseidman on August 19th, 2010 1:58 pm

Most of the footage is raw, the only one that had some processing was the
volcano piece. I boosted the saturation slightly in Final Cut Pro.

Check out this great MUST READ guide for ideal camera settings. This also
helps eliminate the rather annoying auto-contrast that the camera will do by
default:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1243074@N24/discus...