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Sony a6400 4K video is "stuttery" when panning...


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Hi... I just started experimenting with 4K video shooting with my a6400, having spent a few years just using the HD video settings. I notice that even in the lowest quality 4K video setting (XAVC-S 4K 24P 60M) I get an unpleasant video stuttering effect when I pan the camera from side to side, even if I do this quite slowly. However, in the highest quality HD mode (XAVC-S HD 60P 50M), even fast panning is quite smooth. I don't think this problem is that my computer isn't powerful enough to play 4K video well, as I have a fairly high-end MacBook Pro, and also if I use conversion software to convert 4K video I've taken with the a6400 down to HD resolution, I still see a stuttery pan that I don't see with native HD video from the camera, so... I'm pretty sure this is something that's going on with the camera when it's actually capturing in 4K.

Has anyone else noticed this? Am I doing something wrong? Do I have a setting messed up somewhere? I have the a6400 top-dial set to video mode, and haven't altered any other setting from the default, at least that I'm aware of. I know 4K is supposed to be higher quality than HD, but this stuttering effect is making my 4K videos appear to be lower quality than my HD videos, at least to my eye. Bit of a bummer! ☹️

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  • 6 months later...

Ran into this exáct same issue and tried to figure it out how to get rid of this for weeks now.
I think I just finally, finally found some settings that at least brings it to a minimum.

These are the settings I did/have:
Choose NTSC if you did not yet (instead of PAL)
Menu 1:
Aspect ration 16:9
Menu 2:
File Format: XAVCS 4K
Record Setting: 30p 100M
AF Drive Speed: Fast
AF Tracking sens.: Responsive

Choose Manual (rotation wheel):
Set shutterspeed to 1/60 (=2x30, the advised sh.speed)
Set F to 4.0
Set ISO to 'auto'
And Exposure you can play with a bit (I chose -0.3)

Now, for the very first time when I pan from right to left, I get an acceptable video movement....

Important to know:
By choosing '30p 100M' your lens/camera will start to zoom in a tiny little bit when pressing the record button...
No idea why, but only that it is so...
If you don't like/want that you can turn the Record Setting to 24p, but....
I couldn't get 24p working with a smooth movement while panning from right to left (or viceversa)....
If anyone does, pls feel free to let me know.

Edited by MisterT
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  • 1 year later...

Hey guys, I'm struggling with the same issue with my FX30 and 10-18mm OSS lens. I made a test with my friend who's got the FX3 and we used all the same settings and he didn't get any stuttery but I did. The only thing different between both cameras was the SD cards we were using, mine being V30 and much slower card than his V90 super fast cards, so I'm starting to think it might have something to do with the SD card, I need to get a better SD and try.

I'll let you know if it solves the problem. Please let me know your thoughts on this

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Hi Andy... So I never really was able to mitigate the "stuttery pan" issue I originally posted about above. My main application for video with my a6400 was shooting my son's high school basketball games, so the blurring effect on the background as I panned the camera from end to end was annoying, but not really a show stopper. A long as I panned with the players on transition, and then kept the camera reasonably still to film the action at either end, the effect wasn't too noticeable or distracting. I'd rather the background hadn't blurred on the transitions (i.e. when I panned), but it didn't really detract from the main thing I was trying to capture, which was the players and the game itself.

As for the SD card having an impact on the issue, I really doubt it. I have come to understand that the effect we are seeing is actually one of the incarnations of "rolling shutter", which you can google if you are unfamiliar. I think when the a6400 is shooting in 4K, the rate at which it scans the sensor isn't as fast as it is with other higher-end, more expensive cameras, and so it distorts objects that are moving within the frame a little more noticeably (like the background when I pan the camera at basketball games!). I understand rolling shutter is an issue in most cameras, but some are worse than others, and the a6400 doesn't get high marks in this area, at least from the various reviews and comments I've seen. Your friend's FX3 is a higher end, more expensive camera than the FX30 or my a6400, so I'd guess it might just be a fundamentally better camera with less noticeable rolling shutter than what we have. I know the FX3 has a full-frame sensor, and it is only ~10 megapixels, so obviously a bit more optimized for 4K video (a single 4K frame is only about ~9MP). You and I have ~24 MP sensors in our cameras, which I guess means the camera has to scan more lines on the sensor to capture a frame, which is a disadvantage when you're trying to capture a frame quickly. Something like that anyway. Alas my budget wouldn't have stretched to an FX3, so it's kinda moot for me! 🤣

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