Is shooting video a practical alternative to stills in very low light?
Asked 11/3/2013
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At a dimly lit kids’ party, I was using a relatively slow zoom on a mirrorless camera. To freeze motion for still photos, I needed around 1/160–1/250s, which pushed ISO very high and made the images noisy. In video mode at 25fps, I could shoot around 1/60s, so ISO stayed lower and the footage looked better overall. If video can look cleaner than still photos in the same low-light situation, is it reasonable to shoot video instead? Why isn’t this recommended more often?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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If the result you are looking for is a photograph, the short answer is no. The same equipment won't give better results with video than it can with stills.
I think the apparent difference is due to exactly one thing: resolution. Try taking one of your still frames, resampling down so it's 1080 pixels tall, and then comparing.
There isn't any inherent low-light quality advantage in the way video is captured — in fact, it's really much more limited. But lower resolution hides many faults. Noise will be less apparent, but it also can hide motion blur — for example, from the longer shutter speed that you used for video.
Correspondingly, when inspected very closely, the still frames may seem bad, but if you actually make prints — especially relatively small 4×6" prints, but probably even larger ones — they'll look surprisingly good.
As @jrista notes, if you're not looking at single frames of the video but are watching it, motion plus our brains equals even more concealment of flaws. But, not so good for framing and hanging on your wall. Don't underestimate the power of that. While Youtube and the like make it easier to present short videos, maybe for sharing with grandparents and far-away friends, unless you put the effort into producing an actual film, the video file is likely to be forgotten, possibly dusted off for a graduation party or wedding reception video, but mostly not remembered. A photograph, though, can be an heirloom.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
12y ago
0
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Yes—if your goal is video. No—if your goal is a photograph.
Video can appear better in low light mainly because it uses much lower resolution and because noise and blur are less obvious when viewed as moving footage. Your brain also helps by averaging changing frames over time, making noise seem less distracting.
That doesn’t mean video capture is inherently better in low light than stills. A single frame from the video usually won’t match a properly shot still photo for detail or image quality. The cleaner look comes from trade-offs: lower resolution, more motion blur from the slower shutter speed, and the fact that moving images hide flaws better.
So shooting video instead makes sense if motion and atmosphere matter more than having sharp, printable still images. But it’s not a substitute for still photography when you need a true photo. If you compare at the same output size—especially small prints or downsized images—the stills may look better than they first seemed.
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