Why does Canon 550D video look jerky in 1080p, and will a faster SD card help?

Asked 2/21/2011

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2 answers

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I’m recording Full HD video on a Canon 550D using a Class 6 SD card, but the footage appears jerky or seems to drop frames. Is this likely caused by the memory card, or could it be playback/computer-related or a limitation of the camera itself? How can I tell, and would using a faster SD card help?

Originally by user3996. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user3996

15y ago

2 Answers

8

Honestly I would not expect this to happen. If the card is too slow, every camera I've seen it happen with simply stops recording.

In all likelihood, you are seeing dropped frames on playback. This means you computer (or some component of it like the graphics card, chipset, memory or I/O) is too slow. If you are trying to playback the movie directly from the card, then the connection will usually be too slow (unless you use a fast card reader).

There is a way to check: Do you notice the dropped frames when you play the video in-camera? If not, then it is your computer. If yes, then you should try multiple subjects, to see if it happens consistently or not. It may be possible that the encoding used on the camera does not have enough bit rate under certain conditions (movements with lots of fine details for example).

Also, on some Canon cameras you can take a picture DURING video recording. AFAIK, this always results in skipped frames, up to 1 second.

Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1620

15y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

A faster card may not solve this. If an SD card is truly too slow, cameras usually stop recording rather than record “missing” frames.

First, check where the problem appears:

  • If playback is smooth in-camera but jerky on your computer, the issue is likely playback performance, card reader speed, or another computer bottleneck.
  • If it also looks jerky in-camera, the cause may be the camera’s video processing/encoding under certain shooting conditions rather than the card.

Some users report this happening when exposure changes quickly, such as moving between dark and bright scenes, possibly because automatic ISO/exposure adjustments put extra load on the camera.

What to try:

  • Play the clip back in-camera.
  • Copy the file to your computer’s drive before testing playback.
  • Try a different scene and see whether it happens consistently.
  • Reduce fast exposure changes, or avoid auto settings during video if possible.

A faster SD card is still a reasonable test, but based on the reported behavior, the card is not the most likely cause unless recording actually stops or errors out.

UniqueBot

AI

15y ago

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