topic Re: M50 video quality problem in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

M50 video quality problem

Piotr82 — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 17:35:29 GMT

[To help users who might be encountering the same problem, we've restored the original text to provide context to the replies below]

Hi, I'm new user of M50 and I have a video quality problem. When I take a photo, it looks great, but when I shoot video with same settings and same light, it looks much worse. . Here is an example (left is still from video, right is photo)

I use kit lens (15-45), auto white balans, auto picture profile and auto ISO (proper exposure). 4K with point focus. Could it be some problem with my lens (it's brand new)? Or is this normal?

M50 video quality I see on youtube seems way nicer and crispier. This is dark and kinda blurry, even though it's shot with a lot of light (2 softboxes).

Please advice me how to get video look more like photo. Thanks.

Re: M50 video quality problem

rs-eos — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 14:31:04 GMT

The camera is probably not truly capturing 4K. Many consumer models will do zero oversampling. Remember, pixels in the context of image sensors are not true pixels, so when no oversampling is done, you're left with sub-par interpolated results.

Re: M50 video quality problem

Piotr82 — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 14:40:29 GMT

I use 4K to try to get better quality, but it's the same problem with 1080, it never seems to get sharp and nice looking, no matter what resolution.

Re: M50 video quality problem

Waddizzle — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 17:00:46 GMT

@Piotr82 wrote:
I use 4K to try to get better quality, but it's the same problem with 1080, it never seems to get sharp and nice looking, no matter what resolution.

You are comparing apples to oranges. The stills resolution is 24MP. A frame of 4K video is equivalent to 8MP.

Re: M50 video quality problem

Piotr82 — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 18:14:55 GMT

Ok, but the photo comparison doesnt really matter, I'm telling you the quality is worse than that shot by others. So I'm wondering if it's some settings I have to change, or if there is some other problem with it.

Re: M50 video quality problem

Waddizzle — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 19:11:43 GMT

@Piotr82 wrote:
Ok, but the photo comparison doesnt really matter, I'm telling you the quality is worse than that shot by others. So I'm wondering if it's some settings I have to change, or if there is some other problem with it.

You cannot look at a single video frame and make a determination on how sharp the image is when the subject is moving. A single frame will always capture motion, making the image seem OOF, out of focus, when in fact it is not. The motion blur comes from the MUCH slower shutter speeds used to capture video.

I am not familiar with that kit lens. I own an M3. The only EF-M lens I own is the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM. It is tack sharp when it comes to taking stills. I suggest that you start small, shoot Full HD, until you can figure out the camera and how to shoot video.

HINT: Before you can become a good videographer, you must first and foremost be a good photographer.

All of your complaints have a common theme. You do not fully understand photography, and how interchangeable lens cameras work. Are familiar with the Exposure Triangle or Depth of Field? You

Re: M50 video quality problem

BurnUnit — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 20:28:22 GMT

The first thing I'd try is to establish proper still photo exposure settings for the scene, subject and lighting conditions of your video. Maybe set the camera to M mode and lock in the shutter speed at 1/60th of a second. Then manually adjust the aperture and ISO to obtain the proper exposure and make a note of your settings. This accounts for how the "exposure triangle" works as Waddizzle mentions above.

Switch the camera over to video in manual mode and set your exposure settings from above. Disable any auto exposure adjustments like Auto ISO and maybe even Auto White Balance. I'm thinking that manually locking in all the exposure settings in video mode will likely provide you with better looking video.

Re: M50 video quality problem

rileybarabash — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 23:41:30 GMT

What was your solution?

Just bought this camera a week ago and I am encountering the same issue. Seems as if the frames are incredibly "soft" and low detail, The 720p on my EOS R is much better than the 1080 on my M50.

Shooting at 1080p 59.94fps, 1/60s shutter, 5200K WB, ISO 100 F4.0.

I don't think it's a hardware issue since still images are crystal clear (on the same settings):

Here is a screengrab of the video. You can see the softness in the image. Yes, it is in focus.

Any suggestions?

Re: M50 video quality problem

Waddizzle — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 23:31:47 GMT

Screen grabs? You should grab a frame of the actual video.

Comparing video frames to still images, is comparing apples to oranges. Video frames are not as high resolution as still photographs. A single frame of Full HD 1080p is equivalent to 2MP still image. A single frame of 4K video is equivalent to a 8MP stil image.

BTW, there is nothing that jumps out as wrong with your screen grabs. You're barking up the wrong tee. Enjoy your camera.

Re: M50 video quality problem

DylanE — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 16:55:03 GMT

What was the solution you discovered? I am experiencing the same issues.

Re: M50 video quality problem

Piotr82 — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 17:34:52 GMT

I've sold the camera and bought Lumix G7 instead:)

Re: M50 video quality problem

rileybarabash — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 21:40:43 GMT

So... after owning the camera for about 6 months, I've came to the conclusion that it's just not a great camera. The photo quality is great, but the video just sucks for some reason.

I split tested different picture profiles, and found these settings for the best quality (fine detail) (go to manual, not movie mode to set this, since there's more options and the settings carry over):

Also: NEVER shoot flat/log/cinestyle on 8-bit cameras like the m50. I could go into depth explaining it, but 8-bit footage can only hold so much information. When you shoot flat, your color range becomes much smaller, all that extra color information is lost, and after color-correcting the footage looks more muddy and has artifacts. You want to get the best footage out of the camera.

I usually shoot 1080@60fps because I speedramp lots of my work, and the quality DOES NOT compare to 720p on an iPhone, or any other camera. I use it mostly on my RS2. Even at ISO 100 in great lighting, there is so much hf noise and it looks like everything is out of focus, but it's not.

I've just learned to accept it for what it is and use it for social media, where I can downsample it to get rid of some of the noise, and live with the shoddy quality.

You can make decent work for social media though, here's a video I did for a truck owner:

A post shared by Riley Barabash (@rileybarabash221)

I've also seen some amazing quality on the M50 by this guy: BBA Weekly Vlog

If you have any other thoughts on how to improve the capabilities of this camera let me know.

Re: M50 video quality problem

Popo_Lino — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 17:39:22 GMT

A very familiar situation, my friend bought this camera and was just very disappointed, sold it after a couple of days. He bought it in order to shoot content for Instagram and YouTube, and post using Onlypult, but he did not like the quality. Waste of money as I can understand.

Re: M50 video quality problem

BurnUnit — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 14:39:29 GMT

I hope he can learn all the complexities of shooting video and get near professional results in just a couple of days time from whatever brand of new brand of camera he replaces it with.

Re: M50 video quality problem

rileybarabash — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 14:51:29 GMT

Regardless of his skills, a $800 camera will never compare to something full frame like the r5. I ended up selling mine and I’m glad I did, 720p on iPhone was almost better than the 4k on the m50. Nothing to do with focus, just lack of image definition. Bottom line, if you’re a detail oriented videographer that won’t settle for unprofessional work, spend the money and buy something better.