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Low Light Issues - Choppy Video / has black bars running through the video??

lelo_lemon
Apprentice

Hi all, 

When I shoot videos at night indoors with my CANON REBEL SL2 with the standard EF-S 18-55mm STM Lens (it works perfectly fine when shot during the day with some natuaral light  together with my lighting), I switch off my house lights and use my external lighting (because the house lights have a horrible orange colour that makes the entire video washed out and orange). BUT, when I do this, I get this odd choppy picture / with bars running through the picture. Watch this video to see what I mean: https://youtu.be/OHJdHPKAMXg

 

I'm using two small (but very bright) Neewer Photo Studio 176 LED lights (you can find it on Amazon), one on top of my camera and one to my side on a large tripod. 


Can you guys help and answer the following: 

 

  1. Is this a lighting issue? Meaning I need more light? 
  2. If so, what lighting do you recommend?
  3. If not a lighting issue, can you suggest how I sort this out on my camera? I have found changing some settings make the choppy/black bars slightly better but it never goes away.

THANK YOU in advance for your assistance. 

Lelo

6 REPLIES 6

Danny
Moderator
Moderator

Hi, Lelo!

So that the Community can help you better, we need to know exactly which Canon camera you're using. That, and any other details you'd like to give will help the Community better understand your issue!

If this is a time-sensitive matter, click HERE search our knowledge base or find additional support options HERE.

Thanks and have a great day!

Thanks Danny - updated post.

Though it's not as obvious as with fluorescent lightring, AC powered LED lights do have a flicker. In the US they flicker at 60Hz, (cycles per second), in Europe at 50Hz. The rolling dark bars you're seeing is the result of your video frame rate and/or shutter speed being out of sync with the AC power Hz rate.

 

Do a web search for "LED video lighting flicker" to find some examples of how to deal with it. One way is to use DC powered LEDs or halogen or other incandescent light sources.

Thank you SO MUCH! I can't thank you enough. Now I can finally research the issue as I know what to search for (which is what I'm doing now). The LEDs I use are run by battery, which I read is DC. Why are they still flickering? Is it because they are dimmable and when they are dimmed it can cause a flicker (I read that too in my research). Is that possibly why? 

Waddizzle
Legend
Legend
The lights seem yellow because you need to make a White Balance adjustment.

You are getting stripes because of light flicker.
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Waddizzle
Legend
Legend
Yes, they probably vary the DUTY CYCLE of the light flicker to vary the brightness. Also, the flicker at 100% just might save power.
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"The right mouse button is your friend."
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