A guitarist on YouTube has shot a video on his iPhone that elegantly demonstrates the 'rolling shutter' effect. It occurs because its CMOS sensor captures video one line at a time, so there's an increasing lag as it scans down the frame. This 'rolling shutter' effect of movement being displaced across each frame can also be seen in DSLR-shot movies. In this case the video has been rotated, so the effects of that delay run left-to-right, giving interesting (and pretty) jagged effects, particularly on the bottom 'E' string. (via 9to5Mac)

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(video by justkylevids)

The effect can be seen more dramatically with the fast-moving rotor blades of this aircraft. In this instance (shot with the older iPhone 3G) the shooter rotates the camera, helping demonstrate the interaction between the direction of the sensor's scanning and the rotor blades' movement.


(video by yanksoccer117)

And here, being used in a distinctly lyrical way by Flickr user Felix_m, is an older video showing the same effect shot on the Canon 5D Mark II.