After asking some questions in my firmware review thread and in my other thread regarding 59.940 vs. 60 fps about the NX1 frame rate options, and after finally finding out that the camera seems to be able to record at 119.88 fps (which is somewhat hidden in the menu and the manual and was totally new for me), I would like to open a new thread to discuss the frame rate capabilities of the Samsung NX1.
After collecting all information as of firmware v1.21, it seems like the NX1 supports the following frame rates and shutter speeds:
23.976 fps with sound, 1/30s shutter (or faster), 3840x2160 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: NTSC
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 3840x2160 (23.98p) or 1920x1080 (23.98p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x1 (23.98p)
The video includes a 23.976 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at normal speed.
24.000 fps with sound, 1/30s shutter (or faster), 4096x2160 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: NTSC or PAL (doesn't matter)
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 4096x2160 (24p) or 3840x2160 (24p) or 1920x1080 (24p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x1 (24p)
The video includes a 24.000 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at normal speed.
25.000 fps with sound, 1/30s shutter (or faster), 3840x2160 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: PAL
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 3840x2160 (25p) or 1920x1080 (25p) or 1280x720 (25p) or 640x480 (25p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x1 (25p)
The video includes a 25.000 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at normal speed.
29.970 fps with sound, 1/30s shuter (or faster), 3840x2160 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: NTSC
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 3840x2160 (30p) or 1920x1080 (30p) or 1280x720 (30p) or 640x480 (30p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x1 (30p)
The video includes a 29.970 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at normal speed.
50.000 fps with sound, 1/60s shutter (or faster), 1920x1080 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: PAL
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 1920x1080 (50p) or 1280x720 (50p) or 640x480 (50p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x1 (50p)
The video includes a 50.000 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at normal speed.
59.940 fps with sound, 1/60s shutter (or faster), 1920x1080
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: NTSC
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 1920x1080 (60p) or 1280x720 (60p) or 640x480 (60p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x1 (60p)
The video includes a 50.940 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at normal speed.
100.000 fps without sound, 1/100s shutter (or faster, see note below!), 1920x1080 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: PAL
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 1920x1080 (25p) or 1280x720 (25p) or 640x480 (25p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x0.25 (100p)
Sound recording isn't supported (according to my knowledge) and the video includes a 25.000 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at 4x speed. Using this mode of operation, the shutter speed will be limited to 1/125s (or faster). However, if the mode is select differently, the shutter speed can be slowed down further to 1/100s:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: PAL
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 1920x1080 (50p) or 1280x720 (50p) or 640x480 (50p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x0.5 (100p)
In that case, the shutter speed can be set as slow as 1/60s (which seems to be a firmware bug). It appears like all settings from a shutter of 1/60s through a shutter of 1/100s will effectively yield to a shutter time of 1/100s (hence allowing a 360° shutter at 100 fps). The video would include a 50.000 fps header, so that playback will be automatically be at 2x speed.
119.880 fps without sound, 1/120s shutter (or faster, see note below!), 1920x1080 resolution
This mode can be achieved by setting:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: NTSC
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 1920x1080 (30p) or 1280x720 (30p) or 640x480 (30p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x0.25 (120p)
Sound recording isn't supported (according to my knowledge) and the video includes a 29.970 fps header, so that playback will automatically be at 4x speed. Using this mode of operation, the shutter speed will be limited to 1/125s (or faster). However, if the mode is select differently, the shutter speed might be slowed down further to 1/120s:
- MENU: Setup: Video Out: NTSC
- MENU: Video: Movie Size: 1920x1080 (60p) or 1280x720 (60p) or 640x480 (60p)
- MENU: Video: Fast/Slow Movie: x0.5 (120p)
In that case, the shutter speed can be set as slow as 1/60s (which seems to be a firmware bug, again). It assume that all settings from 1/60s through 1/100s will effectively yield to a shutter time of 1/120s (or 1/125s, not sure?), hence allowing a 360° shutter (or almost 360° shutter?) at 119.880 fps. The video would include a 59.940 fps header, so that playback will be automatically be at 2x speed.
Conclusion
I'm overwhelmed by the NX1's capabilities to record at (almost) 120 fps at HD resolution. The menu operation to achieve these settings, however, is horrible! Also, I do not see why 100 fps and 119.880 fps should not allow audio recording?
Instead of hiding all these frame rate settings in three different menu options (PAL/NTSC, Movie Size, Fast/Slow Movie) and combining them with "Slow / Fast Motion" settings that store a "wrong" fps-value in the file header (and disable sound!), I would prefer a single setting for frame rate selection:
MENU: Video: Frame rate:
- 23.976
- 24.000
- 25.000
- 29.970
- 30.000
- 47.952
- 48.000
- 50.000
- 59.940
- 60.000
- 95.905
- 96.000
- 100.000
- 119.880
- 120.000
That would allow for an easy selection of the frame rate without the hassle (and loss of sound). I do not need to have "wrong" frame rate information stored in the header files of the NX1 video material: for me, slow-motion is something that can be done in post-processing. A wrong header information is just annoying for me.
Offering the extra frame rates of 30.000, 60.000, and 120.000 would yield additional compatibility with systems that do not use the NTSC-based 1.001-divided frame rates or when later a conversion to other integral frame rates is desired.
Similarly the 48.000 and 96.000 fps settings would be great for video projects based on 24.000 and/or 48.000 fps.
Also, the limitation of the shutter to 1/60s should be changed to a limitation of 1/50s when recording at 50 fps (to allow for a 180° shutter when downsampling the material later, see my explanations here). Accordingly, the miminum shutter speed for 100 fps recording should be 1/100s (and not 1/60s or 1/125s).
Disclaimer and further note
DISCLAIMER: All information is provided without guarantee for correctness. This is just what I tried to gather information by browsing through the NX1 menu and looking at some of the created videos. The information may be incomplete or incorrect. Particularly further lower frame rates than those listed above seem to be achievable by using the Fast Movie function. The list above is therefore not exhaustive.
NOTE: I would like if the firmware review thread could stay open for future firmware bugs of firmware version v1.20 and v1.21 (I have found several bugs and listed them in the postings of that thread); and I would like if the thread on 60 fps vs. 59.940 fps could be closed by a moderator with a reference to this new thread (as this new thread is supposed to discuss the frame rate capabilities more generally).
