80D Best Practices - Video Dropped Frames From File to File

[Chris OLeary]

I've used my 80D mostly to shoot short bursts of baseball players, but recently I've been using it to record a couple of Survivor Stories (of myself) related to the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.

These are just quick and dirty, not broadcast quality, and I probably won't redo them, but I'm going to do more videos in this series so I thought I'd ask if the fix is easy.

The problem cropped up in the second video when the 80D switches from one file to another (when it hits the file size limit) about every 6 minutes. In the first video my 80D handled the transition just fine, not dropping any frames.

However, in the second video the camera started dropping frames when it would start a new file, causing a jump in the audio and video that pops up every 6 minutes or so when a new file is started.

Do I need to use a fresh SD card when recording new videos?

A fresh battery?

Thanks in advance.

Chris

Canon 80D
Canon 50mm lens
MOV All-I
iMovie

 

[HosseinG]

I've used my 80D mostly to shoot short bursts of baseball players, but recently I've been using it to record a couple of Survivor Stories (of myself) related to the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.

These are just quick and dirty, not broadcast quality, and I probably won't redo them, but I'm going to do more videos in this series so I thought I'd ask if the fix is easy.

The problem cropped up in the second video when the 80D switches from one file to another (when it hits the file size limit) about every 6 minutes. In the first video my 80D handled the transition just fine, not dropping any frames.

However, in the second video the camera started dropping frames when it would start a new file, causing a jump in the audio and video that pops up every 6 minutes or so when a new file is started.

Do I need to use a fresh SD card when recording new videos?

A fresh battery?

Thanks in advance.

Chris

Canon 80D
Canon 50mm lens
MOV All-I
iMovie

The best practice is to always format the card in camera.

And use a good brand, fast enough card.

 

[Chris OLeary]

Any idea if it's better to use a card that's just big enough rather than much bigger than necessary?

32gb or 64gb vs 128gb

I'm shooting in 30 minute chunks, so that's 40gb or so.

 

[HosseinG]

The card's write speed is the key, if they have same write speed,there is no preference for 128GB over 64GB or 32GB.

 

[Andy01]

I seldom do any video, but with my 70D I thought that the limit was at about 25 minutes at highest quality (so 80D might be a little less) - 6 minutes seems short.

I think that almost any Class 10 SD card should be fast enough for 1080P as it is only about 10-15Mb/second as far as I knew.

I had thought that the limit was a file size limit (due to Canon), not a card size limit. I think I only once hit the limit with 70D, and the file size was well under the remaining card capacity.

I have no idea but I would have thought that the camera's buffer should be enough to prevent dropped frames in the couple of seconds it might take to start a new file. Perhaps if a slow card (just marginal for 1080P) is being used, the buffer is not emptying quickly enough and does not have enough space to deal with the transistion ?

Colin

 

[Chris OLeary]

The file size limit for the 80D is 4.22gb and the run time limit is 30 minutes.

It was a good Sandisk Extreme 90 cardMBs card, so that wasn't the issue.

However, I don't know when I last formatted it so maybe that was the issue. I sometimes flip cards between cameras, so maybe the file system got weird.

It may have also been an import issue where iMovie dropped the frames.

I'm checking that.

 

[Chris OLeary]

OP here.

To close the thread, I THINK the issue was with my computer, not my 80D, dropping the frames.

I did reformat the card with the camera, but I don't think that was related.

 

[Johnw12]

A larger high speed card can't hurt.

Comment on the first video. I only looked at the first few frames but you underestimate your ability. I thought it was very good indeed. Remember it is a documentary not a slick production to impress patrons. It is making a point and in that it works very well.

The lighting which is one of the most important things is very good. The sound could be perhaps a little better but it is very listenable.

I thought overall it was a very good video. With good attention to detail. You also used a tripod which is the very best way to go.

Don't apologize for doing good work!

 

[Chris OLeary]

Thanks.

The lighting gets better as the series goes on.

It was a little harsh in the first video.

And I'm doing it with a couple of lamps from IKEA and some full-spectrum bulbs from WalMart. Maybe $45 all-in.

It is nice that the 80D could basically just point and shoot. I put it on auto with face detection and just started talking. I did wait until night so I could control the light.

I'll move the tripod a bit closer to improve the audio, but I'm pretty happy with it (especially when I remember to turn off the fan on the home A/C and reduce the background noise).