Difference between frame rate and video quality?

sharko

New member
Hey everyone!

This might be a really silly question but whats the difference between maximum frame rate of a camera vs it's maximum video quality? I am interested in photography and am planning to get a dslr. Since I'm fairly new to all of this tech, I'm trying to understand different terminologies and specs!

Just wanted to know what these two things exactly are and how they relate. Its hard from me to think about how a Nikon D5300 has a frame rate of 5fps while the video quality is 1080/60p. Just trying to understand and make sense of it.

Thank you!
 

paul04

Senior Member
Welcome to the website.

1st, I think you are getting confused with frame rates, in picture mode the D5300 will run at 5fps which will fill the buffer.

In video mode it can be set at different settings,

including
1920 x 1080; 60p (progressive)/50p/30p/25p/24p, ★high/normal
1280 x 720; 60p/50p, ★high/normal
640 x 424; 30p/25p, ★high/normal

More info here.

Nikon | Imaging Products | Specifications - Nikon D5300
 

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
There's a difference between the two modes... The 5fps refers to taking single photos via the shutter actuation... hold the button down, and the shutter mechanism is actuated and physically opens/closes cyclically...

In Video mode... the shutter is open, and the camera is electronically cycling... the shutter mechanism remains Open... and does not cycle at 60fps...
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Hey everyone!

This might be a really silly question but whats the difference between maximum frame rate of a camera vs it's maximum video quality? I am interested in photography and am planning to get a dslr. Since I'm fairly new to all of this tech, I'm trying to understand different terminologies and specs!

Just wanted to know what these two things exactly are and how they relate. Its hard from me to think about how a Nikon D5300 has a frame rate of 5fps while the video quality is 1080/60p. Just trying to understand and make sense of it.

Thank you!

"frame rate" is the speed of the still picture Continuous shutter burst rate. This is not related to movies.

1080/60p is instead about movie mode, and 60p is 60 frames per second (of an extremely smaller 1920x1080 pixel frame). So the longest shutter speed possible of 60 frames per second is 1/60 second. We could instead select 30i and 1/30 second, but otherwise, video shutter cannot be slower (not if taking 30 or 60 pictures per second). If the light is strong, we can use a faster shutter speed with 30i or 60p, but not slower.

Video quality is about the compression rate selected. Some Nikon cameras offer two quality selections, High is 24 mbps, and Normal is 12 mpbs (megabits per second). Normal is still very good. As a comparison, broadcast television (on the air) stations are often around 15 mbps, but cable TV is often much less, perhaps half of that rate and quality in many cases.
 
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