P900 random shaking when recording videos??

[p900er]

Hello, I'm having a really frustrating issue with my P900.

When recording videos with Vibration Reduction turned on it tends to make random jerks, a stuttering kind of movement, like if I gave little hits to the camera, totally unrelated to real movements, even recording with a monopod the problem persists. Paradoxically, if I make real little shakes with the camera the issue tends to almost disappear.

I don't know if this is something normal for this camera or maybe my unit could be defective. Anyone having the same problem?




I uploaded a sample, you can see some of those shakings on 0:10, 0:13, 0:28, 0:53, 0:55

 

[weebee]

First, welcome to the forum. A couple of questions.
1) At what zoom are you shooting the video? The further away, the more the motion.
2) When on a monopod. Do you have the VR turned off?
I've used the P900 for videos a few times and only had that issue long range where even small movements are amplified. Fot that I use a tripod.

 

[mikew_RIP]

Not used mine for video but you have a lot of camera movement,i wonder if this is confusing the stabilizing,if ime honest it doesn't look like a situation you would film any way too much movement,have you got the problem in more realistic situations

 

[p900er]

First, welcome to the forum. A couple of questions.
1) At what zoom are you shooting the video? The further away, the more the motion.
2) When on a monopod. Do you have the VR turned off?
I've used the P900 for videos a few times and only had that issue long range where even small movements are amplified. Fot that I use a tripod.

Thanks for the answer.

I was shooting at the maximum optic zoom (not digital). When you say that I should turn off the VR, are you referring to "Electronic VR" in Movie menu or "Vibration Reduction" in Set up menu? I always keep them on when recording, if I turn them off the vibrations are much worse.

In any case, this problem is not just a zoom related issue, I mean, obviously when more zoom is done more noticeable is the issue, but even with few zoom I can see the same kind of bumps, it looks like a stabilizer malfunction to me. I'd like to know is if this is the way it is on this camera, or if mine is defective.

 

[p900er]

Not used mine for video but you have a lot of camera movement,i wonder if this is confusing the stabilizing,if ime honest it doesn't look like a situation you would film any way too much movement,have you got the problem in more realistic situations

No, not much movement really, in fact as I said before, paradoxically, if I make little shakes myself the issue tends to disappear, it is like if the stabilizer was expecting movement to stabilize, and if it is almost none, it generates it itself. Really weird.

I have recorded in the same conditions with a camcorder and the stabilization is perfectly smooth.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Are you using a tripod or monopod? if yes then you should turn OFF the stabilization.

 

[p900er]

Are you using a tripod or monopod? if yes then you should turn OFF the stabilization.

This video in particular was recorded using a monopod, but the issue is exactly the same with or without monopod. If optical stabilization is turned on, it always does those bumps.

 

[okulo]

I have a P900 and have noticed the same effect. It is more noticeable on the P900 because of its phenomenal zoom but it is actually present when using all my video cameras. It's actually a product of image stabilisation. I think that it is important to remember that image stabilisation mechanisms have limits and when they reach those limits, they have to make a correction in order to keep the image framed and that is what is happening when the stabilised subject suddenly jolts across the screen. Obviously, the more you are zoomed in, the more difficult it is to keep the image framed. the harder the stabilisation needs to work and the more often camera shake will cause this kind of action.

I noticed this is worse when using a tripod and trying to pan because the camera tries to keep the original framing but then reaches the point when it cannot any longer and gives up causing a jolt.

Personally, I never use image stabilisation when shooting video or when I am shooting stills on a tripod.

 

[p900er]

I have a P900 and have noticed the same effect. It is more noticeable on the P900 because of its phenomenal zoom but it is actually present when using all my video cameras. It's actually a product of image stabilisation. I think that it is important to remember that image stabilisation mechanisms have limits and when they reach those limits, they have to make a correction in order to keep the image framed and that is what is happening when the stabilised subject suddenly jolts across the screen. Obviously, the more you are zoomed in, the more difficult it is to keep the image framed. the harder the stabilisation needs to work and the more often camera shake will cause this kind of action.

I noticed this is worse when using a tripod and trying to pan because the camera tries to keep the original framing but then reaches the point when it cannot any longer and gives up causing a jolt.

Personally, I never use image stabilisation when shooting video or when I am shooting stills on a tripod.

Thanks for your answer!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to test another P900 and I can confirm what you say, those bumps are not a malfunction from one defective camera, in fact, it seems that all P900 have this issue.

I must admit that when we're using powerful zooms the stabilizer has a hard job to do, that's undeniable, BUT, in my opinion is not a justification. As I mentioned before I have a Sony camcorder, which operating with a 3X Raynox telephoto reaches almost the same amount of zoom than the P900 does, and the camcorder does a magnificent job stabilizing the video. What I think is that the P900 is mainly a photographic camera, video recording is just a secondary feature, so the stabilizer for this feature is not the best, and of course not comparable to a video dedicated camcorder. It's a real shame.

I have tried shooting video without the stabilizer, and even on a tripod when you slightly touch the camera the vibrations are horrible, they even create inertia, a pendulum-like movement which takes 3-4 seconds to stop, these kind of vibrations generated at large zooms are completely unacceptable and destroy any scene. I have a couple of telescopes, and it's the same kind of heavy vibrations produced by the high magnification. I almost prefer the bumps generated by the stabilizer than the horrible vibrations I get without it. The only situation when I can turn off the stabilizer is when I do not have to touch the camera at all.