OM-D E-M5 video frame rate in Europe?

[Lss]

Just to double check a spec on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 video output (only cameras meant for and bought in the European market), what is the video frame rate you can select in the camera? Is it really 60i only? I have obviously read the spec several times from several sources, but I have a hard time accepting there is no 25p/50i/50p support in Europe.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I'm not sure I understand the question: NTSC vs PAL is for the analog world, afaik.

The modern video formats are "universal", and the video output on all modern cameras that have video output have an HDMI port, from which you can plug on to any modern HD-capable television.

If you're using an "old-fashioned" TV or video equipment that takes RCA/S-video cables, you won't be able to connect this camera to it unless you have an adapter.

Cameras don't come with regional differences as far as RAW, JPEG, AVCHD standards are concerned.

 

[Lss]

I'm not sure I understand the question: NTSC vs PAL is for the analog world, afaik.

It is not a matter of NTSC and PAL as such anymore for majority of people, it is about workflow. I see I used the term 'output' which probably made this uncler. I did not mean output to a screen but the frame rate of the recorded (output) file.

Cameras don't come with regional differences as far as RAW, JPEG, AVCHD standards are concerned.

As far as AVCHD or video in general is considered, they very often do. I currently own AVCHD 1080/50p capable devices that do not do 30/60/i/p (same devices for example in US have 60p but no support for 50p). If/when one wants to edit footage from several different cameras, it is most straightforward to use the same frame rate (or a multiple). Dealing with more than one non-multiple rate means either conforming (creating a slow-motion effect) or frame rate conversion (loss of quality).

Another issue regarding frame rates is fluorescent light flicker and mains frequency, but that is not my concern here.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I was not aware that there were 50/p-only devices around, as most commercial (i.e. "non pro") HD-capable cameras seem to only support 30/60/i/p, and I guess the conventional "wisdom" is to have people do a conversion via software (I ran into this issue when I was trying to use AVCHD-Lite video in Photoshop CS5...it's a pain)

Given that you'd have to convert I can see that being a workflow (and quality) issue.

 

[River Dog]

Also, filmmakers (not news or tv) look for the cinematic 24 fps which is close enough to the PAL scan rate divided by 2 i.e. 25 fps.

The NTSC scan rate (60/2=30fps) is not close enough and then pulldown is even more work.

 

[sevo]

I'm not sure I understand the question: NTSC vs PAL is for the analog world, afaik.

The modern video formats are "universal",

As far as the difference between the analogue colour encoding schemes (NTSC vs. PAL) was concerned, yes. But the older and more fundamental difference between the US and European video formats are image dimensions (525 vs. 625 lines) and, most critical, the frame rate, 30 (or rather 29.97 drop) vs. 25 fps. And these are still is an issue.

While it would theoretically be possible to transmit digital TV at arbitrary frame rates and image sizes as long as everything stays below the upper limits of the specified format class, many TV monitors and tuners will freeze, reset or display an distorted image when confronted with a mid-stream switch of image parameters, so that European major channels will generally convert 30 to 25fps. Which is either time consuming and expensive, or has visible impact on image quality. On the European TV market, 30fps material will generally be considered lower grade, with impact on pricing and competitiveness, and many chains (e.g. all German public TV system channels) will not permit producers operating for them to shoot at anything other than 24/25fps (or its multiples, if it is a HFR production).

 

[sevo]

I guess the conventional "wisdom" is to have people do a conversion via software (I ran into this issue when I was trying to use AVCHD-Lite video in Photoshop CS5...it's a pain)

The conventional wisdom of German (and presumably French, but my experience is limited to Arte) public TV stations is to scan the masters for conversion artefacts and when caught out, apply a heavy discount for a breach of the contract that demanded broadcast-capable equipment - I've known productions that fell out of the profit zone over that issue...

 

[Lss]

So, I received confirmation from a user in Europe that there indeed is no 25/50/i/p support. Too bad. I am anyway very close to buying the OM-D. Let's see. If the video support was there, I think I would be ready to order.