yes i saw it in the viewfinder.
it was funny.

dont remember. could be that it was the fastest 5d is able to. it was a sunny day and i was filming with a nikon 50mm 1,8 with full opened aperture.

i think so.

Very cool vid. I am also wondering about how piano strings would turn out at such a high shutter speed.

good idea. but as shown in this video flickr.com/photos/_f/3768012394/ , wich was applied in a comment of my video, you can see the different angles of the 5d, and it still works.

Yes but the wobbling effect is much reduced in the final part of that video where the string is nearer horizontal. If you were to video a string completely horizontally there would be no wobbling. (By wobble I mean the snaking effect like the letter S).

Oh i did not got that, maby your right. Tecnicaly your idea makes sence. Maby theres someone out there testing this in a more scientific setup to proof your theory. Ps. Lets call it wobble effect. Ilike this word.;)

It's very simple to explain.

At the top end the 5D Mark II can be set to an exposure time of 1/1000th of a second for video (or possibly higher, I don't have mine on, atm to check).

This is the same as taking a single frame at 1/1000th -- except that it takes 30 frames, each exposing for only 1/1000th of a second.

A Double Bass has a frequency (according to the intertubes) of between 40Hz and 200Hz. Something vibrating at that range of frequencies is easily 'stopped' by something capturing at 1/1000th.

Want to test it? Go grab a regular SLR, set it to 1/1000th exposure time, get enough light, and shoot a double bass being strummed. You'll see the strings vibrating there.

The 5D Mark II in video mode is just taking 30 frames per second, rather than one.

If, like with a camcorder, you set the 5D Mark II to use a more reasonable shutter speed (1/30th, or 1/60th, say) - then you'd notice the strings apeared more blurry.

It'd also smooth out the movement of the player's fingers, which appear jerky.

Simple. :)

excellent post!

bought an adaptor ring at ebay!

Hi Jed,
We actually encode up to 30fps for HD videos now, but this one was a little temperamental so it went through our older 25fps system.

very cool felix! nice done. maby i got anyone inspired to make a musikvideo out of this effect. please post if do so.

Sorry, it's nothing to do with CMOS scanning. You're seeing the actual waveform on the strings being caught in place every frame due to a very fast shutter time (1/1000th of a second, approximately). See my other comment above for more information.

Sorry, it's not an optical illusion or due to a rolling shutter. You're seeing the actual waveform on the strings being caught in place every frame due to a very fast shutter time (1/1000th of a second, approximately). See my other comment above for more information.

It's not a rolling shutter effect. What you're seeing is the actual waveform of the note being generated by that string. It's a low enough frequency to be caught by a camera with a fast shutter speed.