"S" Mode Has Jittery/Flickering Exposure for Video
I’ve been wanting to use “S” mode, or Shutter Priority mode, to shoot video, but I noticed there’s this really annoying flickering that occurs while the camera is adjusting exposure.
I thought it was just my phone screen at first, but then I recorded a video shooting in “A” mode and then the same scenario in “S” mode and overlayed the waveform from DaVinci Resolve and it’s clear to see the exposure flickering up and down while the video plays back.
My goal is to slap on an ND filter and utilize the “S” mode to help make vlogging easier and more convenient, but this is rendering my videos unusable. I’m not sure why this is happening. I have seen a video in the past that mentioned something to the affect of iPhone’s having different white points at different ISO values?, but again I’m not sure if this is due to the iPhone itself, or if it’s something under the hood that needs to be tweaked on the Apps end.
The Moment Pro II App is the only camera app that I’ve used that has a shutter priority mode so I’m not sure if this is a common problem for developers.
Any help or suggestions is appreciated! Thank you for your continued work in making this a great app!
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Comments8
Marcin
Jul 22
I was wondering if the problem was just with my iPhone 15 Pro, so it's nice to see the "in progress" status. I really love the MPC II app and can’t wait for the update!
bgomz
Jul 23
yeah it’s very interesting to see this phenomenon even on my iPhone 17 Pro. i love the app as well and hope they can resolve this!
Jamm Hostetler
Jul 23
Definitely! The current implementation does actually have a good amount of smoothing in most cases, but it is sensitive to small abrupt metering shifts as you both noticed.
Marcin
Jul 23
So is there hope for a fix? Maybe an option to adjust the metering sensitivity, or a smooth transition between the current and target values instead of abrupt changes?
Now, the app knows what the current ISO value is and what value would be best in the actual lighting conditions. So maybe there is a way to make ISO continuously follow the desired value based on current conditions, even if it doesn't reach the exact target before the lighting conditions change again. Instead of dramatic changes, "chasing" the best option with a smoother approach would work much better, especially for the viewer's eyes, because these exposure shifts are too noticeable.
I have no experience in app development, so I don’t know if it’s possible (maybe iOS limitations?)
Jamm Hostetler
Jul 23
Yup, working on it now. That’s pretty close to what I’m going to do.
Jamm Hostetler
Jun 1
There are two potential causes. One is an iOS issue that should be fixable by quitting and reopening the app. The other is a bit trickier and it’s something we’re still fighting.
If you move the phone to point at a much darker or brighter scene, how visible is the stepping? The app has its own waveform you can use too - just swipe down on the viewfinder and enable monitors.
bgomz
Jun 1
I’ve tried closing out the app and reopening it, even completely powering off and turning my phone back on and the issue persists.
I’ve checked in lower light environments, medium light, outside in bright daylight and higher dynamic range areas and the exposure stepping persists.
In all situations shooting in S Mode’s exposure stuttering is pretty visible even on my smaller phone screen.
I do wanna say thank you for having this forum for us users to share our experiences! I’m sure there’s a complex solution to this and I hope it’s something that doesn’t cause your developers too much headache to resolve 🙏
Jamm Hostetler
Jun 1
Got it, thanks for the details and for your understanding. It’s just me, but I will look into this further when I have a chance.