• Article ID 000044870
  • Date Published 27/02/2020
  • Date Last Updated 27/02/2020

Reduce flicker and banding when recording under fluorescent or mercury-vapor lighting

Flicker or banding can occur when shooting movies under fluorescent or mercury-vapor lighting. This kind of lighting is powered by AC electricity which switches on and off at a frequency of 50 or 60 Hz depending on the mains electricity standard in country. Human eyes cannot detect this flicker because of the high frequency but it can cause problems when recording photographs and videos.

Flicker and banding can be reduced using Flicker reduction in the camera menu (when available) or by choosing a shutter speed adapted to the frequency of the local power supply.

Shooting movies
A camera may record flicker or banding if the local power supply and camera recording frequency are out of sync.

In the camera Movie shooting menu, choose Auto to allow the camera to automatically choose the correct frequency, or manually match the frequency to that of the local AC power supply. 

If Auto fails to produce the desired results and you are unsure as to the frequency of the local power supply, test both the 50 and 60 Hz options and choose the one that produces the best results. Flicker reduction may not produce the desired results if the subject is very bright, in this case, select either A or M modes and try choosing a smaller aperture (higher f-number). To prevent flicker, select mode M and choose a shutter speed adapted to the frequency of the local power supply: 1/125 s, 1/60 s, or 1/30 s for 60 Hz; 1/100 s, 1/50 s, or 1/25 s for 50 Hz.

Shooting photographs
Banding or areas of under or over-exposure can be reduced by selecting Flicker Reduction Shooting in the camera photo shooting menu (note that the frame rate may drop while flicker reduction is in effect, and that the frame rate may slow or become erratic during burst shooting). Flicker reduction can detect flicker at 100 and 120 Hz (associated respectively with AC power supplies of 50 or 60 Hz).

Flicker may not be detected or the desired results may not be achieved with dark backgrounds, bright light sources, or other non-standard lighting. Flicker detection will not take effect at shutter speeds lower than 1/100s or when Continuous H is selected, silent photography, HDR or exposure delay mode is enabled.

For cameras without a Flicker Reduction Shooting option, select a shutter speed longer than 100th / sec so that the exposure lasts a complete cycle of lighting frequency output and does not capture a specific point in the cycle.

Contact Customer Support