A decent baseline for Fujifilm video recording (for video beginners)
7 months ago
8
Hi
This is to all who are not experienced in video recording but for some reason need or want to do video with a Fuji and have no time to prepare or practice thoroughly.
I am sharing my baseline settingsbecause there is a number of things you would maybe not immediately think of as a still shooter. My recommendation is certainly not professional - but IMO you at least have a chance to end up with a reasonable video! The video experts here are invited to disagree and to comment
So, 99.9 % of the time I am a still shooter who just occasionally does videos of the kids or so. All of a sudden, this week, I was asked in the company to do a short video for an internal platform since they know that I am into photography. Did not have much time to prepare myself.
I knew a bit from following the discussions here - thank you folks! - and I re-watched a few video tutorials I had watched months ago like Omar's. Also asked my Fuji friends. I have an X-T20 but most of the settings should apply to other models, too, at least to the X-T2 and the X-T3x.
These are my baseline settings
- Video mode, full HD 1920 px * 1080 px at 29.97 fps (frames per second). In the Fujifilm menu, this is "1080/29.97P". A video of 6 min was about 1.7 GB. Why not 4k? - Number one, this will blow up the storage requirement, and number two, you have a stricter time limit with 4k.
- Consequently, for a most natural impression of movements, shutter speed must be set at 1/60 s (this is very important - rule of thumb: ss = 2 fps).*
- Focus mode "area" (you'll get a box in the viewfinder - however, at least with the X-T20, I cannot change its size).
- Custom (= fixed) white balance (use a white paper or a white wall) - you may need to set that in single shot mode instead of video mode. I did a custom WB for two reasons, firstly, to exclude any possible WB stepping, and secondly, because I had mixed light which is quite demanding also for stills. I used the white wall next to the speaker and it was just perfect!
- Full manual exposure (aperture, ss, ISO) if possible anyhow in the situation. I do this in order to exclude possible visible exposure stepping. If you cannot avoid auto exposure because of the scene, I would rather go for a fixed manual aperture and auto ISO (ss is fixed anyway). I used the XF 18-55 mm which has no constant aperture across the fl range; yes I did some zooming but I simply neglected the accompanying aperture change. Many manual lenses have a clickless aperture, I have such lenses, too, but I guess you really need to practice.
- AF mode "AF-C" to follow the movement of your subject. You may need to change the position of the AF box in the LCD touch display during recording as your subject moves. Why AF-C? - I guess, with AF-M with a moving subject, you really need to practice. (If you have no motion of both subject and videographer, it's of course easy, you can use AF-S or AF-M)
- With tripod: use LCD display (not EVF) for more relaxed viewfinder control and to ebable changing the position of the AF box by just touching the screen. I could not switch LDC/EVF during recording.
Depending on the situation
- Select a film simulation. Provia is not necessarily the best choice. Today I did "Classic Chrome" which resulted in pretty realistic a skin tone, I am totally happy with the outcome! I did not additionally reduce shadows, highlights, color, sharpness.
Don't forget to...
- Don't forget to set your microphone recording level before starting to record. Do it in a way that the yellow area is just reached in the peaks.
- Don't forget to turn OIS off if a tripod is used.
- Don't forget to set your exposure parameters (see above).
- Don't forget to select MF assist in case you want to record w/ AF-M or with a manual lens.
Additional things to think of when getting ready
- A remote cable release to avoid vibration
- A white card or paper for custom white balance
- A tripod
- Charged batteries
- Keep in mind the time limit (X-T20: 15 min w/ HD)
- ND filter(s) if you're outside (keep in mind that ss = 2 fps)
- A focus gear ring belt for smoother zooming (very cheap). I used it today for zooming.
My learnings
- Audio quality was just "OK". A microphone would certainly be a good idea in case you do it a bit more often.
- I did not manage really smooth zooming despite of the focus gear ring belt. This needs a lot of practice I guess. Neither did I manage really smooth panning. But I used zooming and panning very sparsely.
Comments welcome.
BR,
Martin
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*) Not a mathematically correct formula of course. It means, with 30 fps, use 1/60 s. With 60 fps, use 1/120 s.