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Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

Started 9 months ago | Discussions
Dann-Oh Contributing Member • Posts: 894
Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

Hey there I am wondering if anyone could recommend starting settings for video when using the Olympus PEN EPL10. I would mostly be using this for underwater and my go to source for underwater photo/video doesn't have a guide for video just yet (hurry up Backscatter ).

If you are using Olympus for video can you please suggest starting points for video.

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I take photos, not particularly good photos, mostly abstract photos. Yeah abstract is what I would call them, you might call them blurry.

 Dann-Oh's gear list:Dann-Oh's gear list
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PHXAZCRAIG
PHXAZCRAIG Forum Pro • Posts: 19,651
Re: Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

Video is video, sort of.  What are the capabilities of your camera?

My camera (D850) shoots up to 4k30p.    If I shoot at 4k, I need the shutter speed to be 1/60th, to double the 30p.

If I shoot at 2K60p, I need to set shutter at 1/125.

Basically shutter speed is easy and results from the XXp frame rate you are shooting.  Double that as a shutter speed and you're good to go.

Aperture depends mostly on how good you need your corners, but when shooting video the interframe blur covers a host of sins in terms of sharpness.   Let's say you need to shoot at F8 for your lens to 'look decent in the corners'.

That just leaves ISO, which I set to Auto, and I dial in a -0.3 exposure compensation (which seems recommended for my camera, and in sunlight I agree after watching the results).

A big question is how much resolution you want to shoot at.   In my case, 4k is nice, but the 30p frame rate is limiting because I can't do much in the way of slow motion.  You want slow motion anytime, but particularly underwater.

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Phoenix Arizona Craig
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"I miss the days when I was nostalgic."

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OP Dann-Oh Contributing Member • Posts: 894
Re: Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

The video specs pulled from the camera's webpage (link) as listed below below the dashed line. I'm not too sure what over half of them mean. I'm pretty sure I would just need HD (highlighted in bold below). So HD is 1280 x 720 @30p.

Would that mean for regular video I should try settings: ISO - Auto, Shutter Speed - 1/60, Aperture - lets say F4 (this camera is Micro4/3 sensor)

Would mean for high speed video I should try settings: ISO - Auto, Shutter Speed - 1/240, Aperture - lets say F4 (this camera is Micro4/3 sensor)

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Recording format:

MOV (MPEG - 4AVC / H.264)

Mode / frame rate / compression method:

[MOV]
3840 x 2160 (4K) / 30p, 25p, 24p / IPB (approx. 102 Mbps)
1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 30p, 25p, 24p / IPB (SF, F, N)
1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 60p, 50p / IPB (SF, F, N)
1280 x 720 (HD) / 30p, 25p, 24p / IPB (SF, F, N)
60p: 59.94 fps, 50p: 50.00 fps, 30p: 29.97 fps, 25p: 25.00 fps,
24p: 23.98 fps
FHD IPB (SF: Super Fine / approx. 52 Mbps, F: Fine / approx. 30 Mbps, N: Normal / approx. 18 Mbps)
HD IPB (SF: Super Fine / approx. 26 Mbps, F: Fine / approx. 14 Mbps, N: Normal / approx. 10 Mbps)

High speed movie:

120 fps (1280 x 720, MOV)

Exposure control:

Program AE, aperture priority AE, shutter priority AE, manual

--
I take photos, not particularly good photos, mostly abstract photos. Yeah abstract is what I would call them, you might call them blurry.

 Dann-Oh's gear list:Dann-Oh's gear list
Olympus E-M5 III Olympus E-PL10 Olympus E-M1 III Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm F3.5 +20 more
kelpdiver Veteran Member • Posts: 5,564
Re: Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 60p, 50p / IPB (SF, F, N) would be the preferred choice, I'd say.

1280x720 doesn't translate cleanly to HD (1.5x).   It might do so to a 4k display (3x).   But it is also leaving a lot of detail on the table.

PHXAZCRAIG
PHXAZCRAIG Forum Pro • Posts: 19,651
Re: Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

This one:

1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 60p, 50p / IPB (SF, F, N)

First, it's a good format overall and will play well across multiple platforms.  Second, you would use 1/125th shutter speed here, and this gives you options for slow motion that you don't have at 1/60th.

Experiment with the fast one.  No idea about it.

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Phoenix Arizona Craig
www.cjcphoto.net
"I miss the days when I was nostalgic."

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OP Dann-Oh Contributing Member • Posts: 894
Re: Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

kelpdiver wrote:

1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 60p, 50p / IPB (SF, F, N) would be the preferred choice, I'd say.

1280x720 doesn't translate cleanly to HD (1.5x). It might do so to a 4k display (3x). But it is also leaving a lot of detail on the table.

Thanks for the tips.

-- hide signature --

I take photos, not particularly good photos, mostly abstract photos. Yeah abstract is what I would call them, you might call them blurry.

 Dann-Oh's gear list:Dann-Oh's gear list
Olympus E-M5 III Olympus E-PL10 Olympus E-M1 III Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm F3.5 +20 more
OP Dann-Oh Contributing Member • Posts: 894
Re: Starting settings for video Olympus PEN EPL10

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

This one:

1920 x 1080 (FHD) / 60p, 50p / IPB (SF, F, N)

First, it's a good format overall and will play well across multiple platforms. Second, you would use 1/125th shutter speed here, and this gives you options for slow motion that you don't have at 1/60th.

Experiment with the fast one. No idea about it.

Thanks for the tips.  I will have to see the file size for the two different settings. I dont want to bog down my computer with editing just to try out video.

-- hide signature --

I take photos, not particularly good photos, mostly abstract photos. Yeah abstract is what I would call them, you might call them blurry.

 Dann-Oh's gear list:Dann-Oh's gear list
Olympus E-M5 III Olympus E-PL10 Olympus E-M1 III Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm F3.5 +20 more
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