This is a brief summary of a presentation made to the “Birds in the Bush” meeting held at Geelong in March,
2017. It presented some of the basics of video, illustrating how it differs from still photography, and provided
hints on how to get the best video out of your DSLR or small camcorder.
Please feel free to post any video questions you might have on the forum and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
The original presentation can be viewed on Vimeo here:
https://vimeo.com/211263454 Modern DSLRs have the facility to record excellent video, yet this is something most people don’t use. It
costs nothing to try, so why have a go?
Shutter Speed: Video works best if you keep to a particular set of shutter speeds and their matching frame rates. In Australia
these settings are either 25 or 50 frames per second, matched to a shutter speed of either a 50th or 100th of a
second.
Unlike in still photography, you don’t use your shutter speed for exposure correction unless you absolutely
have to. If you shoot at faster shutter speeds than recommended, you will get a strobing affect which gives the
clip an unpleasant look, especially when you record a bird that is flying or moving quickly. On play back, it
will appear to have multiple sets of wings, and possibly an odd mechanical motion.
If you use too low a shutter speed, you’ll risk your image looking unfocused and it will be hard to follow the
movement. A shutter speed of a 50th of a second is the sweet spot where things will look natural. So, when
videoing, the problem often then becomes “how do I keep such a slow shutter speed in bright light?” The
answer is by using neutral density filters and using low ISO settings.
Unpleasant distortion: DSLRS suffer from something called “rolling shutter”, also known as the “jello effect.” This happens because
still cameras generally aren’t designed to shoot a large number of frames quickly. The time taken for the camera
to record each frame from top to the bottom of each individual image can cause nasty distortions when
the camera is panning quickly. It results in you seeing vertical straight objects looking as though they are at
an angle and, at times, even bending.
The best work around for this problem is to put the back ground out of focus as much as you can, and to pan
only as quickly as experience has shown you is best for your camera. You can also do your “panning” in post
production, as is illustrated in the presentation at slide 48.
Unsteady as she goes The other common problem with video is camera shake, which is very distracting. It can be masked quite
well when the camera is following a moving object- so long as you are able to follow it reasonably closely.
However, some form of support is recommended, and the best results generally come from a tripod with a
fluid head. Such tripods don’t have to be expensive.
How to see what you’re doing Your mirror will be locked up when you record video, so you’ll be using your LCD to see what’s being recorded.
However, LCD’s aren’t bright enough to see your subject well when they are used in full sun, so get around
this by using a loupe or a hood, so you can better see your screen.
Video Post Production If you want to avoid using post production, but want your clips to look the way you like, you should set up one
of your Picture styles ( Canon) or Picture controls (Nikon) to settings that best suit your preferences. Slide 78
of the presentation has more information about this.
If you do want to try your hand at post production, the best programs available are either Premier Pro or Da
Vinci Resolve. Resolve is a free program and if you stick to the basics, using it isn’t as alarming as it seems at
first sight. You’ll find there are many training videos on Vimeo and You Tube, and they will teach everything
from the basics to advanced work flows. Resolve is used by the majority of major movie studios and utilises
32 bit colour management. There is an excellent free training course to be found here:
http://filmsimplified.com/p/free-davinci-resolve-training You'll see that everything you may want to do with a clip can be done in this program, including improving the sound,
colour and doing edits.
Colour management If you shoot your video in full automatic mode, you will probably find you get problems with your colour and
exposure if your subject moves around a lot. This is especially true when movings from bright sunny areas
to shadows. Rapid alterations in exposure and colour balance can ruin a good shot. Generally, you’ll find a
shadowed image starts being quite dark and blue, then as the camera rapidly corrects the colour, your audience
will be distracted by the change. For this reason folk who shoot video for a living use manual settings for
everything, including auto focus. However video auto focus has improved over the last few years and is now quite reliable.
I recommend that you at least manual lock down your shutter speed to one of the settings we’ve already discussed.
Whether or not you use other auto settings depends upon how keen you are to control the look of
your scene. Using a grey card to set your colour temperature is worth while, but perhaps not when you’re just
starting out with video.
Do you need to tell a tale? Audiences have a different expectations of video than they do for still images. A still image generally describes
a single moment in detail. A video clip usually tells a story, so think about getting extra material to set the
scene for the viewer. You’ll find people appreciate your clip that much more if you do
