Camera settings for filming on your Canon DSLR - DSLR FILM NOOB

http://www.dslrfilmnoob.com/ I often get questions from people asking why their footage looks grainy, or why the motion in their video appears "jumpy" and "jagged."

Many of these problems can be corrected by using the proper settings on your camera while filming.

Grain in your video footage is often caused by using high ISO settings on your camera. Even though these HDSLR cameras can preform well in low light they still have there weaknesses. The canon 7d, t2i and 60d all share the same sensor and there for preform similarly in low light settings. I don't recommend shooting above ISO 1600. At ISO 1600 grain starts to show up noticeable but could still be removed using programs like Neat Video, and Magic Bullet Denoiser software programs (note: that both of these soften your footage slightly). At ISO 1000 and under video grain begins to fall off and becomes much less noticeable. So if you can try to keep your camera between ISO 100 and 1600 you should be problem free.

Motion flicker can be caused by your exposure time. 1/30th, 1/60th, and 1/125th seem to work fine, but if you go above that, motion in your video will begin to seem choppy. If you have to much light in your scene and need to correct for it, the best option is to use either ND filters or a variable ND filter. I recommend buying a larger size filter if you can and using reducer rings to cover your smaller lenses (reducers are much cheaper then ND filters).

One other Item to keep in mind is that your camera should be in Full manual mode when filming. This should be the large M on canon cameras. If you use any of the auto settings the camera may try to change any number of these settings in an attempt to correctly expose your footage. This can lead to dimming of video footage, choppy motion and any of the above problems listed.

Equipment used in this video:
Canon 7d & t2i
Canon 50mm f1.2
Canon 35mm f1.4
Sennheiser g2 wireless mic
Zoom h4n & Zoom h1

Category:

Howto & Style

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• Camera
• settings
• HDSLR
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• NOOB
• Canon
• 7D
• 5D
• t2i
• 60d
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• 720p
• HD
• filming
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[04JimmyJam]

nice ending, haha.

[designsbydevo]

if the camera is in manual mode how can i make it focus? when it's on auto focus i can click the shutter button halfway and it focuses, does not work with manual mode. thx

[MrXalan]

does the same settings goes for the image mode too, i have a 7d

[rushaa123]

Hilarious ending ! Good info thanks!

[CarrickLightstar]

@generalfetikos You have to put it to 'video mode' using the mode select dial at the top, then press the 'menu' button, select 'movie exposure' and set to 'manual'. That should do it.

[CarrickLightstar]

@sesukaku1 I think for that you have to hit Menu and then change 'Movie Exposure' from Auto to manual where it gives you full control of aperture, shutter and iso. The 600D and 60D are a little different from the other canon DSLR's as they have a dedicated movie mode. The 7D and 5D Mk II both just have a button that will let you record video in ANY mode.

[crystalplumage1000]

hi

i have the 60d and decided to make a short film with jpeg rather than raw. ill make all adjustments in camera like wb iso, exposure etc..i read that best settings would be sharpness down, contrast all the way down, saturation down 2 stops..would this only be relevant to those filming in RAW to get better post production grading or would you still get a good image filming in jpeg?

[ChrisZecco]

@sesukaku1 when you switch to video mode, push the menu button, you should be able to switch it into manual exposure mode from there.

[generalfetikos]

i have a 600d as well, how do you record in manual mode? when i press the record button it just turns on and off my lcd screen? i bought this camera to use it for video but I still havn't found any advice to shutter speed and ap

[bongvideos]

I think you forgot to mention that you're using a lens that has a 1.2 aperture :)