Video 101?

[chrismscotland]

Folks, picked up an A7rii a few weeks ago and its brilliant for stills but I understand that video mode is also very good (I don't use it really).

I've been asked to video and end of year show (basic stuff just stick it on a tripod and point it at the stage!), I managed to do the same last year with my Fuji X-Pro 2 which isn't really great for the task but I'm not entirely sure how to setup the A7rii to do it.

 

I have the 24-70 f2.8 GM and will probably use that but would I be best just to turn off steadyshot or is this of use for video?

[cws]

Are you in a PAL or NTSC country?
If "Scotland" then PAL mode & 25fps (unless you want to shoot "film" frame rate 24fps (really 23.976, then you'll need to be in NTSC mode).

If you are unsure of what you are doing.... how important is quality?

 

I'd suggest start with the camera in MP4 mode.
Camera settings>page2>  

File format MP4

Record setting 1920x1080 25P 16M

either leave Picture Profile off... or go to PP4 (which is Rec.709 for HD TV).

 

Put camera into "movie" mode (don't have to, but then you won't accidentally take stills)

Maybe leave ISO on Auto... although stage lighting could be all over the place. (note above ISO 3200 the video can start getting a bit noisey in low-light.... so try to keep below ISO3200 if you can if shooting under low-light conditions.  I normally lock my camera to 3200 for internal recordings where available light is poor.)

set white balance (for Tungsten or whatever - tungsten if inside at a stage should be normal)
set shutter speed to 1/50th (standard for PAL video... you can change it if you know why you want to, but start with that)
set aperture as required for depth of focus and available light as needed...   might find you need to be at f4 or lower.. depending on light levels.  F2.8 you'll likely lose subject focus at times.

 

The auto-stabilising in-camera works very well... there's no additional buttons on the 24-70 2.8 ( I use same lens).  Just leave IBIS on.

And do a test shoot under similar conditions so you know what you are getting.

Always a good idea to keep the exposure graph on-screen so you can see how you are exposing.... adjust aperture or ISO, not the shutter speed, to get best exposure.

 

If you need audio, stick a Rode videomic on top so at least its directional.

 

I normally shoot XAVCs, either HD or 4K for in-house video work... but lots of other basic cameras shoot .mov (MP4) format (h264 codec) so it will be fine if your exposure is good.

 

Lots of good basic video tutorials online.

 

Have fun.