Advice Wanted Seeking advice

[Charzes44]

My Fujifilm X-T3 is highly regarded for its video capability. An area of which I am completely ignorant, but I would like to learn how to take simple videos of my puppy chasing my grandchildren (for example). I do not intend to make epic movies with sound etc! But there is so much that I do not understand, like F-Log, Movie Output, what shutter speed and aperture settings I should use, and why. Is there a beginner's book, or a YouTube video for numpties you can recommend? I can follow instructions, but I would like to know why I might make a given setting, and what might happen if I set it differently! I have watched some of Pal2Tech and all of Chris Orange video set-up tutorials, but I don't understand why I have set up my camera as advised. I thoroughly understand all still settings. Your advice will be gratefully received.

 

[CatsAreGods]

Well, for starters, forget all that F-Log stuff; that's for serious videographers who plan to do all kinds of color matching of scenes and post-processing up the gazoo. All you need is regular H.264 output at 1080p or perhaps 4K at 100 or 200 Mbps maximum. This will give you very decent quality video that you can play or upload anywhere, or edit if you like.

 

[Charzes44]

Well, for starters, forget all that F-Log stuff; that's for serious videographers who plan to do all kinds of color matching of scenes and post-processing up the gazoo. All you need is regular H.264 output at 1080p or perhaps 4K at 100 or 200 Mbps maximum. This will give you very decent quality video that you can play or upload anywhere, or edit if you like.

Thank you CAG, that's just the sort of information I am looking for. What is H.264 output please, and what would the consequences be if I set it differently?

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

From my own experience with my Sony's, the hardest part about taking video's was figuring out what file format I could actually get my computer to interpret.
I'm not familiar with your camera or computer system so it's hard to say what will or won't work.
I'd almost recommend taking a video, downloading it and going from there to see what you need to change.
As for understanding the 'why' of some setting, I'll leave that for the pro's to discuss.

 

[sasquatchphotog]

I don't have experience with Fuji or the X-T3, but here's a video guide for X-T3 video from Maarten Heilbron - he seems a really nice chap, knows his stuff but manages to keep his guides/reviews light and accessible to novice viewers

To your question re: H.264, or AVC - it's a video compression codec. It's become the defacto standard format for video delivery. If you record in H.264, pretty much anything will play it back with ease these days.

H.265, aka HEVC, is a development from H.264, and trades increased quality at lower bitrates for more resource intensive decoding/encoding (ie playback and rendering) and (for now) slightly narrower compatibility with software and devices.

Worth noting that there's a difference between video container formats (e.g. mp4, mov, mts etc) and video codecs (H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, WMV etc).

To get started easily, and perhaps in slight disagreement with the linked video, shooting h.264 in the mp4 format will ensure wide compatibility, with simple out of camera sharing along with ability to edit if desired.

 

[CatsAreGods]

Thank you CAG, that's just the sort of information I am looking for. What is H.264 output please, and what would the consequences be if I set it differently?

The problem is that you're starting off as a total beginner but now you're asking questions which sound basic but they're opening a big industrial-strength can of worms. The correct answers to these can be found by following the Wiki link, and the appropriate links that you find there, but just doing that will probably unduly confuse you. NOT trying to be patronizing at all, there's really a huge amount of information to learn if you want to know the details of all the codecs and video formats...and most of that isn't necessary to know if you're just trying to do family videos. That's really what I was trying to say in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, so sorry if I was too terse. Sasquatchphotog said it better!

P.S. I used to do professional videography, but now I "keep it simple" for my personal videos, using the settings I mentioned and mostly auto settings for everything else and it comes out great.

 

[Charzes44]

I don't have experience with Fuji or the X-T3, but here's a video guide for X-T3 video from Maarten Heilbron - he seems a really nice chap, knows his stuff but manages to keep his guides/reviews light and accessible to novice viewers

To your question re: H.264, or AVC - it's a video compression codec. It's become the defacto standard format for video delivery. If you record in H.264, pretty much anything will play it back with ease these days.

H.265, aka HEVC, is a development from H.264, and trades increased quality at lower bitrates for more resource intensive decoding/encoding (ie playback and rendering) and (for now) slightly narrower compatibility with software and devices.

Worth noting that there's a difference between video container formats (e.g. mp4, mov, mts etc) and video codecs (H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, WMV etc).

To get started easily, and perhaps in slight disagreement with the linked video, shooting h.264 in the mp4 format will ensure wide compatibility, with simple out of camera sharing along with ability to edit if desired.

Thank you both sasquatchphotog and CatsAreGods. I am beginning to understand, but trouble is is the more you know, the more you know you don't know! You are both very patient, and informative, and I truly appreciate that. Thank you.

 

[CatsAreGods]

Thank you both sasquatchphotog and CatsAreGods. I am beginning to understand, but trouble is is the more you know, the more you know you don't know! You are both very patient, and informative, and I truly appreciate that. Thank you.

By complete coincidence, I just ran into this post on another forum, and I think it's pretty comprehensive and right up your alley: A decent baseline for Fujifilm X-T4 video recording (for video beginners): Fujifilm X System / SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

 

[Charzes44]

Wow, thank you.

 

[Rose McGillicuddy]

Well, for starters, forget all that F-Log stuff; that's for serious videographers who plan to do all kinds of color matching of scenes and post-processing up the gazoo. All you need is regular H.264 output at 1080p or perhaps 4K at 100 or 200 Mbps maximum. This will give you very decent quality video that you can play or upload anywhere, or edit if you like.

Would this apply to video on other system cameras - Canon and Olympus? Thanks

 

[CatsAreGods]

Would this apply to video on other system cameras - Canon and Olympus? Thanks

Sure! Most camera systems these days support high-end (for want of a better term) video codecs, even GoPros. And it's totally unnecessary (in fact, quite counter-productive) to use these unless you're doing high-end video, shooting for a Netflix production, or things like that 😺 Stick with H264/MP4/AVC and keep it simple!

 

[gryphon1911]

To start, I’d set the following

1080p 30 fps
Shoot manual with auto iso
Set shutter speed to 1/60
Set aperture to what is needed to get a proper exposure.

Eventually you’ll want an ND filter for shooting outside.

For post processing I recommend Adobe premiere elements or power director 365.

Shoot, edit, repeat. Expect failure as part of the learning process.

 

[wee-pics]

When I started to take films with the E-M5 and the Lumix LX 100.2 I chose the highest quality the cameras offer. I've been recording musicians during the open stage part of the Folk Club I'm running in our small town. And I was surprised by both the quality of the movies and their sound (with the in-built microphone). Usually I stop after each song to make PP easier, but I've also recorded full concerts with two sets of 45 to 60 minutes.

To get the size reduced for uploading on a website or for sending via email I use a freeware tool called "HandBrake". It reduces the size to any wanted format without any change in tone quality. It's very easy to use.

 

[Charzes44]

When I started to take films with the E-M5 and the Lumix LX 100.2 I chose the highest quality the cameras offer. I've been recording musicians during the open stage part of the Folk Club I'm running in our small town. And I was surprised by both the quality of the movies and their sound (with the in-built microphone). Usually I stop after each song to make PP easier, but I've also recorded full concerts with two sets of 45 to 60 minutes.

To get the size reduced for uploading on a website or for sending via email I use a freeware tool called "HandBrake". It reduces the size to any wanted format without any change in tone quality. It's very easy to use.

Thank you Walter.