Fuji Video recording of an event with X-E1 with XF18-55 or XF18 lens?

[Ramirez]

Tomorrow evening I am going to do a video recording of an music event.
I am going to put the X-E1 on a tripod and let it record the event all by itself.
The video recording is only for myself so I can watch the event later on.
It is actually a concert in a church that I don't want to miss.

I, myself, are going to be in a different room with kids so I can't be where the main event is at. I am working in the church so I can go between the rooms as I please.

I know about the 29 minutes limit, so I have to go in the middle of the hour that the event going to take to push the record button again.

As I can't operate the camera I am going to record at the wide end on the XF18-55 or use the XF18.

Which one should you prefer for video - XF18-55 or XF18 for this task?

And should I manually focus before I go to the other room or use AF?

Other setting I should use for the video recording? Which aperture? It is in a dimly lit church.

Remember, the video recording must not be perfect, it is just for me so I can watch it later.

I also have an external mic that I am going to connect to the camera.

Thanks for advice beforehand

 

[Ramirez]

I understand that many here aren´t really "video-oriented", me included.
I just need to record some videolips from time to time for my own needs (not professionally).

But I want to describe how I did the recording last night in my video amateurish ways

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The concert lasted nearly 2 hours.

The beforehand steps:

- I put the X-E1 with the XF18-55 mounted on a tripod with an external mic (just the cheap Nikon ME-1 but better than in camera mic)

- I framed the scene when the band was practicing

- Fully charged battery and an 8GB card (to small for nearly 2 hours as I could not record the last 2 songs - I'll buy at least an 16GB card to next time as you can't really change card easily when mounted on a tripod

During the concert:

As I said, I was occupied in another room in the church.

- I had a timer om my iPhone (iPhone on silent mode of course, just vibrated when it waa time) - 27 minutes; it gave me time to go back to the concert and push the record button (as the camera's got the 29 minute video recording limit

- The first clip; I used aperture 4 and Astia film simulation as I recorded people (wanted the best skin tones)

- Later on I noticed it got pretty dark when I came back to push the record button again; I changed to max aperture 2.8 and also compensated with EV +2

After:

- I am pretty satisfied; the sound was ok at least for me to listen to it (the things I missed due to me not being able to attend)

- Video image quality was ok too

- Oh I forgot to say; I used manual focus; I set the focus for the distance to the band - MF is actually better for video recording than any AF (S or C)

Conlucion:

- You can actually use the X-E1 for video recording (maybe not for Hollywood movies)

Decent quality, good sound with external mic capability (better of course with even better mics like the Rode mics)

- I will absolutely use the X cameras for video when I need... Looking forward to the X100S as it is said that it has got even better video capabilities than the X-E1!

I know that these are not proper video recording tools (that is not the aim for the X cams), but to me they do a decent job

 

[fourtogaraffia]

Glad it went OK. I've found the Fuji's to be OK for video use. I've recorded some interview/talking head type shots and it's been just fine. I used an external sound recorder synched with the footage which was great. Shame there isn't a little more manual control on the video side but if you used them within their limitations, they're great.

 

[Ramirez]

Yep. It works. You just have to do all the manual settings beforehand then it's ok.
And manual focus is preferred, it is nicer to watch the videos without for example the AF-C hunting for focus all the time.