Canon Rebel Camera Video Setup

[15Katey]

How to Set Up Canon Rebel T7i (800D) to Shoot Video​

Question: I’d like to start getting into shooting more video and I’m not sure how to set my Canon Rebel T7i up for it. I know I can set it to Auto mode and then just shoot the video, but I keep reading about how video should be captured in Manual mode. And then I’m also reading about shutter speed with video. I didn’t even know I had to set shutter speed when shooting video. What’s that about? Can you help?

Answer: I know so many otherwise fantastic photographers who are somewhat intimidated by shooting video. I think it’s because of the questions you asked. They simply don’t know how to set their cameras up, which is a shame because taking video with today’s cameras, such as your Canon T7i, is so easy. Sure, you can always use Auto mode, but when you need something more precise and when you need the ultimate control, you’ll need to move over to Manual mode. Don’t worry, it’s almost just as easy, if you are aware of a few key concepts.

Okay, shooting video, technically speaking, really is pretty much the same as taking still photos. The only difference is, as I alluded to above, you’ll need to be in Manual mode. I know it’s easier to pop the dial at the top of the camera into Auto mode, but trust me, taking advantage of Manual mode is going to train you much better for your future videography career, even if you don’t want to make a career out of doing this.

Here’s what you need to do to set up your T7i.

First, turn your camera on and flip the top (on/off) switch to video mode. This will automatically turn on the rear LCD screen so you can clearly see what you’re taking video of. So you don’t need to flip back and forth from viewfinder mode to live view mode. The camera does that for you.

Next, because we’re practicing here, set your camera up on a tripod and point it at your scene. This will help you keep these steps clear. Also, turn your lens to manual focus as opposed to auto focus. Auto focus can hunt around a bit, depending on movement in your scene and since we’re just practicing, you don’t want any hunting. Go ahead and focus in on something in your scene. If you’ve got an active bird feeder, point your camera at that and focus in. If you live in an apartment building, point your camera out the window down towards the street. Things like these are perfect to practice taking video.

Set your camera’s mode to Manual. Then, depending on the light, you’ll need to make certain adjustments for ISO and aperture. Like photography, if you’re looking for a deeper depth of field, set your aperture to a higher number and vice-versa if you’d like a more shallow depth of field. With the T7i, you can simply touch the rear screen to activate the editable settings. Also, touch the ISO setting to change your ISO so it looks good on the back of the screen. You’ll see it getting darker and lighter as you roll the dial back and forth.

When it comes to setting the shutter speed for video, you’ll need to remember one simple formula. Your shutter speed setting should be about double your frame rate. So if you’re shooting video at 30 frames per second, you’ll use a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. If you’re shooting at 24 frames per second, you’ll use a shutter speed of 1/50 of a second. If it’s not too bright outside, you should be able to get away with this without using a neutral density filter, but if it’s really sunny and bright outside, you’ll likely need to attach one of these filters to your lens so you don’t over-expose your video. Again, take a look at your ISO settings periodically to compensate for any aperture or shutter speed changes.

Because you don’t want your ultimate video’s color temperature to change as you’re shooting your video, it’s better to lock in a white balance setting as well. Take a look around and figure out what your color balance setting should be and then manually set that.

That’s pretty much it for the settings. When it comes time to record, push the button that’s to the right of your view finder on the back of your T7i. It’s the one with the small red dot next to it. Record your video and then to stop, press the same button again. Don’t use the shutter button. That won’t work here.

Also, as a side note, when you’re recording something that’s the primary subject of your video and if it’s moving, be sure to begin your recording a few seconds before the subject comes into the frame and then stop a few seconds after it leaves. That will give you some wiggle room during editing. It’ll also allow you to edit out the movement you introduce when you press the video recording button on the rear of your camera.

I suggest you practice with a tripod first to get your feet wet when it comes to taking video. While it’s not a difficult process at all, you will need to consider each setting and then set the camera to whatever you feel is right. Remember, Manual mode is best for things like this because you’ll get yourself a lot of control from that mode.

 

[15Katey]

How Do I Make Continuous Videos with Canon Rebel Camera?​

Question: I found that it’s not as simple as pushing a button and leaving the camera. It shuts off after about a minute. How do I prevent this?

Answer: This is a good question. What model of Canon Rebel camera do you have? There may be a few things going on with your camera turning off by itself.

First, check your battery strength. If your battery isn’t charged sufficiently, your camera will shut down automatically. More than likely though, your Auto Power Off setting in the menu area is set to one minute. This will cause the camera to turn off by itself after that time.

When you’re shooting video and after the camera turns off, can you press the shutter button half way down to have the camera turn back on? If so, it sounds like the Auto Power Off feature may be the culprit. To check this out, press the Menu button on the back of the camera. On my T7i, this feature is under the yellow wrench menu area and it’s the second tab in. Depending on your model, things may be slightly different. Use the dial on the top of the camera to scroll between menus until you see this feature. When you do, use the up and down arrow buttons on the back of the camera to highlight it and then press the Set button to select it. Once inside this feature area, choose the Off option and then press the Set button again. This will turn the feature off so your camera won’t turn off automatically anymore. To exit the menu area, press the Menu button a few times until you’re out.

Please let me know if this works or if we need to investigate further. Thanks!

 

[15Katey]

Which Camera is the Best for Taking Videos?​

Question: Hey guys. I’m not sure if this is the best place to ask but here we go. I wanted some input on what camera to buy. I’m willing to spend $700. My main focus is to take good quality videos. My smartphone is acting up and has no more storage left for me. I wanted to know what do you guys recommend for a beginner. I’ve heard Cannon is better for taking photos, but not videos. I’m looking into Sony as well, but I’m not sure if that’s the best option. My primary focus is to have good video quality. I would only take photos sometimes. I would love to know your suggestions.

Reply: If I had to purchase a device exclusively for video right now, I’d take a good hard look at some of the available GoPro cameras. I’ve owned them in the past and they are of excellent quality. Although, I’m not sure how much customization is available with those cameras in the way of narrowing or widening the shots. With a DSLR or mirrorless camera, you can obviously change lenses and settings, so you have much more flexibility when it comes to making the scene appear as you want. As far as brands go, I’ve only shot with Canon. I’ve had good luck taking video with my Canon, but only on the newer models, such as the T7i. Check out the brand new Canon T8i. Read this:

There’s faster burst shooting, better video formats and upgraded autofocus, with Face Detection even in viewfinder shooting, as well as Eye Detection in Live View.

4K UHD video at 24p; 4K UHD timelapse at 30p
Full HD video up to 60p
On the video side of things, the T8i offers improved features over the T7i thanks to the new image processor. The camera now features 4K UHD video at 24p, whereas the predecessor only offered up to 1080p video. Additionally, the T8i includes a timelapse movie feature that can create high-res timelapse movies directly in-camera (offered at both 4K UHD and 1080p at 30p). Of course, Full HD and 720p HD video modes are also offered, with frame rates for 1080p offered in 24, 30 and 60p for NTSC, while 720p is available at just 60p. Furthermore, there is an HDR Movie option for 1080p30 as well as the ability to shoot Full HD videos using Creative Filters (offered in both 24p and 30p).
The majority of video resolutions and framerates utilize the IPB compression scheme (inter-frame compression). And a more compressed IPB Light option is also available for 1080p30 video. Both 4K and 1080p Timelapse movie mode uses the higher-quality ALL-I intra-frame compression scheme. All video modes other than timelapse movie use the MP4 format (time-lapse is .MOV) with MPEG-4/H.264 encoding. Stereo audio is recorded in AAC format.
Autofocus is available in video mode, with Dual Pixel CMOS AF offered for Full HD and HD modes. However, the camera uses contrast-detection AF for 4K video; Dual Pixel CMOS AF is not available.

As with most Canon cameras, continuous video recording time, regardless of video resolution, is limited to 29 minutes, 59 secs.

This upgraded Canon seems pretty awesome for video.

I have a buddy who is getting into shooting video and has used both the GoPro as well as a Canon DSLR. I’ll send this post over to him so he can chime in with his opinion on both.

Reply: It all depends on your style and how much gear you want to lug around. The newest Gopro Hero 8 ($299) is very good for action, obviously, but can also be used to get nice cinematic footage by changing the wide angle to a more linear view and utilizing it’s high frame rate for slow motion. It has hyper stabilization (you can sprint with it on uneven ground and the footage comes out smooth as butter). If you were to attempt that with a DLSR handheld, you would have nauseating footage from the shakiness. As stated above though, the DLSR gives you much more artistic freedom as you can narrow and expand the aperture, allowing you to adjust depth of field (getting those nice blurred backgrounds while focusing on your subject), and the sky is the limit with lens configurations allowing you to manipulate your focal length. My favorite thing to do with the DLSR is time-lapses; the Gopro can accomplish this too but with greater limitations. The biggest limitation I’ve found with the DLSR is that when you start moving quickly, it is very hard to keep footage smooth, unless you were to invest in a gimbal which is big $$ and a big space taker. The biggest limitation of the GoPro is the focal length is set and there is no zooming options. It’s all situational. I end up taking them both with me and using each for different things. At the end of the day, if your style is “run and gun” shots, the GoPro is probably better, and if you want to be more engaged and artful with your footage the DLSR is probably a better choice. My advice, get them both! Good luck!

 

[15Katey]

Can I Take .MOV Videos with My Canon Rebel T6i?​

I have an account with iStock where I usually upload photos in JPG format. I recently began taking video for stock purposes as well and noticed that iStock only accepts video files in .MOV format. My camera, which is a Canon Rebel T6i, apparently records video in .MP4 format and after looking around for a while, I have deduced that I can’t change that to another format. From what I gathered, my T6i will only take .MP4 videos and it will take .MOV video if the camera is in time lapse mode, or something like that. I’m not too clear on that.

So my question is, can the Canon Rebel series of DSLR cameras take videos in .MOV format or any type other than MP4?

Thanks!