Harry Pope is a photographer and videographer that specializes in travel and is located in Melbourne. In this article, he provides five pointers for shooting professional videos with a Canon EOS R5. This guide covers everything you need to know to take your videography abilities to the next level, from tips on how to stabilize your camera to suggestions for composition and storage.
Experiment with a wide range of different camera angles.
After you have planned out the places where you will shoot your video and the storyline for it, the following step is to consider the various camera angles that you would want to employ in your production. Experiment with as many distinct sorts of angles and perspectives as you can so that your narrative may convey a greater range of feelings.
Move from broad views to medium shoots and tight shots, and don’t forget to add some really close-up images so that the viewer can concentrate on the minute details. Keeping your audience interested and contributing to the flow of your tale are both benefits of utilizing several points of view. Additionally, once you get to the stage of editing, it will be helpful for you since you will have a wide variety of various camera angles to pick from.
Make Sure Your Video Footage Is Steady (Without a Gimbal)
It’s possible that you won’t be able to afford a gimbal while you’re just starting out in the world of videography. In spite of this, there are still ways to achieve exceptionally smooth video footage with just a few basic adjustments.
As you move and pan your camera, you should begin by ensuring that you always have a firm grip on both the body of your camera and the lens. In addition, you should make sure that your elbows are locked into the sides of your body.
Use the tried-and-true procedure known as “three points of contact” to get an even higher level of stability. Put the camera strap over your neck so that it is the initial point of contact, and then slowly move the camera away from you so that there is more strain and stability. Your hands should be on the camera itself as your second point of touch; after that, you should lock your elbows into place against your torso as your third point of contact. Using this approach will provide you with an adequate amount of stabilization, allowing you to maintain the smoothness and clarity of your video recording.
In addition to the aforementioned pointers, be sure to make use of a lens that possesses optical image stabilization (OIS). The Canon EOS R5 boasts an outstanding 5-axis in-body stabilization system, which results in a video that is extraordinarily smooth. When used with a lens that also features image stabilization, the resulting video will have such a silky smooth quality that it will fool you into thinking it was filmed with a gimbal.
Remember to apply the Rule of Thirds
The “rule of thirds” is a method that is utilized by photographers and videographers alike. It is a straightforward method that is used to construct photos that have a professional appearance. To put it into action, simply position your subject on one of the grid lines that can be seen on the back of your camera screen or through the viewfinder (you’ll see two vertical and two horizontal lines), or on one of the four intersecting points where the lines cross. This will enable you to take a picture with a more pleasing composition. If you use this strategy, you will be able to frame your photographs more quickly, and the end result of your work will be more visually beautiful.
Familiarize Yourself with the Powerful Video Settings Offered by the EOS R5
The Canon EOS R5 comes with a plethora of advanced features and controls that have been fine-tuned specifically for the purpose of recording cinematic video footage. It is advised that you shoot in full Manual mode so that you have complete control over all of your camera’s settings. This will allow you to capture the highest quality film possible.
Keep in mind that the fixed shutter speed should be set to double the framerate that you are shooting at. For illustration’s sake, if you’re shooting at a rate of 30 frames per second, you should keep your shutter speed at a constant 1/60. When shooting at 60 frames per second, you should keep your shutter speed at 1/120 of a second at all times. Your film will have the most natural-looking motion and motion blur as a result of doing this.
You can regulate the quantity of light that enters your camera by adjusting the aperture (also known as the f-stop), which also allows you to adjust how much of the image is in focus in your photographs. If you want to take photos with a shallow depth of focus and a pleasingly fuzzy background, you should consider shooting with an aperture that is somewhere in the range of f/2.8 to f/4.
This will assist in guaranteeing that your subject remains the primary focus of attention. If you are going to be shooting at night or in settings with low light, make sure that your aperture is as wide open as it can be. This will enable the most amount of light to reach your sensor.
Make sure your hard drives and memory cards are ready.
Because the Canon EOS R5 is capable of shooting video footage of extremely high quality (up to 8K), you will need memory cards of good quality and a large amount of storage space in order to back up your film.
Because the EOS R5 is compatible with both CFexpress cards and SD cards, you will have the ability to record to both card slots at the same time, ensuring that you will always have a backup. When filming commercial video projects, events, or weddings, this is even more vital to keep in mind.
Before you begin recording, you need to make sure that your memory cards are formatted in such a way that they have the maximum amount of space available. During a shoot, the last thing you want to be concerned about is whether or not you have enough storage. Also, make sure that you have sufficient storage space on not one but two external hard drives before you start backing up your video recordings twice. There is no situation that is more devastating than one in which you lose all of your films due to the failure of a single hard disk on which it was backed up.