Camera Settings

In this video, we will learn camera settings that will be useful for both your phone and camera. We will focus specifically on the phone settings necessary to adjust to your light setup and image preferences. If you record with a camera, you will need to watch one more video dedicated to DSLR or automated cameras.

However, this video is still useful for camera users and is recommended for watching.

First, let’s review the terminology you need to understand and what it stands for, so when we discuss settings, we will speak the same language.

Frame Rate

You are already familiar with the frame rate, which represents the number of frames your video will have in each second. Frame rate is important because it directly impacts the size of your file and the type of visual you create.

A lower frame rate creates a cinema-type of video, where the motion is blurred and it looks more natural to the eye. A higher frame rate provides more details, a crisper image, and motion can be slowed down to create slow motion.

The frame rate settings you need for our type of videos will be as follows:

Frame Rate Settings:

24 or 25 FPS

Focal Length and Lens Angle

Focal Length: This term refers to the zoom level of your camera lens. Shorter focal lengths give you a wider view, which is great for capturing landscapes or large groups. Longer focal lengths allow you to zoom in closer to your subject, ideal for portraits or distant objects.

When recording with a DSLR camera with a 35mm, 50mm, or even an 85mm lens, you are covered and do not need to jump through different hoops to get a good image in the video. You can record your videos in horizontal format and later frame it vertically. You will remove the sides and just keep what you need.

This recording will be natural and easier to set up. All you need to ensure is that you are recording in portrait mode, or adjust your focal length accordingly.

In case you are recording with your phone, there are limitations that you need to deal with. The phones have a small wide-angle lens which distorts the edges of your frame. It makes anything close to the edge look bigger and what is in the center smaller and compact. Especially distorted are the sides.

Modern phones sometimes have more than one lens that are recording images with different lens angles. So one might be for a wide or ultra-wide lens, another for a macro lens, and a standard lens. Understanding lens angle and focal length is useful.

Keep in mind that these are not physical lenses but camera features controlled by software and hardware, which is why we will not call it lens view:

Standard Lens

The standard view on a phone camera is the basic field of view used for everyday photography. It typically resembles human vision and has a focal length equivalent to around 24mm to 35mm in 35mm equivalents. Standard views are versatile for various photography styles, including portraits, street photography, and general shots. The 50mm equivalent (best for the portrait) is simulated by the software of the phone by adding a blur to the background.

Wide Lens

A wide view on a phone camera is broader than the standard view, offering a wider field of view to capture more of the scene in a single shot. This feature is typically achieved with focal lengths ranging from 18mm to 24mm in 35mm equivalents. Wide views are great for capturing landscapes, architecture, or large groups of people, providing a sense of space and openness. Wide-angle lenses can create a sense of depth, but they may also cause some distortion at the edges of the frame.

Ultra-Wide View

An ultra-wide view on a phone camera gives you a broader field of view, allowing you to capture expansive scenes like landscapes, cityscapes, or large groups. This feature is achieved through specialized camera modules with shorter focal lengths, often around 12mm to 16mm in 35mm equivalents. Ultra-wide lenses can produce a fisheye effect, where the image appears curved or distorted, emphasizing the perspective and adding dramatic flair.

Macro View

This feature allows phone cameras to capture extreme close-ups, focusing on tiny objects or details like insects, flowers, or small items. Phone cameras use specialized software and sensor technology to simulate the effect of a macro lens, allowing you to capture intricate details at a short distance.

These features on phone cameras are achieved through a combination of hardware (camera sensors and modules) and software (image processing and algorithms). The ability to switch between these different views allows phone cameras to mimic the effects of multiple lenses, providing flexibility in capturing a range of scenes and subjects. Usually, it is done through focus settings or scene selection of your camera app or both.

What we want to achieve is a portrait scene, so for this, we will need to have a simulation of a standard lens.

Resolution and Aspect Ratio

You must also remember the resolution and aspect ratio from our previous lessons, where resolution stands for the sharpness of the image and the aspect ratio is responsible for the proportions of the video sides – the heights and widths – whether vertical, horizontal, or even square.

Depending on your camera capabilities, you will need to choose in what resolution and aspect ratio you should record your video.

If your phone supports recording in 4K resolution, we will choose this option so that we’ll be able to record in a horizontal format and seamlessly cut off the distorted edges during the editing phase. However, recording in 4K requires compression of the video file and this may cause some problems during video editing (we will cover it in the section on video codecs).

If you choose to record in Full HD, then you can try horizontal recording and see if it helps eliminate distortion of the edges without a decrease in quality after editing. If the quality drops significantly, then you should return to the vertical video format.

Here are the settings guide

Aspect Ratio and Resolution Settings:

4K Horizontal Format Settings: 16:9 (3840×2160) or 4:3 (2560×1920)
Full HD Horizontal Format Settings: 16:9 (1920×1080) or 4:3 (1920×1440) or (1600×1200)
Full HD Vertical Format Settings: 9:16 (1080×1920)

You are familiar with these terms. You have just learned about different focal lenses and how phone hardware and software imitate them.

Let’s cover straight away the new terms and their definitions.

Video Codecs

Video codecs are technologies that compress (reduce file size) and decompress (playback or edit) digital video files. The term “codec” combines “compression” and “decompression.”

Compression: You already know that video files can be quite large due to the amount of data involved in storing each frame of a video. A codec compresses this data to make it more manageable, allowing for easier storage, transmission, and streaming.

Decompression: When you play back a compressed video, the codec decompresses it, reversing the compression process to reconstruct the video frames for viewing. This step is critical for ensuring smooth playback without loss of quality.

Common Video Codecs

Video Containers

Codecs are often used within “containers,” which are file formats that encapsulate video and audio data. Examples include MP4, MKV, AVI, and MOV.

Containers play a crucial role in digital video and multimedia, serving as a framework to hold and organize various types of data within a single file. Here’s a deeper look at what containers do and why they’re important:

Purpose of Containers: A container, also known as a “wrapper” or “file format,” is a structure that encapsulates different types of multimedia data, such as video, audio, subtitles, and metadata. It acts like a package, allowing all these components to stay together while maintaining a defined structure.

Multi-Codec Support: Containers can hold multiple codecs for video and audio. This flexibility allows a video file to contain video encoded with one codec and audio with another, providing compatibility across various platforms and devices. For example, an MP4 container might hold H.264 video and AAC audio.

Popular Container Formats

MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14): Widely used for streaming and general video playback. It’s supported by most devices and platforms, making it a popular choice for sharing and distribution.
MKV (Matroska Video File): Known for its flexibility, MKV supports multiple audio and subtitle tracks, making it popular for videos with complex structures or different language versions.
AVI (Audio Video Interleave): An older format, primarily used in Windows environments, but less flexible with modern codecs.
MOV: A container developed by Apple, often used for video editing and compatible with many professional software applications.

File Size and Quality: Containers can impact file size and quality based on the codecs and compression techniques used. They also help manage file structure to ensure smooth streaming and playback without glitches or delays.

Recommended settings:

Depending on your device choose
- MP4 for Android
- MOV for iOS

Exposure

Exposure in photography refers to the amount of light that reaches the camera’s sensor or film, determining how light or dark the resulting image will be. It plays a crucial role in creating a balanced photograph where details are visible, colors are vibrant, and the scene looks natural. Here’s a detailed explanation of exposure and its key elements:

Exposure Components

Exposure involves three main factors that work together to control the amount of light in a photograph:

Shutter Speed
Aperture
ISO

Let’s have a look at them one by one. Note although that in mobile photography usually all these factors are controlled by one setting EV (Exposure Value) we cover at the end of this section.

Shutter Speed

This is the length of time the camera’s shutter is open, allowing light to reach the sensor. Faster shutter speeds capture less light, while slower shutter speeds capture more light.

Motion Blur: A fast shutter speed captures sharp images, even with moving subjects. A slow shutter speed can create motion blur, useful for artistic effects or conveying movement.

It’s measured in fractions of a second or whole seconds. For example, 1/1000 second is very fast, while 1 second is quite slow.

For the type of video we are recording, we usually use a shutter speed depending on the frame rate speed. So, for 24 or 25 FPS, you would use 1/50 and for 30 FPS – 1/60.

Aperture

This is the size of the opening in the camera lens through which light enters. Aperture is measured in F-stop numbers. The “f” in f-stop stands for “focal length,” while “stop” refers to the relative change in light transmission through the lens.

Aperture is like the pupil of an eye in your camera lens. It can open up to let more light in or close down to let less light in. A wider aperture (lower f-number, like f/2.8) blurs the background, which is great for portraits. A narrower aperture (higher f-number, like f/16) keeps more of the scene in focus, which is ideal for landscapes.

A simple thing to remember: A wider aperture (low f-stop number) lets in more light, while a narrower aperture (high f-stop number) allows less light.

Your phone aperture will most probably be somewhere between f/1.2 and f/2.8.

ISO

This is the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to light. A higher ISO setting increases sensitivity, allowing for brighter images in low-light conditions, but can introduce noise (graininess). A lower ISO setting is used in bright conditions for cleaner images.

“International Organization for Standardization” – This doesn’t directly explain its use in photography, but in this context, it refers to the camera’s sensitivity to light.

Balancing Exposure

Proper exposure requires balancing these three elements to achieve the desired result. If the exposure is correct, the photo will have a good level of brightness with details visible in both the highlights (bright areas) and shadows (dark areas). Here’s how exposure can be adjusted:

Overexposure: This happens when too much light reaches the sensor, causing the photo to be too bright or washed out. It can lead to loss of detail in the bright areas.

Underexposure: This occurs when not enough light reaches the sensor, making the photo too dark. This can result in loss of detail in the shadow areas.

Exposure Value (EV): Some cameras have an exposure value control, allowing you to increase or decrease the exposure by a set increment (like +1 EV or -1 EV). This can help you quickly adjust exposure without changing the other settings manually.

And as we said in the beginning – most probably your phone camera has this value.

Lock Exposure: Most phones’ cameras we are using are automated, and you will have very little influence on all those elements that impact exposure. And because it is automated, your camera sensor is constantly adjusting to the new light conditions. Which means if you move closer to the camera or wave your hand, your exposure will change, and it will affect the light, the colors, clarity of the image. That is why you need to ensure you lock it.

Exposure settings:

Adjust your exposure according to your lighting conditions
EV ±1
ISO 150 – 300
Aperture – f/1.8, f/2.0, or f/2.8
Shutter Speed – 1/50 (for 24 or 25 FPS) and 1/60 (for 30 FPS)

White Balance

White balance adjusts the colors in your image to make them look more natural. Different types of light can make colors look too warm (yellowish) or too cool (bluish). White balance corrects this so that white objects appear white under any light. This helps the other colors look accurate too.

There are three ways to set a white balance in a DSLR camera and mostly one in a phone camera.

Color Temperature Scale

This scale, measured in Kelvin (K), indicates the warmth or coolness of a light source. Lower values (like 2,500K) indicate warmer light (more yellow/orange), while higher values (like 10,000K) indicate cooler light (more blue). White balance settings use this scale to compensate for different lighting conditions.

Presets

Many cameras offer preset white balance settings based on common lighting conditions. Typical presets include:

Auto White Balance (AWB): The camera automatically adjusts white balance based on the scene’s lighting.
Daylight: For outdoor daylight conditions, typically around 5,500K.
Shade: For shaded outdoor conditions, usually around 7,000K, as shade tends to be cooler.
Cloudy: For overcast conditions, generally around 6,500K.
Tungsten: For incandescent lighting, typically around 3,200K, which is warm.
Fluorescent: For fluorescent lighting, which can vary, usually around 4,000K to 5,000K.
Flash: For camera flash, around 5,500K to 6,000K.

Custom White Balance

Some cameras allow you to set a custom white balance by photographing a neutral gray or white object under the current lighting conditions. This creates a reference point for the camera to adjust the color temperature.

Recommended settings:

Daylight or Fluorescent 5000K-6000K approximately

Camera Apps

There are many camera apps available in the app stores, free and paid, with more or less features. The conditions to use those apps are changing because those are businesses and they adjust to the market demands, change prices, features available for free, and so on. So, you need to do a little research.

However, it is interesting to know that the native camera app, the one installed by default by your phone manufacturer, might give you the best quality of the image as it has more control over your phone hardware. In most cases, the native app will be very limited for manual setup. That is why people are searching for additional apps.

There is an opinion that third-party apps do not have the same access to the phone hardware and that is why they are limited to only recording the sensor and then manipulating it. Whereas the native app can actually influence the sensor. I can’t confirm it, but from my research, third-party apps do lose in quality of the image.

So there is no one size fits all answer to the question of how to set your phone for recording. But the same is not as complicated as it seems.

If you want to see all the above settings in real life, let’s move to the next video.

The List of Camera APPS to Try

(note if your native camera app does not perform we

Several camera apps allow users to manipulate a range of settings to achieve natural portrait scene videos on mobile devices. These apps generally offer control over key elements like exposure, white balance, focus, ISO, and shutter speed, giving you flexibility to create natural-looking videos with portrait-style effects. Here’s a list of camera apps known for providing extensive control over these settings:

ProCamera (iOS)

ProCamera is a comprehensive app for iOS devices that allows you to control various settings, such as exposure, focus, white balance, ISO, and shutter speed. It offers manual controls similar to those found in professional cameras, along with advanced features like RAW capture and HDR mode.

Filmic Pro (iOS, Android)

Filmic Pro is a popular app for both iOS and Android users. It offers extensive manual controls for exposure, focus, ISO, shutter speed, and white balance. It also provides advanced features like dual-mode recording, LOG format, and LUT support. This app is widely used by filmmakers and video enthusiasts for its flexibility and range of controls.

ProCam (iOS)

ProCam is another feature-rich app for iOS that allows manual control over settings like exposure, focus, white balance, ISO, and shutter speed. It also offers additional features like time-lapse, slow-motion, and burst modes.

Open Camera (Android)

Open Camera is a free and open-source app for Android devices. It provides manual controls for exposure, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus, along with other features like auto-stabilization and HDR mode. It is a versatile app for those who want more control over their camera settings.

Manual Camera (Android)

Manual Camera is an app designed for Android devices that allows users to control key settings like ISO, shutter speed, focus, and white balance. It provides manual controls and is compatible with devices that support the Camera2 API, allowing for greater flexibility.

Moment Pro Camera (iOS, Android)

Moment Pro Camera offers manual controls for exposure, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus, along with advanced features like RAW shooting and dual-lens support (for phones with multiple lenses). It is designed for both iOS and Android users, providing a professional-grade camera experience on mobile devices.

These camera apps allow users to manipulate the necessary settings for natural portrait scene videos, giving you greater control over how your videos look. Depending on your device’s compatibility and your specific needs, one of these apps can help you create high-quality, professional-looking portrait videos.