How to Shoot Cinematic Video
With DSLR Cameras

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HOW TO SHOOT CINEMATIC VIDEO WITH DSLR CAMERAS

It was over two years before I started to experiment with video on my current DSLR camera. Little did I know what beautiful footage I was missing out on!

You can achieve a totally different look compared to video shot on a GoPro, compact camera, camcorder or phone, with a film-like quality that looks really professional. Although some principles of photography remain the same for filming with your DSLR, there are some specific settings and techniques you need to use when switching to the video function. If you too want to start making travel videos that stand out, read on to learn how to shoot cinematic video with DSLR cameras.

Looking To Up Your Editing Game?

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5 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR CREATING GREAT VIDEOS

EQUIPMENT

First up, you’ll need to ensure you have a few specific pieces of equipment. You’ll likely have some of these already if you’re a keen photographer, otherwise it’s time to invest in some new gear.

A DSLR that shoots video (obviously)

Lens(es) to pair with your camera. A lens with a wide aperture (f1.4 for example) is particularly useful

A Tripod

A variable ND filter

A fast memory card (SanDisk Extreme Pro 170mb/s for example)

Extra batteries (shooting video uses up far more battery power than photographs)

Editing software for turning your footage into your completed travel video (I’ve recently made the switch to Adobe Premiere Pro from PowerDirector 16 and I’ll never look back!)

CAMERA SETTINGS

Shutter Speed & Frame Rate

The most important thing to ensure when shooting video is that your shutter speed matches your frame rate. And if you want to achieve that cinematic look, with just the right amount of motion blur, you need to shoot at 1/50 with a frame rate of 24fps (frames per second). You can change your fps settings in your camera Menu – on my Canon 700D these settings are in the ‘Movie Rec. Size’ section (make sure the dial is switched to Video mode to access this tab). 1920 x 1080 is full HD.

Set your camera to 1920×1080 for full HD and 24fps

Picture Style

You should also change your ‘Picture Style’ settings to ‘Neutral’. This dials down the contrast, sharpness and saturation to zero, which gives you much more leeway when it comes to editing your footage and getting the look just right. Reducing the sharpness also helps to reduce moire, the wavy lines effect that can occur when filming something with patterns, lines etc (for example brick walls on a building, or someone wearing a striped T-shirt).

Change your picture style to ‘Neutral’

White Balance

Finally, something we’ve learned through experience is the importance of setting your white balance (WB). While auto white balance (AWB) is okay for photography, it can cause a major headache when colour correcting and colour grading video in post production. Trying to match various clips with a significantly different white balance can be tricky to say the least. If your camera has a function to set custom white balance, use a grey card whenever you’re shooting a new scene to get the white balance spot on. If your camera doesn’t have such a function, choose the most appropriate white balance setting for the scene and shoot all subsequent clips using this.

Key Points

Shutter speed : 1/50

Frame Rate: 24fps 1920 x 1080 Full HD

‘Neutral’ Picture Style

Set White Balance for each scene

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START SHOOTING

With these camera settings in place you can start to actually shoot your videos. There’s a bit more to it than just flicking the dial to video and hitting record though.

First of all, make sure the camera dial is set to Manual (M) mode. You’ll need to have an understanding of your camera’s manual settings, and how to change things like the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. If you’re not sure, check the instructions manual!

EXPOSURE

Remember I said you have to stick to a shutter speed of 1/50, regardless of the environment you’re filming in? Well, this can make it a bit tricky to get the right exposure for your shot. If you’re filming outside in bright light then your footage will be way too overexposed. If you’re shooting in low-light then it will be underexposed. So, what’s the solution? This is where your choice of lens and a variable ND filter come into play.

Bright Light

For shooting in bright light, you have the choice of narrowing your aperture (a bigger f-number like f/16, f/20 etc) in order to let less light in, or using a variable ND filter to block out the light.

While dialling your f-number right up might be the quickest and cheapest solution (if you don’t already own a filter) the main drawback with this is that you’ll lose your shallow depth of field (DOF). Shallow DOF is what really sets your footage apart from that which is shot on GoPro, camcorders or whatever (more on this below). So, ideally you’ll want to use a variable ND filter instead. Basically, it’s a filter that screws onto your lens and cuts out the amount of light getting through. You can twist it to vary the amount of light being blocked out, until you have the correct exposure while still shooting at 1/50. Think of it like putting sunglasses onto your lens. Also, make sure you’ve got your ISO at the lowest possible setting (eg. ISO 100).

You’ll need a variable ND filter like this in order to shoot in bright light

Low Light

For filming in low-light situations you have the opposite problem – not enough light is getting into your lens at a shutter speed of 1/50. You can’t just slow down the speed like you would if you were taking a photo. You can, to an extent, increase your ISO, however noise is far more noticeable on video so it’s best to stick to ISO 800 or less.

This means that your ability to capture great footage in a low-light environment will come down to your choice of lens. You want to let as much light into your lens as possible, so you need as wide an aperture as possible. A fast lens with a small f-number like f/1.4 is perfect. I have a lot of love for my Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens. It captures beautiful images and the DOF you can achieve is delightfully dreamy. I can shoot perfectly exposed footage in low-light situations, while my 18-135mm f/3.5 lens is rendered completely useless.

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FOCUS

You need to set your camera to manual focus mode and never shoot on auto-focus. Your camera will hunt around looking to auto-focus your scene and the resulting footage will be a mess, plus the noise of the motor will be audible on your video. If you mostly use auto-focus, making the switch to manual focus can take a bit of getting used to but it’s not difficult.

The easiest way to ensure you have your footage accurately in focus is to zoom in on the live view LCD screen and check the detail (on my Canon I touch the magnifying glass symbol). Twist your focus ring until the image looks sharp, then zoom back out on the screen. You can also quickly flick your dial to photo mode and auto-focus the scene, then switch to manual focus and set your dial back to video mode. As long as you don’t touch the focus ring, your focus will remain the same as the auto-focus setting.

Key Points

Switch to M mode

Use a variable ND Filter in bright light

Use a wide aperture (eg. f/1.4) in low light

Don’t shoot higher than ISO 800

Always use manual focus

FILMING TECHNIQUES

In order to shoot cinematic video with DSLR cameras, there are a few techniques that you can use.

DEPTH OF FIELD

The most obvious technique is ensuring you take full advantage of your ability to create shallow depth of field (DOF) footage. This is characterised by an intentionally blurry background (also known as bokeh), with the foreground in focus. The wider your aperture (smaller f-number like f/1.4, f/2.0 etc) the more pronounced the DOF, or background blur, is. You simply can’t achieve this look on a GoPro, phone, camcorder and so on, and it’s a quality that is synonymous with film. The viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to the focal point of your shot and isn’t distracted by whatever else is going on in the frame. Experiment with different apertures and see what you like. I love shooting at night with colourful lights blurred out in the background, creating a creamy bokeh-licious scene.

Shallow Depth of Field – Sharp focus in the foreground and an intentionally blurry background (bokeh)

Another Example of Shallow Depth of Field – the grass in the foreground is in focus and draws the eye, while the islands and ocean in the background are intentionally out of focus.

SHIFTING FOCUS

Another technique to try is shifting the focus while filming. This allows you to bring the foreground, middle, or background into focus while the other areas remain blurred, sometimes called ‘rack focus’. For example, you could focus on a person in the foreground initially, then shift the focus to people in the background. Unless you want to invest in some pretty expensive and bulky equipment, you’ll need to rely on your own (very) gentle touch to do this without shaking the camera. Keep practicing, and getting the focus right will become second nature.

SLOW AND STEADY

DSLR cameras are suited to certain types of shots much better than others. To get the most out of your footage, and harness that film-like quality, it’s best to use a tripod. This means you’ll be shooting from a fixed location, so take the time to choose your scene and frame up your composition carefully. DSLRs are perfect for static or slow panning shots; not fast paced movement, action or walking with the camera shots.

Tripod

There’s plenty of fancy equipment out there to help you capture ‘moving’ shots without any camera shake, but if you’re just starting out – or, like us, you’re travelling with all your filming gear in your backpack – then you’ll need to make do with the basics. Invest in as good a tripod as you can afford. I wasn’t happy with either of the tripods I owned, so after a LOT of research I settled on a new model last year and I’m absolutely loving it. I wanted a light-weight and compact one for backpacking around the world, but it had to be sturdy and tall enough that I wouldn’t be bending over the whole time.

No backache – yay! And it’s super light and easy to backpack with

I settled on the carbon fiber Zomei Z669C, which I got for just over £100 off Amazon (which is a fraction of the cost of most carbon fiber tripods out there!). The ballhead makes it a doddle to maneuver my camera into any position quickly, and I’ve found I can get a decent enough smooth pan just by loosening the pan adjustment knob and nudging it around slowly and evenly with my finger. It’s important not to pan too quickly when filming with your DSLR camera, otherwise you’ll likely end up with a wobble effect that will ruin your shot. Slow and steady it is!

*2020 Update: I’ve now upgraded to the Peak Design Travel Tripod, which I backed on Kickstarter. Its revolutionary design means it’s the most compact tripod I’ve ever found, ideal for travel. I love it!

Other Methods

Camera shake is very noticeable when shooting handheld video. If you’re unable to use a tripod, try to reduce the shake by resting the camera on a flat surface, or putting the strap around your neck and extending the camera as far as it will go, pulling the strap taut. Or, it may be that handheld footage is the kind of style you’re after, in which case go for it! Just remember, quick jerky movements and fast pans don’t work well.

Key Points

Embrace shallow depth of field

Experiment with shifting focus while filming

Always use a tripod (unless you’re going for a particular handheld style)

Pan/move the camera slowly and steadily

FINAL TIPS ON HOW TO SHOOT CINEMATIC VIDEO WITH DSLR CAMERAS

Don’t zoom your lens while filming
If you have a variable aperture lens then it will cause your exposure to change and it will be very noticeable on your footage, not to mention amateur looking! It can also be tricky to perfect a smooth zoom, with even the tiniest of camera shake being very noticeable on your final footage.

Shoot short clips
Stick to around 15-20 seconds instead of long clips that you have to pick sections from later. Shooting for longer is also more likely to cause your sensor to overheat and hot pixels to appear.

Avoid filming scenes with bright lights or bulbs
They will likely cause hot pixels to appear on your footage and ruin it. I’ve never had this problem when shooting still photography but I’ve had plenty of nasty green pixelated streaks across my film footage when videoing at night.

Shoot ‘buffer’ footage
Always shoot a few extra seconds at the start and end of your clips as a buffer

beware background noise
Be aware of noise around you if you intend to use the audio in your finished video. Pay attention to buses, cars, roadworks in the distance, a noisy bird etc as these may not seem too noticeable in real life but can drown out or distract from the main audio on your video. Invest in an external mic (we own and love the Rode VideoMic Pro) if audio is an important part of your videos.

One last thing...
CLEAN YOUR LENS! While dirty spots and marks can be removed fairly easily from still photographs at the editing stage, it’s a laborious process trying to remove them on your video footage with Premiere Pro. Take the time to check your lens before you hit record!

It can take a bit of practice to find what works for you when starting out learning how to shoot cinematic video with DSLR cameras. Take the time to experiment with different techniques and finesse your style and you’ll be creating stand-out videos in no time!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links – if you purchase a product or service via these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps offset the cost of running this blog and keeps us travelling so that we can continue to produce great content for you. We greatly appreciate your support!*

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Any questions about shooting video with your DSLR camera?
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Guest

Deepak

Thanks for sharing informative article, I really like this post.

Guest

Vinay

Thanks for sharing informative article, I really like this post.

Guest

Elizbeth Tenday

DSLR, there are some specific settings and techniques you need to use when switching to the video function. If you too want to start making travel videos that stand out, read on to learn how to shoot cinematic video with DSLR cameras.

Guest

Max Jones

Thanks for the tip to make sure your footage is properly white balanced before doing color grading. I am planning to shoot a short film with a group of friends. I’ll make sure to figure out white balance settings on my camera, and I’ll look for good color grading software I can use when editing my short film.

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

Cheers Max, glad you found this helpful. We use Leeming LUTs for getting as accurate colour correction as possible, and have also recently started using FilmConvert for colour grading. So far so good, and these are good options to check out. Good luck with your short film! Cheers, Kim

Guest

Himanshu Saini

Thanks for showing the light to someone standing in dark.
Very informative and easily explained to a novice.
Thankyou very much!!

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

That’s great to hear, glad we could help! Thanks for the positive feedback and good luck on your filmmaking journey! Cheers, Kim

Guest

National Store LLC

These tips would help me to shoot cinematic video with DSLR cameras. Thanks for sharing such helpful content!

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

You’re welcome, glad you found it useful!

Capture video, pictures, graphics and sound from various formats, in preparation for non-linear editing – May Abou-Amer

[…] Going the Whole Hogg blog published a detailed blog post on the basic functions of a DSLR camera to get to grips with before filming. I have put some of those points into a summary below:– Shutter speed matches frame rate. For the cinematic look e.g. 1/50 with a frame rate of 24fps (frames per second)– Picture style settings to neutral. This dials down the contrast, sharpness and saturation to zero, which gives you freedom it comes to editing. Reducing the sharpness also helps to reduce moiré, the wavy lines that can appear when filming patterns, lines etc (for… Read more »

Guest

Aaron Bray

Great informative post for a cinematography newb like myself who wants to self-produce more creative and artistic contest.

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

Thanks so much, Aaron! Very glad you found it useful.

Guest

balu

Thank you soo much for a massive advice….it really helpful to begginer filmmakers

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

Thanks Balu, glad you’ve found it helpful and good luck with your films!

Guest

Richard Hurley

I was wondering about the zoom. A lot of great directors in the past have used this technique of zooming while filming. Either zooming out or zooming in or zooming out a small bit to adjust. Why do you say not to?

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

Hi Richard, good question! The main reason is because your exposure will change (get lighter or darker) if you zoom in or out, which will be noticeable and quite tricky and time consuming to fix during the editing process. HOWEVER, I guess this only really applies if you have a lens with a variable aperture. If you have a lens with a fixed aperature throughout the zoom range then your exposure won’t change. It’s a good point and I’ll update the post to make this clearer. Also, you would need to be very gentle zooming by hand to minimise camera… Read more »

Como filmar com a Canon 80D

[…] Fonte: Imagem 1/Imagem 2 […]

Guest

Bianca

Thank you so much for sharing!I hope it helps a lot of people.

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

You’re welcome, Bianca! I hope it helps lots of people too ; )

Guest

TVJerry

Thanks for the article post.Really thank you! Great.

Author

Going the Whole Hogg

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for commenting.