The 6 Most Important Camera Settings for Filming
In this blog post, we will introduce you to the basics of filming, which includes 6 key camera settings that are universally applicable. It doesn’t matter whether you're filming with your smartphone or a (professional) film camera—these settings are essential for all types of cameras.
Once you master these settings, you will be able to film any scene with any camera and avoid the most common mistakes we often see with beginners.
These Are the 6 Most Important Camera Settings for Filming
The six most important camera settings are frame rate, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, and resolution. You’ve probably heard some of these terms before, but no matter your prior knowledge, we’ll walk you through each setting step by step.
Table of Contents
1. Frame Rate
The first setting we’ll adjust together is the frame rate. While photography captures a single frame when you press the shutter button, filming consists of a series of individual frames captured in sequence.
The frame rate is important because the total number of individual frames in each second of video significantly affects the appearance of your final video, as well as what you can do with it during editing.
Common Frame Rates
There are three common frame rates that most cameras support:
24 frames per second (fps)
30 fps
60 fps
The standard frame rate is 24 frames per second (this is also used in Hollywood films), as it closely mimics how the human eye perceives motion in everyday life. This means that in every second of your film, 24 individual photos are played in sequence.
If you increase the frame rate, your video will appear slightly unnaturally smooth, which is useful for slow-motion footage, as it allows you to stretch the footage in post-production.
Slow Motion and Editing
Most editing programs allow you to easily create slow-motion by asking how much you want to slow down the footage. For example, with 60 fps, you would slow it down to 40% of the original speed (24/60 = 0.4 --> 40%). With 120 fps, it would be 20% of the original speed. Stick to these ratios to ensure your footage maintains a natural look.
30 fps footage is quite similar to 24 fps, but with 6 extra frames per second, it gives your video a slightly smoother appearance and reduces motion blur. YouTube often uses 30 fps nowadays, but it’s a matter of personal preference.
If you're unsure whether you’ll want to use slow-motion during filming, you should plan ahead and switch between settings. If you’re unsure in a given situation, film at 60 fps to give yourself flexibility.
Pro tip: Use 24 fps for most of your footage. For slow motion, use 60 fps or a multiple of 60 (120 fps, 240 fps, etc.). The more frames, the more slow-motion is possible, but in 90% of cases, 60 fps is more than enough for us.
Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO
The settings for shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are extremely important as they work together to properly expose your scene.
In photography and videography, exposure refers to the brightness or darkness of your shot. While it may sound simple, this is one of the most common mistakes you'll encounter, especially in the beginning.
If you don’t adjust shutter speed, aperture, and ISO correctly, you’ll end up with an overexposed (too bright) or underexposed (too dark) image.
2. Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is essentially the amount of time the camera’s sensor has to capture an image and is measured in seconds. Modern cameras (like smartphones or mirrorless cameras) no longer have physical shutters; instead, the mechanism is integrated into the sensor itself. This means the sensor is activated for a brief moment to capture the image and then deactivated again.
Effects of Shutter Speed
A long shutter speed means the sensor is exposed for a longer period, collecting more light, resulting in a brighter image. If the shutter speed is long (e.g., 1 second), the sensor captures all movement during that time, resulting in noticeable motion blur.
A fast shutter speed captures light for only a tiny moment, reducing the chance of motion and making the image appear sharp and almost frozen.
Rule of thumb: The longer the shutter speed, the more motion blur your image or video will have.
Shutter Speed for Filming
In filmmaking, each frame of your video is like a photo with its own shutter speed.
Rule of thumb for choosing shutter speed: The denominator of your shutter speed should be double your frame rate. So if you’re filming at 24 fps, your shutter speed should be 1/48 (most cameras round this to 1/50). At 60 fps, you would film at 1/120.
This helps capture motion blur properly and makes the movement appear natural to the human eye.
3. Aperture
All cameras require a lens. In some cameras, you can swap out the lens, while in others (like smartphones), the lens is fixed.
Regardless of the type of camera, all lenses have a specific component called the aperture, which controls the opening of the lens. A large aperture lets in more light, resulting in a brighter image, while a smaller aperture lets in less light, making the image darker.
How Aperture Works
Aperture is like the pupil of your eye—the bigger it is, the more light it lets in.
In camera lenses, aperture is measured using the term "f-stop." A low f-stop value (like f2.8) means the aperture is wide open, letting in lots of light. A high f-stop value (like f11) means the aperture is very small, letting in less light.
Effect on Depth of Field
Aperture also affects the depth of field, creating the popular "blurry background" effect. A low f-stop (e.g., f2.8) creates a shallow depth of field, making the subject stand out with a blurred background. This adds depth to your image and is a desired effect for drawing attention to your subject.
Tips for Use
Film with the lowest possible f-stop for most scenes. We only increase the aperture when filming landscapes where both the foreground and background need to be sharp.
Note: Most smartphones have a fixed aperture, meaning you can't adjust it.
4. ISO
ISO allows you to artificially brighten your scene. ISO values start at 100 and can go up to the tens of thousands. The higher the number, the brighter your scene will appear.
The downside of increasing ISO is that it introduces noise into the image, reducing the quality of your footage. This is why you should avoid filming in auto mode—your camera will increase the ISO in low-light scenes, often too much. It’s better to adjust ISO manually and light your scene properly, which we’ll cover in a separate article.
Tip: Try to keep your ISO as low as possible. Experiment with different ISO levels on your camera (e.g., ISO 400, 800, and 1200) to find the maximum level you can use without introducing noise.
5. White balance
White balance is the setting used to ensure the whites in your scene appear as natural white. This sounds simple but is one of the most common beginner mistakes. Incorrect white balance can make your image look unnatural.
White light has a specific color temperature. Some light sources are warm and orange (e.g., incandescent bulbs), while others are cooler (e.g., LEDs). White balance adjusts the camera to compensate for the color temperature of the light source, ensuring whites appear white.
The Kelvin Scale
The Kelvin scale measures the color temperature of light sources. Incandescent light is around 3,200 Kelvin, while daylight is 5,000-6,000 Kelvin. When adjusting white balance, you need to match the setting to the color temperature of your main light source. If your light source is an incandescent bulb, set the white balance to 3,200.
Pre-set White Balance
Most cameras offer preset white balance modes for daylight, shade, cloudy, and incandescent light. However, we recommend manually adjusting the white balance to avoid inconsistent color tones.
Tips for Adjusting White Balance
Turn off contrasting light sources: Turn off any lights that contrast with your main light source (e.g., turn off the ceiling lights if you’re using a different primary light).
Manual adjustment: If you can’t turn off certain lights, adjust the white balance manually until the preview on your camera matches what you see in real life.
Use a white object: Hold a white object (like a piece of paper) in front of the camera and adjust the white balance until the object appears white on the screen.
6. Resolution
Resolution is the simplest of the six camera settings. It refers to the size of the video you’re recording. Images are measured by the total number of pixels—the more pixels, the more detail the image has.
For example, Full HD has 1,920 pixels in width and 1,080 pixels in height. Most filmmakers refer to this as 1080p, and nearly all cameras can film in this resolution. In recent years, a new resolution has emerged: 3,840 pixels in width and 2,160 pixels in height, commonly known as Ultra HD or 4K.
4K has four times as many pixels as 1080p. While you may not notice a difference on a smartphone screen, you will definitely see a difference when played on a larger screen.
Advantages of 4K
The main advantage of 4K, in our opinion, is the ability to zoom in on the image without losing quality. For example, you can zoom in 200% on a 4K video and still have the same pixel density as a regular 1080p frame.
How to Choose the Right Resolution
We recommend filming in the highest possible resolution to maximize the detail in your footage. However, there are situations where a lower resolution may be more than enough:
Interaction Between Resolution and Frame Rate: Resolution and frame rate are interlinked — when one increases, the other often decreases. Higher resolutions demand more from your camera, and the same goes for frame rate (60fps uses twice as much battery as 24fps). For instance, if you want to shoot in 4K, you might only be able to set your camera to 24fps.
Storage Space and File Size: 4K files take up a lot of storage, not just on your memory card but also on your computer and external hard drives. If you’re primarily filming for social media, recording in 1080p might be perfectly sufficient.
By keeping all these settings in mind, you can get the most out of your scene. For more helpful information on filming and photography, check out our other content.
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