Video beginner

Scott Ramsey

Senior Member
Okay, I’ve been a still photographer for years and have recently gotten into real estate photography. I was just given a job photographing a listing but was also asked to do a video walk through. I have never used the video function on my D810 and had to get the manual out to learn just the basics. My issue, after all this background is when I did a video around my house to practice, the camera is constantly refocusing as I move it and the resulting video is crap. I am using AF-F and tried several different focus points. What setting should I be using?
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Not into video but from what i have read on most cameras of any make you need MF not any good though for a walk round video.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member

Here's just a short real estate video walkthrough, as an example... I see a lot of panning and Zooming but if you notice, almost no refocusing... looks like manual focus... and very little focusing with large depth of fields...
 

mbraner

New member
As another video beginner, I've looked around and found very little - and conflicting - info. Can somebody give us, or point us to an existing writeup, on the basics of how DSLR video actually works?

E.g., the camera must first be in "live view" mode. AFAIK, that means the mirror is up and the shutter is open the whole time, to expose the sensor. So why do some online articles advise specific "shutter speeds"? Is there an electronic shutter effect? Can one control it (e.g., on a D3300)? (And, aside, if there is an electronic shutter, why didn't Nikon use it to offer higher flash sync speeds, like the D40 used to have, up to 1/500 sec?)

Does the ISO setting have any effect on the video? Live view seems to always adjust itself to the available light, so is it always using full-range auto-ISO?

How does the camera (in P mode) decide on the aperture to use? If one uses A mode, can one actually choose the F-stop? That would be essential for getting the desired depth of field. Looking through the front of the lens, it seems that in A mode the aperture setting chosen before live-view is turned on does affect the aperture seen when it's turned on.
 
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