Times have changed. These are no longer those days when a filmmaker wouldn’t try shooting a movie via a phone because of the poor quality. Today, there are many reasons why anyone can use their phones to shoot videos. There are high-quality and best cameras for videography.
You can benefit more if you love video cameras for personal adventures. Since we often carry our smartphones everywhere, it becomes easier to turn to them as our primary video cameras. Besides, those in this field for businesses can operate perfectly with the best professional video camera in 4K resolution.
Statistics indicate that 87% of marketers globally use videos in their marketing strategies. They are making use of their phones for excellent professional videos. Of these groups, 88% report satisfaction with the return on investment (ROI). The same statistics state that users globally are 1.5 times more likely to watch your video adverts via their smartphones.
So, if you look forward to using your smartphone as a digital video camera, it helps to take time and discover how to get the most out of it. Thus, to help you capture the best of whatever shooting you want, let’s go through this crucial ultimate guide to taking great video on your phone.
Choose 4K Videos for Professional Shootings
A 4K camera enables you to take videos with a higher resolution. It presents high-definition results that make the videos top-quality and realistic. When watching a 4K video, you can note the minor details that Full HD cameras don’t provide.
The 4K videos are one of the trends that reshape the industry. Shooting with the 4K camcorder seems to be a trend among many videographers. This is due to the belief that it’s a professional style.
Shooting in a 4K camcorder is worth it, as long as you have enough storage and the necessary post-production equipment. Compared to the initial standards, 4K images on the modern best video camera appear sharper and more detailed. They also contain four times as many pixels. And, they appear fabulous when viewed from a larger screen.
Big projects like movies or visual effect-laden commercials need the highest resolution possible. So, shooting the 4K video will favor you if, for example, you want to submit an entry to Netflix.
Shooting in a 4K camcorder makes your HD video look perfect.
Most HD cameras capture 1080p videos that are of excellent quality, with sharper and crisper images. The picture appears even better when you set off with 4K source material and then downsize it to HD resolution.
Some of the best reasons you need a video camera 4K video include:
- It offers an enhanced resolution.
- Post-production flexibility
- It gives motion tracking and stabilization
- It sustains creative possibilities.
- It’s more readily available than ever.
- It favors a top production company.
Prioritize Your Phone’s Stability When Recording
Let your phone remain steady while recording the video to keep your video footage from distortions, blurred effects, or rolling shutters. Use both hands to hold your smartphone closer to your body as you record.
Since this can be tiresome in long sequences, you can support the phone in other ways like:
- Using tripods, stabilizers, and camera cages enable you to keep your smartphone device still as you take the video. They come with perfect handles that allow you to accomplish this.
- Simply rest your phone on support materials like tables, desks, and shelves.
Get as Close as Possible to Your Subject or Apply Optical Zoom
Many top smartphones like the Sony 4k camera come with an optical zoom. It allows you to zoom in without the loss of the details. To zoom in when recording, you need to maintain details like the crisp, and vivid quality you may want in your videos.
So, it would help if you had a nice 4k video camera, which offers an excellent optical zoom. If your smartphone has more than one back camera, one of the extra lenses is allocated as a telephoto lens.
You’ll have to get near your subject if your smartphone doesn’t have an optical zoom. Besides, you can use an accessory like the clip-on lenses. The camera lens add-ons are as good as your phone’s primary camera lens.
Generally, you always need to get as close as possible to the subject. This is especially the case for the tight shots on faces. It allows you to bring out clear pictures as you do the recording.
Use the Landscape Orientation to Shoot the Video
For great footage, try avoiding some elements. The common ones include the two black vertical bars often seen on both sides of your video. To prevent this non-professional mistake, ensure you avoid portrait orientation. Instead, use the landscape orientation while recording.
In general, the landscape makes your video appear more aesthetically pleasing. It also makes it more interesting to watch when viewing on a widescreen. Besides, you manage to capture more details in the actual video.
Thus, it’s essential to always remember not to use your phone vertically when recording. You can only do this if you like the vertical black bars as part of your recordings. You can also use portrait recording wholly for things like Instagram or TikTok Stories.
Apply a Different Light Source to Shoot a Great Footage in Low Light
You must have seen those videos depicting the subjects’ yellowish skin and scary red eyes alongside super dark backgrounds. Most people may blame the videographer’s skills, but it’s often much about the flash.
Usually, smartphones have LED lights that tend to be too bright. Thus, they can easily distort the photos’ color temperature. So, the video will end up shoddily lit in the end.
With many phones, you need to find a different light source if you want to shoot excellent footage in low light. And, if your phone contains a night mode for shooting, it will work best. Thankfully, if you want extra lighting for your videos, you can pick it up economically.
There are cost-effective ring lights that help capture evenly-lit faces. Such is essential for filming vlogs to the camera. Besides the ring lights, you can also go for some small battery-powered LED panels. They’ll offer you a more even and consistent look than what your phone’s LED flash ever could.
Avoid Heavily Backlit Settings
When it comes to flash and lighting, you need to avoid heavily backlit settings.
You can see people and their faces when they’re backlit. But, usually, your smartphone camera cannot. It will output footage with a bright light that halos a dark figure. The figure will also contain no visible features. This means you miss out on whatever you were trying to capture.
Lest your phone has an advanced HDR capacity, this is something you must stay alert on.
To avoid such situations, try to use a basic light configuration setup. Although some stock camera applications tend to reduce the backlighting effects, you should do your best to minimize the impact on your end.
Key Takeaways
Technology has changed in the past decade. It’s been thrilling to see how this has enhanced the camera market. Video recording has never been so effortless as it is now.
Almost everyone carries a powerful video camera in their pockets in the form of a smartphone. They now rely on mobile phones for their videography. And, the cameras are far better than ever before.
With a bit of practice and following the essential tips discussed above, you should enjoy shooting great footage, vlogging, or recording independent films or documentaries using your smartphone.
Even though some tips may appear too obvious, following them will result in incredible video recordings every moment.
