Video tips for stills shooters #1: Clear audio and video

By Tim Robinson | 6 August 2024

Today, every photographer has a powerful tool in their hands for video content creation. Every mirrorless camera is packed with video features, and it’s easy to create engaging videos of your own adventures – be that for prosperity or social media.

Even the humble smartphone can capture amazing video and is often my go-to for quick family videos. But regardless of what you choose to use, the fundamentals of video are the same – a viewer needs to be able to clearly see and hear what’s happening.

The Rode VideoMic NTG is a great budget compact shotgun microphone, and is my go-to for run and gun audio capture.

Clear Audio

Clear audio is the most important factor in effective video storytelling. If your viewer is struggling to understand what is being said on screen, it will detract from your entire message.

For recording speech, my preference is a lavalier microphone. The market is full of options that can plug directly into your camera’s 3.5mm audio port, either directly or via a wireless receiver.

The RODE Wireless GO 2 is a high quality wireless lavalier system with a very reasonable price tag attached. I often choose this system over my more expensive lavalier setups due to its portability and onboard recording functionality.

The lavalier microphone can then be attached to the lapel of your subject’s clothing which guarantees crystal clear audio.

However, for recording general ambience, I use a shotgun microphone. This can be mounted on your camera’s hot-shoe adaptor, then hardwired to your 3.5mm audio port.

The beauty of a shotgun microphone is that it will target the sound in the direction you are pointing it. It can be used for speech, but it will pick up more ambience than a lavalier microphone.

You’ll note that I don’t recommend you rely on your internal microphone for audio capture.

It often sounds quite thin (or tinny) and ambient sound will often overpower any speech that is being recorded.

You have the right tool in your hands to create great and engaging videos. Next time you are out capturing photos, why not take a few extra minutes to switch over to video mode and capture your own stories in motion!

Clear Video

Clear vision is the other most important factor in video storytelling. You’ll want to record in a high-resolution format if possible – if your camera is capable of shooting at 4K (3840 x 2160) then shoot at 4K, however, full HD (1920 x 1080) is sufficient for online.

The reason we shoot in a higher resolution is it allows you to reframe or crop your image later in post-production. You’ll also take advantage of your camera’s entire sensor, resulting in a sharper image with less noise.

Every camera also gives you the option to record at different bitrates and video codecs.

You’ll want to record in a high-resolution format if possible, as it will give you more options in post-production. On my Panasonic Lumix G9 II here, I’ve chosen 4K resolution with a 10-Bit All-Intra codec. 10-Bit refers to the bit depth and is a bit like shooting JPEG (8-Bit) versus RAW (10-14 Bit). Essentially, the best way to capture the highest-quality video, including bumps to dynamic range and colour rendering, is by choosing a higher bitrate. Intra compression has a good overall response and flexibility when editing.

The temptation is to shoot at the lowest bitrate to reduce file size, but this can result in video artifacts and will often create playback issues in post-production. MP4 is the standard codec but the MOV (QuickTime) Codec is a less compressed option. ❂