Movie Shooting 1

◼  Movie Recording Size

◼  High Frame Rate

◼  Digital Zoom

◼  Sound Recording

Movie Shooting 2

◼  Exposure Compensation *

◼  Movie ISO Speed Settings

◼  HDR Shooting

◼  Auto Lighting Optimizer *

◼  Highlight Tone Priority *

◼  Movie Av 1/8-stop Increments

◼  Movie Auto Slow Shutter

Movie Shooting 3

◼  White Balance *

◼  Custom White Balance *

◼  WB Correction *

◼  Picture Style *

◼  Canon Log Settings

◼  Clarity *

◼  Shooting Creative Filters *

Movie Shooting 4

◼  Lens Aberration Correction *

◼  High ISO Speed Noise Reduction *

Movie Shooting 5

◼  Time-lapse Movie

◼  Movie Self-timer

◼  Remote Control

Movie Shooting 6

◼  IS (Image Stabilizer Mode)

◼  Movie Auto Level *

◼  Customize Quick Controls *

◼  Shutter Button Function for Movies

◼  Metering Timer *

◼  Zebra Settings

◼  Shooting Information Display

Move Shooting 7

◼  Reverse Display

◼  VF Display Format *

◼  Standby: Low Resolution

◼  HDMI Display

◼  Time Code

Movie Recording Size

Options: Movie Recording Size

This is the first entry in the Movie 1 menu, shown in Figure 16.2. Your camera has a large number of video recording quality settings, including ultra-high resolution 4K video. I’ll explain the use of these settings in more detail later in this chapter, but, in brief, your choices include the following.

◼  Image size. This is the resolution of the movie, either 4K or Full HD. The actual resolution and movie area varies, depending on recording quality and movie crop settings. The R7 can capture supersampled 4K (3840 × 2160) and Full HD (1920 × 1080) video across the full width of the APS-C sensor, plus 4K video with an additional 1.8X crop, as seen in Figure 16.3. Time-lapse modes are available for both 4K and FHD capture.

◼  Frame Rate. This is the number of individual frames or fields captured per second. These are commonly expressed as nominal 120 fps, 60 fps, 30 fps, and 24 fps (in NTSC mode, used in North American, Japan, and other countries). The actual NTSC frame rates are slightly different, and often you’ll see them expressed as such in menus: 119.9, 59.94, 29.97, and 23.98 frames per second, respectively. In Europe and other countries, 100, 50, and 25 frame rates are used. See Figure 16.4.

Not all frame rates can be used at a given image size setting. For example, with NTSC, 4K Fine is available with just 29.97, and 23.98 frame rates, while the 4K Crop mode can be used only with a 59.94 frame rate. Standard 4K and FHD allow 59.94, 29.97, and 23.98 frame rates. High Frame Rate movies, discussed shortly, capture video at 119.9 (NTSC) or 100.0 (PAL), but are played back at slower speeds.

◼  Compression Method. To save space and reduce demands on the transmission rates of the captured frames to your storage device, each frame is compressed, using IPB formats (or ALL-I with time-lapse video). I’ll explain these in more detail later.

All movies are stored using the MP4 format as the “container” for your video files, with the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 codec (coder/decoder). MP4 is an international standard and widely supported/used and recorded using progressive scan, described shortly. MP4 files receive the .MP4 extension.

High Frame Rate

Options: Disable (default), Enable

When you enable High Frame Rate movies, your video is captured at 119.9 (NTSC) or 100.0 (PAL), but is played back at 29.97/25.00 fps speeds, resulting in 4X slow motion (one second of action takes four seconds to play back). However, if you output your video from the camera through the HDMI port, it will be displayed in 2X slow-motion format, instead.

Sound is not recorded, and clips are limited to 1 hour, 30 minutes. Flickering may be noticeable under fluorescent or LED light sources, and ISO speeds are limited to ISO 100–12800 (or ISO 25600 if extended settings are enabled in the Shooting menu). You’ll find High Frame Rate video useful for slow-motion action sequences in your movies, or for analyzing movement.

Digital Zoom

Options: Disable (default), Enable

When Movie Size is set to FHD 29.97, 23.98 (NTSC), or 25 (PAL) you can activate a digital zoom feature with up to 10X magnification. When enabled, it takes pixels from the center of the sensor and enlarges them to fill the movie frame. Because it functions by cropping the image, you can expect to see increased noise and decreased image quality.

When enabled, you can tap the W/T icon in the lower-right corner of the screen to activate the zoom, but I find it easier to define a key to perform that function. I assigned the ISO button to invoke the zoom, using the Customize Buttons entry in the Custom Functions 3 menu, as described in Chapter 15. (See Figure 16.5, left.) Once the zoom is active, you can zoom in and out using the up/down directional buttons. (See Figure 16.5, right.)

Sound Recording

Options: Sound Recording: Auto (default), Manual, Disable; Wind Filter: Auto (default), Disable; Audio Noise Reduction: Enable (default), Disable, High

This setting lets you choose Auto, Manual, or Disable; plus you can Enable or Disable the wind filter and audio noise reduction. In Movie Scene Intelligent Auto (A+) mode, only On (Auto level) or Off are available. Left/right balance cannot be adjusted. (See Figure 16.6, left.)

◼  Auto. Audio level is set for you.

◼  Manual. Choose from 64 different sound levels. Select Rec Level and rotate the QCD while viewing the decibel meter at the bottom of the screen to choose a level that averages –12 dB for the loudest sounds. (See Figure 16.8, right.) If the recording level reaches the 0 point at the far right of the scale, your sound will be quite distorted.

◼  Disable. Shoot silently, and add voice over, narration, music, or other sound later in your movie-editing software. Note that if you are connected to an external device, including recorders using HDMI, sound is not output when sound recording is disabled in the camera.

◼  Wind Filter. Enable to reduce the effects of wind noise on the built-in microphone. This also reduces low tones in the sound recording. If wind is not a problem, you’ll get better quality audio with this option disabled. Even better is to use an external microphone with a wind shield.

◼  Audio Noise Reduction. This noise filter reduces the mechanical sounds that result from the movement of the motors within the lens during autofocusing. Some lenses are noisier than others, so you’ll want to use this only when necessary, as it reduces audio quality. It can also tame ambient white noise to a certain extent. The High setting offers stronger noise reduction, but has an even greater effect on audio quality. Because noise levels vary with environment, it’s a good idea to capture a few test clips and then review them through headphones to see if noise reduction is needed. (Headphone noise can be reduced using the Audio Monitoring option of the Headphones entry in the Set-up 3 menu, as described in Chapter 14.)

You can use the built-in stereo microphone located on top of the camera, or, for better results, plug in a stereo microphone into the 3.5mm jack on the left side of the camera. An external microphone is a good idea because the built-in microphone can easily pick up camera operation, such as the autofocus motor in a lens. Headphones are useful for monitoring sound. You can adjust Headphone volume using the Movie version of the Quick Controls menu.

Movie ISO Speed Settings

Options: ISO Speed, ISO Speed Range, Max for Auto, Time-lapse Max for Auto

This is the first movie-specific entry in the Movie Shooting 2 menu. (See Figure 16.7.) (The first entry, Exposure Compensation, as well as several others in this menu, function the same as in Still photo mode and are not covered in this chapter.) You can separately specify ISO parameters for movie shooting using this entry. Select a specific ISO speed or specify limits on the range of ISO settings and shutter speeds that the camera selects automatically. The subentries, shown in Figure 16.8, include:

◼  ISO Speed. ISO speed can be set manually only when using Manual exposure modes. It is set automatically when using other Basic Zone or Creative Zone exposure modes and will be grayed out when you access this menu. In Movie M (Manual exposure) mode, you can select a specific ISO speed from ISO 100 to 25600, or choose Auto.

Oddly enough, Manual exposure mode’s Auto setting effectively gives you an autoexposure mode when using manual exposure: you select the aperture and shutter speed manually, and the camera adjusts the ISO to produce the right exposure. That lets you exercise creative control of your video by choosing an aperture that provides selective focus (with large f/stops) or deeper focus (with smaller f/stops), while retaining the best shutter speed for your frame rate. (I’ll explain the quirks of choosing shutter speed for video shortly.)

◼  ISO Speed Range. You can specify an ISO range for both minimum available settings and the maximum available settings.

•  Minimum. You can set the minimum sensitivity from ISO 100 to ISO 12800, plus H (ISO 25600 equivalent).

Note: The minimum speed is set to ISO 400 for Auto exposure when Canon Log is enabled. The ISO 100 and ISO 200 settings can still be specified manually, but they are labeled as expanded L settings, indicating that some quality loss should be expected.

•  Maximum. You can specify a maximum available ISO of up to ISO 25600. The Highlight Tone Priority setting has no effect on this.

I find myself using this feature frequently to keep me from accidentally switching to a setting I’d rather (or need to) avoid. For example, at concerts I may switch from ISO 1600 to 6400 as the lighting changes, and I set those two values as my minimum or maximum. Outdoors in daylight, I might prefer to lock out ISO values lower than ISO 100 or higher than ISO 800.

◼  Max for Auto. This is the equivalent “safety net” for Auto ISO operation for a maximum setting.

◼  Time-lapse Max for Auto. Set the maximum ISO for 4K/Full HD time-lapse movie shooting in Program, Tv, Av, or Manual exposure mode and ISO Auto. The default maximum is 12800, but you can specify another value between ISO 400 and 12800.

HDR Shooting

Options: Disable (default), Enable

This setting, the next movie-oriented entry in the Movie Shooting 2 menu, simply turns HDR movie recording on or off. It is a separate entry from the Still photo mode’s Shooting 2 entry; you can have one, both, or neither enabled. There are no additional settings to make. I’ll discuss HDR movie making later in this chapter, but the important things to note here are the other settings that preclude HDR shooting, including Auto Slow Shutter, Canon Log, Clarity, and Creative Filters. You’ll find more HDR movie information near the end of this chapter.

Av 1/8-stop Increments

Options: Disable (default), Enable

RF-mount lenses have apertures that can be controlled much more precisely than those found in EF/EF-S lenses, and Canon takes advantage of that by offering the ability to adjust f/stops in increments of 1/8th stop. While such fine increments are not essential for still photography, when movie shooting it’s important to have consistent exposure, especially with sequences of shots. This feature is available only in the two Movie exposure modes in which you have full control over the aperture— Av and M modes. Choose Enable to allow selection in 1/8th-stop increments rather than the 1/2- or 1/3-stop jumps you may have set in the Custom Functions 1’s Exposure Level Increments entry. This feature does not work with EF or EF-S lenses.

Movie Auto Slow Shutter

Options: Auto Slow On (default), Auto Slow Off

This is the last movie-oriented entry in the Movie Shooting 2 menu. Use this setting to allow the camera to select a slower shutter speed no faster than 1/30th second when shooting with Program or Av (Aperture-priority) at a frame rate of 60p. (I’ll provide more detail on how choice of frame rates affects your movies later in this chapter.) You can select Enable or Disable. Here’s the difference:

◼  Disable. Frame rates of 1/60th second or faster will be chosen in Program and Av exposure modes when shooting 60p video. The video will be smoother and more natural looking, and individual frames will be sharper because of this “higher” shutter speed. However, under low light, your video may appear to be underexposed.

◼  Enable. Shutter speeds of 1/30th second or slower are enabled, producing better-exposed movies that may have less noise (because a lower ISO setting may be used). However, moving subjects may be blurry or leave a visible “trail” caused by the longer exposure.

Canon Log Settings

Options: Canon Log, View Assist, Characteristics, Color Space

This is the only Movie Shooting–specific entry in the Movie Shooting 3 menu, which is not illustrated with a figure for that reason. Canon Log (settings shown in Figure 16.9), or C-log is a type of gamma adjustment, which allows capturing as much useful tonal information as possible, thanks to the non-linear way in which humans perceive light and color. In plain English, C-log allows the camera to squeeze as much of the original scene’s dynamic range as possible into a video file with as many as 10 bits of information. It produces a “flat”-looking, low-contrast image that looks horrible when viewed before it’s post-processed in a suitable professional video-editing program, such as DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Apple Final Cut Pro. It’s then processed during editing to create a rich, full-range video.

Theoretically, the original Canon Log profile (recently replaced by Canon Log3) allows an increased tonal (dynamic) range of about 800 percent, or 12 f/stops at sensitivity settings of ISO 400 or above. (The ISO boost is needed to allow the Dual Pixel CMOS sensor to capture the extra detail in the highlights and shadows.) Canon has added a “View Assist” function available from the HDMI entry in the Set-up menu that allows you to view a “corrected” version in the camera before actual processing (called grading) has taken place. Log profiles space the data captured more equally among the number of stops of exposure captured, using a predetermined number of stops, with colors desatu-rated (“flatter”-looking) to eliminate over-saturated parts of the scene that would interfere with corrective grading.

The technology underlying Canon Log is beyond the scope of this book, which emphasizes camera features over software processing, but videographers who perform post-processing grading will appreciate the ability to use a system of 10 “look-up tables” (called LUTs in video parlance) that substitute appropriate values to correct the recorded image’s gamma and color space for viewing on an external monitor. Canon provides useful LUT data on their website for downloading.

You should know that Canon upped the ante when its new Canon Log 3 profile was added with additional advantages over the original basic Canon Log profile. C-Log3 doubles the base ISO rating to 800, which effectively tells the camera to use one stop less exposure to capture a greater number of highlights. C-Log3 does a better job of not clipping black values, producing better results in shadows during grading. Compared to Canon Log, C-Log3 offers a bit more dynamic range, improved shadows, and is more compatible with the look-up tables used with Canon’s Cinema EOS models.

To capture movies with Canon Log, follow these steps:

1. Use Manual exposure. Change the Movie exposure mode to Manual exposure.

2. Navigate to Canon Log Settings. In the Movie Shooting 3 menu, access the Canon Log Settings entry.

3. Select Canon Log and choose On (C.Log3). As I mentioned, C-Log3 provides a longer dynamic range. Output will be “clean” uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 video using the BT709/BT2020 color space. I’ll explain these later on. To disable Canon Log recording, choose Off.

4. Optionally, set View Assist. Your C-Log video saved to your memory card will appear darker and lower in contrast when viewed on the camera’s LCD screen. Turning View Assist On provides a clearer display, although it does not affect the video files themselves. It is not used during playback.

5. Adjust Characteristics. Think of these characteristics as additional Picture Controls for Canon Log video. You can specify Sharpness, Strength, Saturation, or Hue using familiar Picture Control– style sliders.

6. HDMI Color Space. Choose BT.709 or BT.2020 as your color space for HDMI output. These are definitions defined by ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radio Communication Sector, if you’re an acronym junkie) to define characteristics of high-definition television signals, including resolution, frame rates, bit depth, and various color specifications. If you need to choose between them, you’ll already know why and don’t need further instruction from me.

7. Choose ISO speed, shutter speed, and aperture.

8. Record your video, storing on the internal memory card or an external video recorder.

Time-lapse Movie

Options: Time-lapse: Disable (default), Enable; Interval, Number of shots, Movie Recording Size, Auto Exposure, Screen Auto Off, Beep As Image Taken

There are no movie-oriented entries in the Movie Shooting 4 menu, so we’ll continue with this entry, the first in the Movie Shooting 5 menu. (See Figure 16.10.) Time-lapse photography isn’t just for nature photographers who want to show the miracle of a flower bud gradually opening to its full blossoming glory. Time-lapse has hit the mainstream, and an amazing number of movies and television shows use it to represent the passage of time, whether it’s the march of the sun across the sky in the daytime or the changing seasons. Canon has placed this technique within your grasp, as well.

I explained the process in some detail in Chapter 6, and won’t repeat that information here. I’ll give you just a quick recap of the key settings, the first five of which are shown in Figure 16.11.

◼  Time-lapse. Choose Enable to begin setup, or Disable to deactivate the option.

◼  Interval. You can choose the interval between shots, up to 99 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds.

◼  Number of shots. Enter the number of shots you want in the sequence, from 2 up to 3,600. The expected elapsed time for the entire sequence will be shown near the bottom of the screen. If the playback time is displayed in red, that means the memory card doesn’t have enough space, or, if the card is not formatted in exFAT, your settings will result in a file size greater than 4GB. (Don’t worry; all SDXC cards are automatically formatted in the camera in exFAT. Only SDHC and cards not formatted in the camera are susceptible.) Recording will stop when the card is full or the maximum file size is reached.

◼  Movie Recording Size. You can choose 4K 29.97P (NTSC)/4K 25.00P (PAL), or FHD 29.97P/25.00P (NTSC/PAL, respectively). ALL-I compression is used in all cases.

◼  Auto Exposure. You can choose:

•  Fixed 1st Frame. Metering takes place and the exposure is set for the first frame and used for all subsequent frames. You’d use this setting when you want the exposure to remain constant, even if lighting changes.

•  Each Frame. Metering is performed for each shot in the sequence. A time-lapse movie of a city skyline from dawn to dusk will reflect the correct exposure for each stage of the day.

◼  Screen Auto Off. You’ll need to scroll down to see this entry and the next. Here you can Disable automatic dismissal (the screen will turn off after about 30 minutes), or choose Enable to turn off the screen 10 seconds after shooting begins and you’ve had time to check your framing and exposure.

◼  Beeps per Image Taken. Enable or disable the Beep Per Image Taken feedback feature (the electronic shutter used for time-lapse movies is silent).

Movie Self-timer

Options: Off (default), 10 seconds, 2 seconds

This is a handy feature that delays the beginning of movie capture for either 10 or 2 seconds. It gives you time to get in front of the camera yourself (choose 10 seconds if you need to comb your hair; 2 seconds if you’re ready to go or don’t care). If you don’t have a remote release, this setting also can be used to let the camera settle down after you’ve stabbed the Movie button with your index finger. (Tip: don’t stab!)

Vloggers could also use this feature for an impromptu session, but probably wouldn’t need it, as those serious enough to use this camera (instead of a smartphone) probably also are adept at using editing tools to snip out the offending rush to make the scene.

Remote Control

Options: Disable (default), Enable

You’ll need to enable your camera to use a remote control to start/stop movie making. The R7 is compatible with the Remote Controller RC-6 and Wireless Remote Control BR-E1. Consult the manual that came with your remote to learn each device’s options.

IS (Image Stabilizer Mode)

Options: Off (default), On, Enhanced

This is the first entry in the Movie Shooting 6 menu. (See Figure 16.12.) Although your camera relies on the image stabilization built into some RF- and EF/EF-S-mount lenses, it can supplement this optical image stabilization (OIS) with an electronic version called Movie Digital IS that can be activated when shooting video.

Movie digital image stabilization takes advantage of the fact that cropped video frames contain some image information outside the boundaries of the actual frame displayed. The camera is able to monitor movement and compensate for it by shifting the pixels of the entire frame slightly so that subject matter that is not moving remains in the same relative position in the frame. That is, if the camera image shakes a few pixels to the left, the frame area is moved an equivalent amount the same number of pixels to the right. Because some pixels at the edges of the frame must be trimmed to compensate for this adjustment, the resulting movie is slightly cropped, adding a small amount of magnification.

An advantage of Movie Digital IS is that it works with any lens, at your option. It provides vibration reduction with lenses that lack built-in IS, and if the lens does have IS, Digital IS will work in tandem with the lens and camera’s in-body stabilization to provide even better results.

Use this feature in conjunction with the built-in optical image stabilization of your lenses that have stabilization; if your lens has IS and it is turned off, the camera will remind you to turn it back on. Canon provides a list of lenses that are compatible with what it terms “combination IS” (when both digital and optical image stabilization are combined). Movie IS does not work with lenses with a focal length greater than 800mm and is not recommended with tilt/shift (TS-E), fisheye, or third-party lenses.

Your options are as follows:

◼  IS Mode (On, Off). This option appears only if your lens does not have built-in IS. It allows you to turn the camera’s in-body image stabilization on or off. You might want to turn it off when the camera is mounted on a tripod, because the R7 might still make unwanted adjustments while you are capturing video. For hand-held-use, you can leave the IBIS active.

◼  Movie Digital IS (Off, On, Enhanced). This option appears whether your lens has built-in IS or not, and is the only entry if you are using an IS-equipped lens.

•  On. A great deal of camera shake will be corrected; the image will be slightly cropped, producing a slight magnification effect. This setting works best with wide-angle lenses.

•  Enhanced. Even more pronounced camera shake is compensated for, and the image will be magnified a bit more. Use this as a last result, as there may be a noticeable blurring of the image while viewing and an increase in visual noise.

Shutter Button Function for Movies

Options: Half-press: Meter+Movie Servo AF (default), Meter+One-Shot AF, Metering Only; Fully-press: No Function (default), Start/Stop Movie Recording

This entry allows you to define a function for the shutter button during movie shooting, overriding any setting you may have specified using the Custom Functions 3 menu’s Customize Buttons options. Separate behaviors can be set for a half-press and full press of the button.

◼  Half-press. You can choose:

•  Metering plus Movie Servo AF. Use this default setting to initiate metering and autofocus using the shutter button when you want the camera to continually track and refocus on a moving subject.

•  Metering plus One-Shot AF. Constant refocusing may be distracting, especially in static shots in which only the camera moves. If you’d prefer that focus remain on your initial subject, use this entry to start metering and AF using the shutter release button.

•  Metering Only. Choose this option when you want to use the shutter button solely to initiate metering.

◼  Fully-press. You can choose:

•  Start/Stop Movie Recording. This definition allows you to use a full press of the shutter release to start/stop movie recording. You may find it convenient to use the same button to trigger both still photos and movies. Since it’s not possible to shoot stills while shooting movies, assigning the movie function to the shutter release is a viable option. (You can, however, extract single frames from your videos if you need a still.)

•  No function. With this default setting, a full press has no function.

Zebra Settings

Options: Zebra Off (default), On; Zebra pattern (Zebra 1, Zebra 2, Zebra 1+2); Zebra 1 Level (5–95 percent), Zebra 2 Level (50–100 percent)

This feature warns you when highlight levels in your image are brighter than a setting you specify in this menu option. It’s somewhat comparable to the flashing “blinkies” that digital cameras have long used during image review to tell us, after the fact, which highlight areas of the image we just took are blown out.

Zebra patterns are a much more useful tool because you are given an alert before you take the picture and can specify exactly how bright too bright is. The Zebra feature has been a staple of professional video shooting for a long time, as you might guess from the moniker assigned to the unit used to specify brightness: IRE, a measure of video signal level, which stands for Institute of Radio Engineers.

When you want to use Zebra pattern warnings, access this menu entry, choose your pattern, and specify an IRE brightness value from 5 to 100 (depending on pattern selected). Once you see the results on your display, you can adjust your exposure settings to reduce the brightness of the highlights, as described in Chapter 4.

So, exactly how bright is too bright? A value of 100 IRE indicates pure white, so any Zebra pattern visible when using this setting indicates that your image is extremely overexposed. Any details in the highlights are gone and cannot be retrieved. Settings from 70 to 90 can be used to make sure facial tones are not overexposed. Generally, Caucasian skin falls in the 80 IRE range, with darker skin tones registering as low as 70, and very fair skin or lighter areas of your subject edging closer to 90 IRE. Once you’ve decided the approximate range of tones that you want to make sure do not blow out, you can set the camera’s Zebra pattern sensitivity appropriately and receive the flashing striped warning on your display. (See Figure 16.13.) The pattern does not appear in your final image, of course— it’s just an aid to keep you from blowing it, so to speak. Maximum brightness value can vary, depending on your Canon Log, Highlight Tone Priority, Picture Style, and HDR-PQ settings.

Your adjustments, shown in Figure 16.14, include:

◼  Zebra. Choose On or Off to enable/disable display of Zebra patterns during movie shooting.

◼  Zebra Pattern. There are two Zebra patterns to choose from: right-slanting diagonal lines (as seen in Figure 16.13), and left slanting. These appear over areas that exceed your specified brightness level. You can also elect to show Zebra 1+2, which shows an overlapping pattern where the two warnings merge. That allows you to see areas that represent a combination of the two levels.

◼  Zebra 1 Level. You can set the Zebra 1 display from 5 to 95 percent (with plus/minus 5 percent tolerance).

◼  Zebra 2 Level. The Zebra 2 level can be specified from 50 to 100 percent.

Shooting Information Display/Viewfinder Display Format

Options: Screen Information Settings, VF Info/Toggle Settings, Grid Display, Histogram Display, Focus Distance Display

Options: Display 1, Display 2

These two entries function virtually identically to their Still photography counterpart and, indeed, any settings you make in still or movie modes are used in the other mode as well. The only difference is found in the Shooting Information Display entry, as the movie version does not have the View-finder Vertical Display option, nor apply it if enabled in still mode.

Reverse Display

Options: Auto (default), Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White Fluorescent, Flash, Custom, Color Temperature

My preference: N/A

This is the first entry in the Shooting 7 menu. (See Figure 16.15.) If automatic white balance or one of the seven preset settings available (Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White Fluorescent, or Flash) aren’t suitable, you can set a custom white balance using the Custom menu option or a specific color temperature value.

Standby: Low Resolution

Options: On (default), Off

Think of this setting as an overheating/power saving mode. The R7’s sensor is energized and memory card storage is active continuously as you preview or capture video. Autofocus, exposure metering, and other functions are also hard at work. Shooting 4K video at high speeds and fast transfer rates generates a lot of heat. This control provides a modest amount of help to prevent the camera from becoming over-warm and, perhaps damaging the sensor while idling, by displaying the preview image at a reduced refresh/quality setting. It also saves power and may allow you to shoot longer, particularly if you have the camera on, but on standby, for longer periods of time. Image quality while on standby isn’t that critical, in any case, even if there is a noticeable difference between the preview and your actual recorded video.

This setting cannot be used when Digital Zoom is enabled. If overheating doesn’t concern you, switch from the default On setting to Off. Your chief gain is faster response when you resume capture, and improved display on the standby screen.

HDMI Display

Options: Camera+External (default), External Only

When directing video to an external device, you can choose whether your output is displayed on your camera and on the external device, or only on the external recorder or monitor.

◼  Camera+External. Movie display is shown on the camera and the other device connected through the HDMI port. In this mode, recording on the camera’s memory card is not possible. The HDMI shows the video only, with no information overlays, and is used to display menus and playback. The camera displays the video as it’s being captured, along with informational overlays summoned by the INFO button. Menus and playback aren’t shown on the camera.

You might want to use this mode to be able to monitor your recording at the camera, as well as on the HDMI device (which may be physically separated and connected by a long cable).

◼  External Only. This shows video, information, menus, and playback image on the external device only, and nothing on the camera itself.

Time Code

Options: Count Up, Start Time Setting, Movie Rec. Count, Movie Play Count, HDMI, Drop Frame

Advanced video shooters find SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers)-compatible time codes embedded in the video files to be an invaluable reference during editing. To oversimplify a bit, the time system provides precise hour:minute:second:frame markers that allow identifying and synchronizing frames and audio. The time code system includes a provision for “dropping” frames to ensure that the fractional frame rate of captured video (remember that a 24 fps setting actually yields 23.976 frames per second while 30 fps capture gives you 29.97 actual “frames” per second) can be matched up with actual time spans.

As I noted in the introduction to this book, I won’t be covering the most technical aspects of movie shooting in great detail (including time codes, raw HDMI streaming, etc.). If you’re at the stage where you’re using time codes, you don’t need a primer, anyway. However, the Time Code submenu, shown in Figure 16.16, does include the following options:

◼  Count Up. Choose Rec Run, in which the time code counts up only when you are actually capturing video, or Free Run (also known as Time of Day), which allows the time code to run up even between shooting clips. The latter is useful when you want to synchronize clips between multiple cameras that are shooting the same event. When using Free Run, even if the cameras record at different times, you’ll be able to match the video that was captured at the exact same moment during editing. When Free Run is selected, the time code will always be recorded to the movie file (except for HFR clips).

◼  Start Time Setting. Normally, the camera uses its internal clock to specify the hours:minutes:seconds, with frames set to :00 when you begin shooting. This entry allows you to manually enter any hour:minute:second:frame of your choice, or to Reset the start time to 00:00:00:00.

◼  Movie Rec. Count. Here you can decide whether to display the elapsed time for the current clip on the LCD, or the Time Code while capturing video.

◼  Movie Play Count. This gives you the same choices during playback, allowing you to choose elapsed time or Time Code.

◼  HDMI. You can select Enable to append the time code to the HDMI video output, or Disable to not add it to the output. The Record Command output, when Enabled, allows the camera’s Stop/ Start action to sync with the external recording device. When Disabled, starting and stopping are controlled by the external recording device.

◼  Drop Frame. As I mentioned, the 30 fps setting yields 29.97 actual frames per second, 60 fps gives you 59.95 frames per second, and HFR provides 119.9 fps, causing a discrepancy between the actual time and the time code that’s recorded. Choose Enable, and the camera will skip some time code numbers in drop-frame mode at intervals to eliminate the discrepancy. When disabled, you may notice a difference of several seconds per hour.

Movie Servo AF

Options: Enable (default), Disable

With the R7, this function operates similarly to Continuous AF described in Chapter 12, but, when enabled, uses only Movie Servo AF. When disabled, you can initiate autofocus by pressing the shutter button halfway or the AF-ON button. When active, focus is adjusted constantly without the need to press the shutter release halfway. To lock focus or pause continuous focusing (say, to eliminate the sound of the lens’s motor as it refocuses), tap the Servo AF icon at the lower left of the LCD screen. Tap again to resume. Movie Servo AF will also be reactivated if you press the MENU or Playback buttons, or change the AF method. You can specify how the camera responds using the Movie Servo AF Speed entry, described next.

Movie Servo AF Speed

Options: When Active, AF Speed

This choice is available when Movie Servo AF is set to Enable. The function is also enabled when using lenses released after 2009 that have USM or STM motors. Your choices are as follows:

◼  When Active. Always On activates the AF adjustment speed setting automatically before and during movie shooting. The During Shooting AF choice makes the speed adjustment active only when you are capturing video. (See Figure 16.18, top.)

◼  AF Speed. Highlight this option and press Q/SET. You can then adjust the AF speed using the touch screen, QCD, or directional controls along a sliding scale from Slow (–7 to 0) to Standard (0) to Fast (+1 to +2). (See Figure 16.18, bottom.)

Movie AF Tracking Sensitivity

Options: –3 (Locked On) to +3 (Responsive)

Here you can specify how quickly the Movie Servo AF tracking locks onto a moving subject. Movie Servo AF must be enabled. It’s similar to the Tracking Sensitivity that you can set in the Autofocus 1 menu, as described in Chapter 12. As with its still photo counterpart, changing the tracking sensitivity can come in useful when an intervening subject passes through the frame in front of the subject you were capturing. It’s also helpful when panning. A sliding scale can be adjusted from Locked On (–3 to –1) to Responsive (+1 to +3) or standard at the 0 position. (See Figure 16.19.)

Locked On tells the camera to stick with the subject currently in focus—like that referee at a football game, or a passerby in an urban scene. Responsive settings tell the camera to switch to track a subject located at the current focus point, even if it’s the same subject now moving toward you at a rapid rate, or a different subject that comes into view.

Compression

Compression is easiest to understand, so I’ll get it out of the way first. As I mentioned earlier, the camera stores files using the standard H.264/MPEG-4 codec (“coder-decoder”). For many of the Movie Size options listed earlier, you can select either ALL-I or IPB compression methods (either Standard or Light).

◼  ALL-I (All Intraframe). This mode, available only when shooting time-lapse video, is useful for editing and post-processing. In this mode, the camera takes each individual frame that you shoot and attempts to compress it before writing the frame to your memory card. You can think of ALL-I compression as a series of still images, each squeezed down by discarding (hopefully) redundant information. While this compression method is not the most efficient way to reduce file size, because individual frames are stored in their entirety, the resulting files are easier to edit.

◼  IPB (Standard). This is a newer compression method that is considered Standard by Canon, which uses interframe compression; that is, only certain “key” frames are saved, with other frames “simulated” or interpolated from information contained in the frames that precede and succeed them. I-frames are the complete or intraframes (the only kind used by ALL-I compression); P-frames are “predicted picture” frames, which record only the pixel changes from the previous frame (say, a runner traveling across a fixed background); B-frames are “bi-predictive picture” frames, created by using the differences from the preceding and following frames. This interpolation produces image quality that is a bit lower and which requires more of your camera’s DIGIC X processing power, but file sizes are smaller.

Video encoded using IPB must be converted, or transcoded to a format compatible with your video-editing software. The compression scheme can produce more artifacts, particularly in frames with lots of motion throughout the frame. I use this method only when the ability to shoot longer is very important.

◼  IPB (Light). It is recorded at a bit rate that is lower than IPB (Standard), producing files that are smaller, transfer more quickly, have higher playback compatibility, and provide longer maximum shooting times. If you don’t need the maximum resolution possible, this choice can be very useful.

Movie files are limited to 4GB in size if you are using an SDHC card (those with a capacity of 32GB or less). Such cards are formatted using the FAT32 file system, which cannot store files larger than 4GB. If a clip stored on such a card reaches that size, the camera will create a new file and continue shooting. The separate files must be viewed separately and/or combined in a movie editor.

On the other hand, SDXC cards (with capacities of 64GB or more) are formatted in the camera using the exFAT file system and files can exceed 4GB. However, your computer’s operating system may have some restrictions on file size.

Resolution

Resolution choices are a little less techie:

◼  4K (3840 × 2160). This ultra-high-definition format is the wave of the future, even if content and display choices are limited at present. As you advance in the video world, you’ll probably find yourself shooting 4K a lot, even if you intend to distribute Full HD video. Many editors swear that 4K video converted to Full HD is better than Full HD video captured natively.

◼  1920 × 1080 (1080p). This resolution is so-called “full HD” and is the maximum resolution displayed when using the HDTV format. Many monitors and most HD televisions can display this resolution, and you’ll have the best image quality when you use it. Use this resolution for your “professional” productions, especially those you’ll be editing and converting to nifty-looking DVDs.

Frame Rate

In the digital camera world, in which all video is shot using progressive scan with no interlaced scan option, frame rates are easy to choose. (Interlacing is a capture method in which even/odd numbered lines of each frame are captured alternately; with progressive scan, all the lines in a frame are captured consecutively.) Fortunately, one seemingly confusing set of alternatives can be dispensed with quickly: The 50/25 fps and 60/30 fps options can be considered as pairs of video-oriented frame rates. The 60/30 fps rates are used only where the NTSC television standard is in place, such as North America, Japan, Korea, and a few other places. The 50/25 frame rates are used where the PAL standard reigns, such as Europe, Russia, China, Africa, Australia, and other places. For simplicity, I’ll refer just to the 60/30 frame rates in this section; if you’re reading this in India, just convert to 50/25.

The third possibility is 24 fps, which is a standard frame rate used for motion pictures. Keep in mind that the rates are nominal. A 24 fps setting yields 23.976 frames per second; 30 fps gives you 29.97 actual “frames” per second. As I mentioned earlier, the R7’s High Frame Rate option captures video at 119.99 fps or, nominally, 120 fps for NTSC and 100 fps for PAL. (See the section that follows for more on High Frame Rate video.)

The difference lies in the two “worlds” of motion images—film and video. The standard frame rate for motion picture film is 24 fps, while the video rate, at least in the United States, Japan, and those other places using the NTSC standard, is 30 fps. Computer-editing software can handle either type and convert between them. The choice between 24 fps and 30 fps is determined by what you plan to do with your video.

The short explanation is that shooting at 24 fps gives your movie a “film” look, excellent for showing fine detail. However, if your clip has moving subjects, or you pan the camera, 24 fps can produce a jerky effect called “judder.” A 30 or 60 fps rate produces a home-video look that some feel is less desirable, but which is smoother and less jittery when displayed on an electronic monitor. I suggest you try both and use the frame rate that best suits your tastes and video-editing software.

Another consideration that we can’t do much about is the difference between a rolling shutter and global shutter. In progressive scan mode, each line is captured one after another, so that a moving subject may have perceptibly relocated (part of it anyway) during the capture of a frame. The rolling shutter may produce Jell-o-like effects with such motion. A global shutter, like those used in professional video cameras, captures the entire frame at once, eliminating that problem. Without benefit of a global shutter, we at least need to be aware of the possible result when shooting action.

More on Shutter Speeds

You might think that setting your camera to a faster shutter speed will help give you sharper video frames. But the choice of a shutter speed for movie making is a bit more complicated than that. As you might guess, it’s almost always best to leave the shutter speed at 1/30th or 1/60th second, and allow the overall exposure to be adjusted by varying the aperture and/or ISO sensitivity. We don’t normally stare at a video frame for longer than 1/30th or 1/24th second, so while the shakiness of the camera can be disruptive (and often corrected by your camera’s in-lens and in-body image stabilization), if there is a bit of blur in our subjects from movement, we tend not to notice. Each frame flashes by in the blink of an eye, so to speak, so a shutter speed of 1/30th or 1/60th second works a lot better in video than it does when shooting stills. Even shots with lots of movement are often sufficiently sharp at 1/60th second.

Higher shutter speeds introduce problems of their own. If you shoot a video frame using a shutter speed of 1/250th second, the actual moment in time that’s captured represents only about 12 percent of the 1/30th second of elapsed time in that frame. Yet, when played back, that frame occupies the full 1/30th of a second, with 88 percent of that time filled by stretching the original image to fill it. The result is often a choppy/jumpy image, and one that may appear to be too sharp.

The reason for that is more social imprinting than scientific: we’ve all grown up accustomed to seeing the look of Hollywood productions that, by convention, were shot using a shutter speed that’s half the reciprocal of the frame rate (that is, 1/48th second for a 24 fps movie). Professional movie cameras use a rotary shutter (achieving that 1/48th-second exposure by using a 180-degree shutter “angle”), but the effect on our visual expectations is the same. For the most “film-like” appearance, use 24 fps and 1/60th-second shutter speed.

Faster shutter speeds do have some specialized uses for motion analysis, especially where individual frames are studied. The rest of the time, 1/30th or 1/60th of a second will suffice. If the reason you needed a higher shutter speed was to obtain the correct exposure, use a slower ISO setting, or a neutral-density filter to cut down on the amount of light passing through the lens. A good rule of thumb is to use 1/60th second or slower when shooting at 24 fps; 1/60th second or slower at 30 fps; and 1/125th second or slower at 60 fps.