Canon R5 - Best settings for filming wildlife

[@jerryloradrifter]

Thank you for being clear and concise. The close up shots of the screen and buttons were amazing! Perhaps another short video on specific details of how you set the white balance would be much appreciated.

[@vancecrofoot]

Thank you Jerry, much appreciated. Great idea. I'll make a short video on setting the white balance for the R5. :)

[@vancecrofoot]

I apologize for never getting around to making the white balance video. I've been super busy. With the R5 its super easy though. Just use the white balance icons, using the Q button on the back of the camera. When it's sunny, use the sunny icon, when you're in the shade, use the shade icon and so on. They work extremely well, and they are quick to change on the fly. Give it a try and let me know what you think. :)

[@jerryloradrifter]

@@vancecrofoot thank you so much

[@krzysztofszafranek2000]

Thank you for this video, it's so concise and straight to the point! I've been using my R5 mostly for photography before, but it helped me to set it up for video. Great tip to use the M-Fn button to switch between photo and video modes!

[@vancecrofoot]

I'm glad to hear this helped you out. Thank you so much for the comment!

[@willstang86]

Awesome video man! Straight to the point and very informative. Thank you!

[@vancecrofoot]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[@lanewintermute9161]

Me again. I keep watching this vid because it is so good. As a still shooter, video rookie, I am preparing for a birding trip in Japan and Belize and trying to figure out video as best I can. I asked before about 4k24 vs 60 and am testing that. But you did not discuss (or I missed) shutter speed. I get the 180 degree "rule" but see that others sometimes exceed the rule, I believe to reduce exposure but I wonder if, say, using 300-400 SS with 60 fps instead of 120 SS will increase sharpness, maybe improve still frame capture? Good idea or bad? It would be great if you did another video, perhaps in finer detail - or can you refer me to other sources of good info as I prepare for my trip - very soon? Thanks, great work.

[@vancecrofoot]

Thank you so much! Technically speaking using the 180° rule will give the best results when it comes to motion blur. For objects that aren't moving, or only slightly moving, you won't notice a difference, but for fast motion, for example a birds wings flapping, you will see a difference if you exceed the 180° rule. Personally, I exceeded the 180° rule when shooting wildlife because I don't want to mess with ND filters out in the field. ... I can try to make a video on this in the future, but I have been extremely busy. Here's a video from Gerald Undone who explains it very well. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4GzhJd5p9aWfLMsi=0KnjZEnZjC-ljrCt

[@bornufree]

Excellent presentation. The problem I have with R6 mk2 is that it will commence tracking then drops off or it doesn’t track to begin with. Hence the camera goes off and focuses wherever it wants! I fiddled with the priority and sensitivity controls but it just doesn’t seem to recognise certain animals esp when small in frame

[@vancecrofoot]

Thanks for the comment! It sounds like the R5 might be better at this, but it's not perfect. When this happens, I switch over to 1 point AF, make sure to direct it onto the subject, then pause the auto focus (using a button that I customized) so as to prevent it from hunting. You might want to give that a try? :)

[@lyallgardiner1325]

Hi Vance, Greetings, great video, Thank you. Can you please help me out. I understand that the R5 shoots True 24fps can I ask why you have not chosen to go with the 24p setting and rather 23.98p setting? Is this a personal aesthetic choice or Technical choice ? Thanks for your time. LG

[@vancecrofoot]

Hello and thank you for the question Lyall. I personally can't see any difference between 24P and 23.98P so no need to go there. Every project I've filmed over the last 15 years has been shot at 23.98 (or 29.98 if a client asks for that). Keeping everything the same allows me to mix-and-match footage from different projects without any issues.

[@lyallgardiner1325]

Thank you Vance, Thank you for the quick reply appreciated and understood. Sincerely LG

[@lanewintermute9161]

Great video. i have been using 59.94, 4k because I might want to slow the playback. Is it a big loss of quality compared to 4k 24? Any suggestions?

[@vancecrofoot]

Thank you, much appreciated! I have found that higher frame rates result in reduced quality on any camera since the processor has less time to render each frame. On the R5, the 24P 4K fine is exceptionally sharp. You do lose some of that sharpness when you bump it up to 60P. I would recommend shooting in 24P 4K fine when you need ultimate sharpness and might not need slow motion. If you know for a fact that you need slow motion on a particular shot, then go for the 60P. Even though 60P isn't quite a sharp as 24P, it still looks really good on this camera.

[@lanewintermute9161]

@@vancecrofoot Thanks so much for your reply and clarification. Another question: I am currently set up to shoot at 29.97 and 4K fine - is there any noticeable difference between 29.97 and 24p that you recommend?

[@vancecrofoot]

@@lanewintermute9161 Both 24P and 30P (29.97) are great. I stick with 24P on all of my productions since it is often time associated with the film look. If you are producing music videos, short films, etc., I would stick with 24P If you're filming wildlife, commercials, vlogs, etc. either would work just fine. 30P is probably going to be slightly smoother. I would test them both out and see which one you prefer. To be honest there really isn't a big difference. :)

[@lanewintermute2470]

@@vancecrofoot Thanks again for your reply. What do you use for birds in flight? Anything different? Do you ever shoot in 120 fps? Really appreciate your help, as a newbie to shooting wildlife video.

[@vancecrofoot]

@@lanewintermute2470 I generally set my camera to around F9 or F10, ISO 400 and use the shutter speed to dial in exposure, even for birds in flight, simply because it is a quick and easy way to maintain exposure. Admittedly, for birds in flight the the movement of their wings would look smoother if I left my shutter speed set at the 180° rule and used a variable ND for exposure, but I don't like messing with ND filters out in the field. It really comes down to personal preference. I don't shoot at 120P since footage looks worse the higher the frame rate. I usually stick to 24P 4K HQ on my R5, but will occasionally shoot 60P for slow motion since it looks better in quality compared to 120P. Hope this helps! :)

[@voilamana]

Nice. Thank you. Which lens did you use ?

[@vancecrofoot]

Thanks for commenting. :) I use the Canon 100-500RF.

[@voilamana]

@@vancecrofoot thank you

[@kk7308]

What shutter speed to you normally use for video?

[@vancecrofoot]

I usually follow the 180° rule, which is double the frame rate. So if I'm filming in 24P, my shutter speed would be around 1/50. If I'm filming in 60P my shutter would be 1/120.... I always follow this when filming humans to maintain a natural motion blur, but when filming wildlife with my long lens, I don't mind cranking the shutter speed up to achieve proper exposure.

[@kk7308]

@@vancecrofoot Thank you so much!

[@vancecrofoot]

@@kk7308 Absolutely, I'm glad I could help!

[@RynaxAlien]

Biggest problem with Canon that it uses outdated, not BSI-CMOS sensors and has low sensitivity due to ridiculous megapixel counts or if they use later sensor they are huge like R3 or R1. I like more Sony A7sIII. By now they should have been experimenting with SPAD or x1000 more sensitive graphene sensors to shring camera size, weight and cost.