With the development of mirrorless camera technology, the distinction betwixt photo-taking devices and video cameras has go further blurred. Today, in that location are enough of mirrorless stills/video cameras available that can shoot footage comparable to the standard of professional video tools, but at a fraction of the cost.

In this guide we'll exist explaining the central technologies and features of today'due south hybrid stills/video cameras, to help y'all make the correct buying conclusion. To help you navigate the jargon-heavy world of video, nosotros've created a glossary of terms which you'll find at the stop of this article.

Resolution

The about quoted video specification you'll see for a photographic camera is the output resolution, typically 1080p/Total Hd, 4K or fifty-fifty 8K on the latest cameras. Near contempo TVs tin can display 1080p/Total Hard disk drive, and the ability to show 4K video, which has twice the resolution, is condign increasingly mutual. Shooting 4K footage gives some flexibility during the editing process, fifty-fifty if your final output will exist 1080, but the files tend to be a lot larger and require more storage and a more powerful machine for editing.

The same is true to an even greater degree with 8K capture: it affords you some creative flexibility (in terms of cropping or stabilizing your footage) if you're outputting a 4K video, just the storage and processing requirements are even greater. Almost people will find practiced quality 4K more useful than 8K footage, nigh of the time.

UHD 4K is twice the resolution of 1080/Full HD. UHD 8K is twice the resolution again.

1080/Full HD, 4K, 8K explained:

These are the virtually mutual resolutions used in video. Full Hard disk drive (High Definition), also chosen '1080' is 1920 x 1080 pixels. 4K can refer to DCI (4096 x 2160 pixels) or the more mutual UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels), 8K as well has DCI and UHD versions, which double the resolution in each dimension to 8192 x 4320 pixels and 7680 × 4320 pixels respectively.

An important consideration beyond the quoted output resolution is how the footage is captured: the all-time cameras capture greater-than-4K resolution and downscale to give highly detailed 4K output, just other models have to sub-sample (only capturing some lines of their sensor, or lumping pixels together) which gives a less-detailed event that is more than prone to glitches. Finally, some cameras have to crop in and use a small area of their sensor, which lowers quality (especially in low lighting atmospheric condition), and means your footage is more 'zoomed-in' than in your photographic camera's photograph fashion, making it harder to get a wide-bending view. This is a detail most manufacturers don't publish, so yous'll demand to larn the lingo and read reviews to be sure.

The concluding gene to consider is rolling shutter: the wobbly, Jello-similar distortion of subjects that movement quickly by the camera. This is caused because cameras capture their video one line at a time, scanning down the sensor: on a camera where this is boring, in that location's more than of a risk of your subject moving and being in a different position past the time the photographic camera is capturing the lesser of each frame. Generally, cameras with smaller sensors are quicker to read-out, then are less prone to this problem.

Frame Rate

Nigh video is shot at approximately 24 frames per second or 30 frames per second (with 25 fps being the standard for Tv set broadcast exterior Due north America). Merely many cameras offer faster frame rates, which tin be used in a number of ways. 60p footage tin practise a meliorate task of representing move, and then can be a good way of capturing bursts of action. The alternative is to capture 60p or faster then irksome it down to 24 or 30p, to give a boring-motion effect. Most cameras tin't offer fast frame rates at their highest resolution, but 1080 capture at 120 fps or faster is non uncommon, which can be bully if your project doesn't accept to be 4K.

Recording limits

Another detail to check is whether a camera has any recording restrictions. Some models tin can only record for 29 minutes and 59 seconds (an old brake that related to import duty), but virtually end upward existence limited only considering loftier-resolution video capture generates a lot of oestrus.

The processing needed to capture video generates heat and most stills/video cameras aren't very constructive at dissipating this heat, eventually requiring them to shut down to absurd off. Pro video cameras accept cooling fans but nearly stills/video hybrids simply try to transfer this estrus to the camera'southward body panels, where it can escape into the environment. The best of these designs can continue shooting for extended periods, while other models let you disable their overheat limits (or, at least, make them less stringent). This is rarely a trouble if you program to shoot lots of short clips to edit together but will foreclose y'all leaving the photographic camera running at something like a school recital, particularly if you try to shoot in 4K or higher. Fast frame rates tin can cause similar headaches in terms of rut and storage.

Audio

Once y'all've establish a camera that shoots proficient footage at the resolution y'all want, a key thing to consider is audio. Most audiences are more forgiving of poor-looking footage than they are of bad-sounding video, and it's a factor hands overlooked if most of your feel is photographic.

A microphone input socket is a must: the internal microphones in cameras tend to be unproblematic affairs that volition pick up ever movement of the operators hands or clothes moving nearby, and then y'all'll desire to exist able to attach an external microphone. The next most valuable feature is a headphone socket so that you tin check the volume level and monitor for distracting groundwork sounds: the human brain is keen at filtering-out the sound of a car passing or an airplane flying overhead but you won't exist able to remove it from your audio recording, when you lot watch the footage back.

More video-focused models let you lot attach sound modules for attaching and controlling high-end microphones with XLR connectors.

Autofocus

One of the biggest distinctions in mod cameras is how reliably their autofocus works when capturing video. Unlike stills shooting, video captures all of the camera's attempts to focus, as well every bit the moments it'southward in focus, then you'll need a camera that's decisive and dependable if you're hoping to trust it to autofocus while you're recording.

The all-time performers are able to reliably rail subjects you've chosen (peculiarly man subjects), and let you determine whether they should re-focus rapidly (to keep a moving subject in focus), or slowly and smoothly, for when you want to draw attention from one subject area to another. Autofocus depends on both the camera and the design of the lens you use, so it's worth doing a caste of research (and, perhaps, testing), before you lot determine to rely heavily on autofocus.

That niggling AF/MF switch in the center of the epitome represents the classic dilemma of video: put faith in autofocus or accept control yourself. The near modernistic cameras brand autofocus much more than dependable.

Focus peaking and Zebras

The alternative to autofocus is, as you might wait, to focus manually. This is the way a lot of professional person video is still shot. Most modern cameras allow you employ autofocus to set your initial focus position, before you start recording, and then provide a 'focus peaking' function that highlights the edges of the in-focus points in your scene. When used with an advisable lens (ideally 1 with linear focus response, where the focus always changes past the same amount every bit yous turn the focus ring) and a scrap of exercise, manual focus is pretty workable, just a lot of subjects can be arranged so that you don't need to re-focus very oftentimes.

Focus peaking has added a scarlet highlight to the highest-contrast (sharpest focused) parts of this image, making information technology easy to see what you lot're doing if you manual focus a shot.

Equally well equally focus peaking, near cameras let you 'punch-in' to the video: giving a magnified view of part of the scene to check disquisitional focus. Whereas nearly all cameras volition dial-in earlier you showtime recording, simply some will let you lot zoom-in to double-check your focus while y'all're recording, which is a useful option to have.

The other useful video tool worth checking for, when researching a video camera is the option of overlay a Zebra pattern onto the screen, indicating a specified effulgence. It'south a useful tool for judging exposure, and can be adjusted to bank check for over-exposed regions or to bank check you're exposing skin-tones correctly (getting exposure right in video is much more critical than in stills, where you can shoot Raw to preserve some latitude for adjustment).

Settings carry-over

One detail that won't exist mentioned on a camera makers' website is whether exposure and other settings are carried over from stills to video shooting. The ideal photograph settings are often drastically different from the ideal video settings, so we prefer when exposure, white balance and focus modes are kept divide.

Fifty-fifty with divide (or separable) settings for stills and video, information technology'due south not uncommon to have to add darkening (neutral density) filters to your lens when jumping from stills to video capture, merely not having to constantly adjust your settings can assist make switching back and along a lot simpler.

Epitome stabilization

Stabilization is an essential part of video. At its near basic this can mean the use of a tripod with a head designed to motion smoothly for video. Cameras with in-torso stabilization can permit greater freedom of motion, letting yous add some dynamism to your projects. Most image-stabilized cameras accept modes designed to abolish out shake (letting you get steady shots without a tripod) and modes that smoothen things out every bit yous intentionally move the camera (these modes often crop-in to the footage to allow some digital stabilization). In that location'due south some variation in terms of performance, with some cameras smoothly responding to intentional move and others initially trying to fight against it.

The last blazon of stabilization worth considering is a gimbal: an external device that that provides a greater degree of motility smoothing than a camera tin requite on its ain. Gimbals are condign more affordable and easier to use, and tin give the production values of your project a major boost.

Loftier Dynamic Range capture

Unhelpfully, the term 'High Dynamic Range' is used to refer to ii things: modes that attempt to squeeze a wide range of brilliant and dark tones into standard footage, and modes that capture a wide range of bright and dark tones for playback on HDR TVs that tin properly display them as vivid and dark.

HDR TVs can properly display a wider range of vivid and dark tones, and tin can arguably have more of an affect on the viewer than the jump from Full HD to 4K

This second approach tin arguably have more than of an impact on the viewer than the jump from Full Hard disk resolution to 4K. The virtually common system for doing this is Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), a system developed for broadcast TV, designed to show wider dynamic range on the latest TVs but yet look good on older sets. The other option is called 'PQ,' which is a more sophisticated organisation, but doesn't necessarily offer a dramatic difference to HLG. Both systems are supported by YouTube, which will also generate a standard DR (SDR) version for viewers without HDR TVs.

Almost HDR standards crave 10-bit capture (which has sufficient space to encode the additional color and tonal range that HDR footage needs).

Log capture

Log footage (left) looks very apartment and done-out, but retains a lot of data about the scene being shot, allowing more flexibility to achieve a specific 'look' and retaining a wider range of brilliant and dark tones.

The other type of video that benefits from ten-bit capture is Log recording: a mode of capturing and retaining more than information about the original scene, to provide greater flexibility when you lot come to edit the footage.

Log footage tends to look very low contrast and desaturated, to prevent color or tonal data clipping and condign harder to edit. The downsides are that Log capture usually encourages lower exposure levels, which capture more highlight information but risk other parts of your footage looking noisier. The other disadvantage is that you'll definitely need to edit and color-course your footage. This can be as simple every bit applying a color preset (chosen a LUT), but it'south an extra footstep you'll accept to go through.

On the subject of LUTs, most cameras that shoot Log let y'all employ some kind of correction to their screen or viewfinder to let y'all preview what the candy footage might wait like. so you lot're non looking at grayness, washed-out footage.

Raw output

Raw video output is becoming increasingly common, but often requires an external recording device and some more piece of work when editing the footage.

Some cameras tin can capture or output Raw footage, often requiring an external recorder to encode the results into a quasi-standard format. In principle this gives a level of control over the brightness and white residuum of the footage, beyond what's possible with well-shot Log footage. However, because the Raw output doesn't have the camera's processing, sharpening and noise reduction applied, it requires more work to arrive expect good. And, at nowadays, virtually editing software has been designed to work with regular compressed footage or Log-encoded video, and then the workflow isn't as smooth as it could be.

Getting the almost out of your video camera

Whatever camera you choose, the ability to shoot and edit high resolution video can be an heady creative risk. There's a lot to larn, even if y'all're familiar with photography, only the satisfaction of capturing and creating video footage tin be immense. There are all-encompassing resources on the internet to help y'all as you acquire, and with the latest models, it won't be your equipment holding you lot dorsum.

Glossary

Sensor sampling - The method used to derive video resolution (eg 4K) from a sensor that may well have more capture pixels than needed. The most common methods are: native (1:1) sampling, line skipping, pixel binning and oversampling.

Native (ane:1) sampling - Utilizes the same number of capture pixels as the output video resolution. This often means cropping-in to use a central portion of the sensor. Gives detailed video just the crop results in a narrower field of view, making it difficult to accomplish wide-angle shooting, and impacts image quality (peculiarly in low light).

Line skipping - Only uses information from select horizontal rows of pixels, skipping the ones in-between. Gives fast readout but increases hazard of moire, lowers image quality as the whole sensor isn't existence used. Common on loftier-res sensors.

Pixel binning - Combines data from neighboring pixels, to create larger effective pixels. Boosts readout speed and can give detail levels comparable to native sampling, but using more of the sensor and so less noisy.

Oversampling - Captures more pixels than are needed, processes them and then downsizes the footage. Gives more than item than native sampling tin can with skilful noise performance and reduced risk of moire. Challenging for the photographic camera in terms of speed and temperature build-up.

Bitrate - The typical amount of data generated past each 2nd of footage. Bigger numbers aren't automatically better: equally different codecs can vary in terms the algorithm they utilize and how much information is retained most each frame. But more often than not higher bitrates are better at conveying subtle motion and particular.

Bit depth - The number of data values used to draw each pixel. Almost cameras (and displays) are 8-bit, simply 10-flake capture preserves more information virtually the original scene, so is preferable for HDR TV footage with a wide range of tones, and for Log capture, where you're likely to make large adjustments

Codec - Shorthand for 'coder-decoder', this indicates the method a camera uses to shrink video for storage. The most common codecs are H.264 and the newer H.265 (sometimes called HEVC). H.265 is about twice as efficient, significant that it tin record the aforementioned quality as H.264 at one-half the bit rate or college quality at the same bitrate. H.265 is ordinarily more challenging for computers to edit, though.

Frame rate (eg 23.97p) - The number of frames of video that will be played each second. Movie theatre tends to utilize 24p, TV normally uses 30p (in Due north America, frequently 25p elsewhere) and 60p can be used for sports and fast motion. Near phones and monitors will happily show whatever of these, so it becomes a artistic choice that helps ascertain the 'look' of your footage.

LUT - Curt for Wait-upward-tabular array, a LUT is a serial of values used to take footage shot with one color and contrast 'look' and translate it to a requite a dissimilar 'await.' Most commonly used to make apartment, low-contrast Log footage expect more similar regular footage.

Moiré - More than correctly chosen aliasing in near instances, it's a visual error in video footage caused by trying to capture finer detail than the sensor tin correctly capture. Moiré is usually seen equally bands of false color or 'dancing' patterns in fine textural detail.

Resolution - 1080/Total HD, 4K and 8K are the most common resolutions used in video. Total HD is also called 1080, and is 1920 x 1080 pixels. 4K tin can refer to DCI (4096 10 2160 pixels) or the more common UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels), 8K also has DCI and UHD versions, which double the resolution in each dimension. DCI footage is in the wider 1:1.79 aspect ratio, whereas UHD is the same 16:9 shape as almost TVs.

Rolling shutter / Jello issue - A type of motion distortion acquired when your subject moves while each video frame is however being captured, causing warped vertical lines and a disconcerting 'wobble' to the footage. It's less noticeable on cameras with fast sensor readout.