HOW TO: Shoot a good Video with a Point and Shoot or DSLR Camera?

Today's Digital Cameras come with Video recording capabilities. People not having those expensive cam corders can still record very good videos provided you follow some rules.



I am going to list down some of the tricks you can use to shoot really good Videos with your Simple Digital Cameras. Be it indoors or outdoors there are many common factors which govern the video quality and I am goint to list out few of them.

1. Subject:
Many people shoot videos without having any idea what they are shooting all they capture is an event. A good video depicts not just the events but also gives a clear idea who is the main subject(s) in the video.

2. Sound:
Almost all digital Cameras and DSLRs have capability to record sound. The sound quality can be greatly enhanced if you do not keep your fingers on the inbuilt mike. So the trick is to identify exactly where the inbuilt mike is and make sure you do not accidentally put your hands on it. Also if possible you can actually put a small external speaker near the mike which will record exactly what sounds you want to record and avoid the background noise. If you can attach and external Mike to your camera if can't get sweeter, just go ahead and attach it.

3. Motion.
If you observe professional videos, there are no shaky moments in those videos and the video appears smooth. To get this effect there are two very simple tricks you can do. The best way is to use a Tripod (they are not that expensive). If you are shooting something while you are moving you can simply attach a Camera Neck Strap and simple pull the strap long enough where it is fastened to your neck in the same time it should not hurt you. Put your Camera into live View mode to actually see what you are shooting (avoid using view finder).

Imp Tip: Never tilt the camera and shoot the video it looks cool in the small Camera Screen but when you look at the big screen you find is very irritating and no one likes to tilt their necks to get a proper view of the video.

4. Lights:
If you have control of lights especially indoors then please make sure the room is well lit especially on the subject. Shooting Video in low lights can make the videos look blur and unprofessional.

5. Auto Focus:
Many cameras come with Auto focus during videos and randomly focus on subjects while you are shooting. I would recommend you to turn off or avoid auto focus and use Manual Focus as you are in much better control of the subjects your are shooting. Also the Auto Focus motor adds unnecessary sound while it is Auto Focusing.

I learned all the above things after going through different videos on the internet and also some personal experiences. If you guys feel you can add few more tricks I would love to update the post.