sjb3

This post is about using the video function of a bridge camera, specifically the Fujifilm Finepix S1, a well-constructed, weatherproof (not waterproof, unfortunately) camera from about 2014. It's capable of full-HD, 1920x1080, 60 fps video. Its performance, however, due to its relatively small 1/ 2/3 sensor and 16-MP resolution, pretty much limits video shooting to outdoors; indoor footage tends toward noisy. When I first bought the camera in '14, I didn't really know anything about video, only that if you pressed the little red button on the back, it would start recording, and you pressed the same button to stop.

That suited me fine until I started finding things out about the subject after I bought my first GoPro in late '16, like setting the shutter speed to twice the fps rate, resulting in much smoother and easier-on-the-eyes footage. With the GoPro, you had a choice between letting the camera set the exposure/shutter speed automatically for current conditions, or open up Protune and DIY. That got me thinking about the Fuji S1; the mode dial has a full range of settings including Manual which of course allows setting the aperture & shutter speed to whatever you choose. My question at this point is: Does that apply only to taking photographs, or can I set an aperture and shutter speed and expect those settings to work when shooting video?

The owner's guide for the S1 says only to press the button to start & stop video recording, but says nothing about setting anything on the Mode Dial, as if that didn't matter (and there's no "Movie" spot on the dial itself, either). I guess this could mean that video is a fully automatic function, separate from the still photograph function of the camera; it's either on or off, and the guy doing the shooting has no control over how the footage hits the sensor, he just presses the button, points the camera at the subject and the camera decides what exposure settings work, with "motion blur" not being a priority.

But it would be great if I could set the Mode Dial to Manual or Shutter Priority (setting 1/125th of a second for the 60 fps recording rate) and then hit the button to start shooting, and the camera actually recorded video at the speed & aperture I selected. On a super-bright day I could mount a neutral density filter to help slow the shutter while maintaining an aperture wide enough to blur the background. I will have to try that out. Can't do it today since it's raining, but I will ASAP and post what happens. Meantime, I'd be much interested in your opinion.

I'm actually looking forward to trying this test, though the locale will just be my unexciting house & yard; I've even built a stabilizing rig out of pvc pipe based on Scott Eggleston's original design from close to 10 years back (remember The Frugal Filmmaker?).

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

On Panasonic cameras there is a video settings section in the menu structure. A problem can come where, to get the shutter speeds you want, you need a ND filter.

sjb3

Sorry for not getting back sooner. After reading your post, I took a closer look at the menu of this Fuji camera of mine. In the Shooting menu, the only movie setting is for your choice of how you want the autofocus to work, either centered or continuous; the Playback menu there's a rudimentary "editing" function allowing you to trim footage or add clips made at the same size & frame rate together, and that's it. Nothing at all related to video in the Setup menu.

Still, I had to at least try the test I wrote about in my post, and looking at the rersulting footage, which I made using Mode dial settings of both Shutter priority and Full Manual, along with just leaving the mode dial set to Auto, I couldn't see any noticeable difference.

Where I did see a difference was when I used various ND filters. So I now accept that exposure data for the video function, to include aperture and shutter speed, is calculated in the camera, but that data can be influenced by using ND filters to reduce the light getting through to the sensor and thus slowing the shutter speed to provide the desired motion blur.

Thanks very much for your input; it helped me to look at the problem from a clearer perspective.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Does the camera let you shoot video in manual mode? My Lumix FZ80 and my Coolpix B700 only allow auto settings when I set the selector to video. However when I set the selector to manual and press the video button to record, I get whatever manual settings for shutter speed, aperture and iso have been selected for still pics. I keep the continual auto focus on. The only advantage I have seen for shooting video in auto is rapidly changing light conditions. In that case the aperture changes automatically to match the light almost instantly.

sjb3

Thanks much for your interest; I can say for positive sure that the video function on the Fuji Finepix S1 is fully automatic, setting (and adjusting) the aperture & shutter speed according to how it sees the scene, although I can affect that scene by making the camera see it a bit darker by mounting various strengths of ND filters. I'm also pretty sure that changing the ISO would affect video too.

I made some test footage, the same subject and shooting time for each situation: first with no filter, just pressed the video button and started shooting. I moved the mode dial to different positions, though I was in fact most interested in what would happen when I was in Manual. I set a number of Aperture/Shutter speed combinations, some of which would have seriously under- or over-exposed the footage. Made no difference, the footage was all perfect no matter what I dialed in.

It was when I started using ND filters that things were different. I used ND 4, 8 and the whopping 6-stop ND 64. I realize that since I can't do any real input, using these filters calls for a fair amount of guesswork, at least until I've gotten familiar with what works and what doesn't, according to lighting conditions and the filter I'm using.

If I sound like I'm complaining, I'm not; the only reason I started checking into all this was I wanted to produce motion blur in my video footage. I may still be able to do that, at least sometimes, and the camera itself is a gem; it does so many other things very well. I wouldn't think of replacing it.