Basil Loc: New Mexico

Admittedly I’m still relatively new to the R5, and I have not read the entire manual yet, just parts of it. However, I thought I understood the video stuff enough to at least allow me to shoot some basic video…but no, apparently not. I hope I can explain this adequately. I'm just posting my frustrating lesson in case it might help others new to the R5 avoid the same mistake. (and yes, I know it was my bad for not reading the manual more thoroughly)

We went to Denver last week to attend our Grand Niece’s High School graduation. I had put the R5 into the Video Mode by pressing the “Mode” button, then the "Info" button on the R5. Once in the Video Mode I put the camera in Video AV video mode, then went into the menu Camera (red), tab #1 “Movie rec quality.” and set it for 4K-D 29.97P IPB. (Basically 4K 30FPS).

However, I knew that if I was in Photo Mode I could still press the record button and start recording video. Yes, I was able to do that during the ceremony, and I thought I was recording at 4K AV mode, 30FPS since that's how I had the settings set when I was in Video Mode. However, when I got home and pulled my video into FCP, I discovered that all my video had been shot at 120FPS which means, not only was it slow motion, but there was no sound. Useless!

Later, when I was home, I discovered that if I’m in normal “Picture” Mode (in this case AV) and I press the little light bulb button that’s just to the right of the top LCD screen, I can pull up those additional setting information, which included video settings. That screen showed that, even after having put the video settings to 30FPS, when I switched to Photo Mode and pressed the record button to shoot some video, the video settings were not what I expected. The video was in “M” mode (manual) 4K-D 119.9FPS (120FPS).

My first stop was the manual, where I this innocent little note:

“* You can record movies by pressing the movie shooting button during still photo shooting.”
* Movies recorded in [A+] shooting mode are recorded with A+ mode quality. Movies recorded in shooting modes other than [A+] are recorded with [C3p] mode.

Apparently, for some reason (unknown to me) I had the movie settings for C3 video mode set to 120fps. Thus, if I was in the stills mode, when I pressed the record button to record a movie, the movie would be recorded with the C3 video settings, in this case 4K-D 120FPS!! Arrgggg!

All I had to do then was go into C3 while in the Video Mode and set the settings I wanted, then re-register those settings to C3. Problem solved. It’s one of those little “gotchas” that can bite you in the backside if you’re not aware of it (which I wasn’t, but now I am). Hopefully this experience will help someone else new to the R5 avoid the same screw up.

Lesson learned.

Stardust Loc: Central Illinois

Lesson I got was you broke a Cardinal Rule of doing anything, let alone photography, in using a camera you aren't familiar with to shoot something important that you had never done without doing a practice first to see how things come out.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

Yeah, well thanks for that sage advice. It was the only camera I had and I "thought" I understood how to shoot video with it. Had I gone into Video mode everything would have been fine It was recording video while still in stills mode that messed me up. But your chastisement is well received.
I didn't have a lot of options in the amount of time I had. Oh well I did get a LOT of good photographs. Actually had not planned to shoot video, only pictures, but my nephew was there with his camera and he suggested that for the part when she gets her diploma, he'd shoot stills and I should shoot video. It was a spur of the moment thing and seemed like a good idea at the time.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Absolutely. A five minute test would have been enough to make sure it worked. It would probably have taken less time than it took for him to write his post about it. He could have even tested it at the venue before the ceremony began. I have had a Nikon Z fc for two years but have never used it for video even though I've read the entire 500+ page manual. I have years of video experience with my Canon 7D Mark II but even with my knowledge and experience I would never wing it and use my Z FC for an important video without testing first.

Dannj

I think most of us have been in that position whether it’s with a camera, a tool, etc. and we have different learning styles as well. I’m a hands-on learner and if I can’t find someone to show me while I follow along, I perform each step as I read it and practice the steps checking the results before going “live”.

BebuLamar

Hey but your grand niece graduated that's the more important thing. Video/photos not that important.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Florida weather (and lack of planning) hit our grandsons graduation, heavy rain/rain for the entire procedure, no planned rain date or venue, no covered viewing area, bad lighting, all in all a big mess. even with umbrellas and panchos everyone was soaked. At least you could see the action reasonably well, we could not.

Steved3604

We've all (OK, almost all) been here -- so -- welcome to the club.
You could maybe make a stills slide show and use music. Then at the "handing of the diploma" stick in a short piece of live video. Make it about 3 minutes long and and also give her one or two 8x10s and I would think she would have "reasonable" documentation of the graduation.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

That sounds like a reasonable approach. Luckily, our nephew had his Sony as well so he managed to get a lot of good stills too.

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

Agree - the important thing was that you were there to celebrate with her and family. No matter how good your photos or video, more likely than not, family will view it once/twice and that’ll be the end of that. Wedding photos and video may get a few more looks, but not a HS graduation.
Positive note is that you learned something new about your camera.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Before shooting yourself in the foot, perhaps someone else had brought their video camera and might lend you some of their footage of the event. Perhaps you can splice both images together and create a unique video of the event. Putting together different viewpoints can make for a timeless video of a most memorable once in a life time.
You might even dub over some music making it worthwhile to watch over again.

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

Hey Basil, welcome to the "I'm a photographer but I am also a Human" category of this site. We have all been "human" once in a while when using our new cameras. Maybe we should start a new thread on this site? We could call it The Once Burned, Twice Learned thread.

You are a brave man for posting your own error!! Enjoy your new camera in Good Health!!!

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I don’t know if the Admin would like to create a new folder. I think the Main Photography Forum is satisfactory. Remember: The new forum must be monitored Voluntarily. Are you up to that challenge?

I have made quite a few screw-ups myself. The true art of a professional is to be able to bounce back without anyone noticing.

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

Maybe the true art of a Professional is to be able to laugh at himself.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I ain't there yet - will always be a rank amateur.