How to Record Videos in Low Lit Areas

Photographers have always been challenged when it comers to taking videos and pictures in poorly lit areas without the help of photo-lamps. Today modern cameras are equipped with fast lenses, enabling you to take pictures and videos almost anywhere and under any lighting conditions. There are numerous things you can do when you don't have adequate natural light to shoot what you want. They can include supplying extra lighting to changing the settings on your camera [source: Kodak]. Here are a few tips that will help you to record videos in poorly lit areas.

  • Add light You can add light by simply attaching a camera-mounted video light to your video recorder. If you're unable to use camera-mounted lights, you can use hand-held lights.
  • Enlarge the shutter opening Set the F-stop on your camera to a lower number. The F-stop controls the diameter of the lens aperture, which in turn lets more light in. The lower the F-stop number is, the larger the diameter of the opening will be. Try to limit the zoom setting on the camera, as zoom makes the shutter opening smaller, thus letting in less light. You can always move closer to the subject.
  • Slow the shutter speed The shutter speed controls the exposure time. The lower the speed, the longer the exposure and the more light can get in. Under normal lighting conditions a shutter exposure of 1/60 of a second would suffice. However in poor lighting conditions, you should set the shutter speed to 1/30 of a second.
  • Lower the frame rate The frame rate is how many images are captured in a given amount of time. Lowering the frame rate from a standard of 30 frames per second (fps) to 24 frames per second will allow for a longer exposure to light. This will brighten the video [source: Robertson].

Advertisement

Advertisement

Loading...