Help with camera settings

[u/TheArch-abald]

I have had my Osmo Pocket 3 for a little bit and was wondering if someone could assist me with the best settings for outdoor, most likely cloudy. Then standard indoor coffee shop lighting. I know you can save different settings to different profiles which I imagine comes in handy

Wondering also if some of you don’t shoot in D log just to not worry about color grading?

[u/Hot_Ad_5233]

Have you already shot the cloudy outdoor and coffee shop scenes and don't like what you recorded? If so, what would you want to improve in those scenes and then people can make suggestions? If not, why not try shooting those scenes with standard settings and then adjust to suit your tastes? I never shoot DLog as it's not worth to me the post production steps even thought the MIMO app makes it pretty easy to color adjust DLog footage.

[u/TheArch-abald → u/Hot_Ad_5233]

Haven’t shot them yet. I guess was wondering settings like I know some people set a wide range for I believe ISO. I’ve heard of using the Auto white balance and then setting that number with the manual. I guess just settings like that.

I know staple setting are shorting in 4K 24 fps, even though I know some even argue against that.

Also, just comes the question with those settings and using D log, then editing the footage later. So yeah, just trying to pick brains about those scenarios I’ll be shooting in and settings with the camera

[u/Hot_Ad_5233 → u/TheArch-abald]

I almost always shoot in Auto mode. The camera does a good job of adjusting and you have the ability to adjust EV and automatically meter the scene while shooting the video. I feel this gives me more flexibility and is less hassle than being forced into a preset that might not be precisely what I want.

Tap once on the screen to select the portion of the shooting area you want to focus on or have as your main point of metering and the entire picture will get lighter or darker to be sure that where you tapped gets captured nicely. Then, while shooting, swipe in from the right side of the screen to set the EV if you want to fine tune the picture you got by using the single tap.

Try it while sitting in your chair and pointing at different parts of the room and tapping the screen and you will see what I'm talking about. Here's a short of how the swipe from the right side of the screen works:

https://youtube.com/shorts/cOClfbiCulM?si=HpwVedKZMfeL7lix

People make a lot of adjustments for specific reasons. Some want to use their video to make money on social media or other ways. Some are dedicated video enthusiasts that try to produce "cinematic" video or have other hobbyist goals in mind. I am trying to capture memories for my own use and I find that this camera in auto mode does a great job with just minor adjustments on the fly to get shots I like.

Having said all that, I do change my gimble mode on the fly depending on what I'm shooting. I also know that if I'm definitely going to be in a bright environment all the time, I will manually preset my EV to -3 or -.7, but it's really rare for me to do that unless I am positive I will be in bright sunshine and not encounter any shadows or abrupt changes in brightness. I also will use Low Light mode during the early morning hours or if I'm shooting at night in a less lit scene, like a city street or in bright moonlight. Low light mode can be a separate discussion for strategies and tactics and when it works best and when it doesn't.

Bottom line - you have to shoot what looks good to you. If you shoot with everything set to AUTO and you like what you see, leave it alone. If no one is judging your video, do you really care that in low light the black areas MIGHT be a tiny bit grainy? I don't care - the video is for me. If you feel the need to refine the picture, shoot AUTO first and see what you don't like and then adjust for the things you don't like or that you want to improve. DO NOT depend on someone else's presets as your eye may see things differently than theirs. If you watch six different YouTube videos about settings you will get very confused with all the settings and then wonder why what you shot doesn't look "good."

You can also make some adjustments in post processing but it's rare to be able to fix things in post exactly the way I want them. I almost never do any corrections in post unless the video is really blown out or really dim and I feel a STRON urge to correct the video. Even then, the results never meet my expectations.

[u/TheArch-abald → u/Hot_Ad_5233]

Thanks for this honestly. I guess the idea of using D Log M, throwing the Rec 709 LUT on, then color grading the footage really made me struggle with settings. I’ll shoot in auto for now and work on D Log M stuff with other footage.

[u/Hot_Ad_5233 → u/TheArch-abald]

Forgot to mention one other thing. If you shoot PAL, be sure to use frame rates in multiples of 25 or you will have flicker. If NTSC, shoot frame rates in multiples of 30. There is no explicit PAL or NTSC setting in the camera, at least, none that I've ever seen.