Videography setting for my Fujifilm X-T3

After research^{1 2}, here are my videography settings. They are organized into four major sections: memory card, audio, video and each shoot.

Besides the last section, they are do-once and forget. Last section is setup prior to each shoot session.

Memory cards #

• Use rating V60 or higher for video. For example, Sony Tough-M 128GB UHS-II, V60.

Audio #

Settings for audio:

• Noise from SD card ³. Use an external, powered microphone.
• MOVIE SETTING 4/5. AUDIO SETTING.
  • MIC LEVEL LIMITER. ON.
  • WIND FILTER. OFF.
  • LOW CUT FILTER. OFF.

If using a hot-shoe-mounted, powered microphone:

• MOVIE SETTING 4/5. AUDIO SETTING.
  • INTERNEL MIC LEVEL ADJUSTMENT. AUTO.
  • EXTERNAL MIC LEVEL ADJUSTMENT. AUTO.

On my external, powered microphone:

• Turn on low-pass filter.
• Turn on +10 dB boost.

If using a lavier microphone:

• MOVIE SETTING 4/5. AUDIO SETTING.
  • INTERNEL MIC LEVEL ADJUSTMENT. AUTO.
  • EXTERNAL MIC LEVEL ADJUSTMENT. MANUAL. Adjust so that on-screen, real-time level is middle between 0 and -20 dB.

Video #

Video settings:

• Live histogram in EVF. SET UP. SCREEN SET-UP. SCREEN SETTING 2/3. DISP. CUSTOM SETTING. Make sure HISTOGRAM is checked.
• MOVIE SETTING 1/5.
  • FILM SIMULATION. Eterna/Cinema.
• MOVIE SETTING 2/5.
  • HIGHLIGHT TONE. -1.
  • SHADOW TONE. -1.
  • SHARPNESS. -2.
  • NOISE REDUCTION. -4².
• MOVIE SETTING 3/5.
  • MOVIE AF MODE. AREA.
  • FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING. FACE DETECTION ON. EYE AUTO.
  • MF ASSIST. FOCUS PEAK HIGHLIGHT. RED(HIGH).
  • 4K MOVIE OUTPUT. SD 4K HDMI 4K.
• MOVIE SETTING 4/5.
  • ZEBRA SETTING. ZEBRA RIGHT.
  • ZEBRA LEVEL. 95%.
• MOVIE SETTING 5/5.
  • TALLY LIGHT. FRONT ON REAR ON.

Note: On some lens, turn on IS mode with a physical selector button on the lens.

4K #

• MOVIE SETTING 1/5.
  • MOVIE MODE. 4K 16:9. 24P. 400 Mbps.
  • H.265(HEVC)/H.264. H.265(HEVC).
  • MOVIE COMPRESSION. ALL-Intra.
  • FILM SIMULATION. Eterna/Cinema.
  • DYNAMIC RANGE. DR400. Note: this sets a minimum of ISO 640.

4K smaller file size #

Smaller file size.

• MOVIE SETTING 1/5.
  • MOVIE MODE. 4K 16:9. 29.97P. 200 Mbps.
  • H.265(HEVC)/H.264. H.265(HEVC).
  • MOVIE COMPRESSION. Long GOP.
  • FILM SIMULATION. Eterna/Cinema.
  • DYNAMIC RANGE. DR100.

Each shoot #

Live view #

LCD ONLY. Toggle VIEW MODE via the small button on the right side of the EVF eye cup.

Face/eye detection #

Turn on for scenes with people as main subject. Otherwise, turn off.

• MOVIE SETTING 3/5.
  • MOVIE AF MODE. AREA.
  • FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING.
  • Turn on. FACE DETECTION ON. EYE AUTO.
  • Turn off. OFF.

Power management #

• SET UP. POWER MANAGEMENT.
  • AUTO POWER OFF. OFF or 5 MIN.
  • PERFORMANCE. BOOST.
  • Not on X-T3. EVF/LCD BOOST SETTING. EVF FRAME RATE PRIORITY.
  • Not on X-T3. AUTO POWER OFF TEMP. HIGH.

SD Card (memory card) #

• SET UP. SAVE DATA SET-UP.
  • SELECT SLOT([Camcorder icon]SEQUENTIAL). SLOT 2. Or select the slot that has the fast card.

White balance #

Either use a preset white balance matching the scene or take a pic of a piece of white paper or gray card lit from lights in the scene ¹. Never use AUTO. To take a pic of paper/card:

• MOVIE SETTING 1/5. WHITE BALANCE. CUSTOM 1. Take a pic of the paper/card. Okay to adjust exposure triangle to get a properly exposed reference shot.

Exposure triangle #

• If 24P, set shutter speed to 1/48.
  1. First set to 1/30.
  2. Then use back thumb dial to set to 1/48.
• If 30P, set shutter speed to 1/60.
• Set aperture to largest apeture.
• Set ISO to AUTO.
• If live view histogram still too bright:
  • Add a ND filter
  • Adjust aperture to a smaller one.

Cover photo by Mulyadi on Unsplash