The complete manual as video

Reading’s not your style? Here you see all settings with explanation in the video.

Setting the Camera to M Mode and video mode

This M mode gives us full control over both exposure time and aperture. At the top right of the display you will find a toggle switch with a photo and a video symbol. Toggles this switch so that the video mode is active.

Choosing the right shutter speed

When creating videos, the shutter speed must always be set in proportion to the video material being made and its frame rate.
As exposure time I use 1/60, because I usually shoot videos later with 30 frames per second (30p), more about that later.
If you use other frame rates, like 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p or 24p, you have to adjust the shutter speed to the next suitable value. Here again the overview:

Attention: Please also note the section “Flicker reduction” in this context.

Choosing the right aperture

Which aperture you choose is up to you, depending on how you want to present your motif. If you choose a lower aperture, the background of your motif will blur due to the shallow depth of field, making your motif more prominent.

With a higher aperture, the background of your motif is sharper due to the high depth of field and the entire image is characterized by a high depth of detail due to continuous sharpness.
Note that if you choose a higher aperture, the image itself becomes darker, and if you choose a lower aperture, the image becomes brighter.

The only important thing at this point is that we have control over the aperture, because we use the M mode of our camera to do this. If we were to let the camera control the aperture in A mode, the camera would change the aperture depending on the light situation while shooting and we would take a shot with varying depth of field and brightness all the time. Not only does this look unprofessional, it’s also really annoying for the viewer.

Movie Shooting Menu Settings

For all the following settings, we switch to the movie recording menu. The settings stored there only take effect when we operate the camera in movie mode. I don’t proceed here in the order of the menu entries, as for example some settings are already adjusted automatically by the selection of the resolution and frame rate and we don’t have to deal with them anymore.

Choosing the correct frame size/frame rate

I make my own video recordings in 4k with 30 frames per second.
At 30 frames per second, movements in the picture look most natural and smooth, and 60p shots of action cams can be integrated very easily, for example to create slow-motion functions.

Therefore, I first select the setting “3840 x 2160; 30p” in the film recording menu under “Frame size/frame rate”.
With these settings, the “Choose image area” is changed to “FX” by default, the movie quality is thus automatically set to “High” and so we don’t need to deal with these menu items anymore.

Note: To be honest, nobody buys a Nikon Z6 or Z6 II to make bad videos, I myself never understood why there is the possibility to set the movie quality to “Low” at all.

Movie file type

I use MOV as I think it has the best quality. Further on it is faster when post-editing footage on Mac.

ISO sensitivity settings

Now you can decide how you want to proceed and whether you want to make the ISO settings manually or automatically. In the menu entry “IOS Sensitivity Settings” you can select if the automatic should be used in the field “Auto ISO control (Mode M)”.

• If you are recording a video in an environment where the lighting conditions in the subject will not change, you can manually adjust the ISO settings and then leave them at the correct value.
• If you have to assume that lighting conditions will change during shooting, for example because a person moves in the picture and their illumination varies, use the ISO automatic.
• If you are simply lazy, regardless of the ambient light conditions, you also use the ISO automatic. Seriously, ISO auto works reliably and doesn’t cause any image distortion if the ISO number changes during shooting. Actually, you can use the ISO automatic with a clear conscience.

There is one thing that needs to be considered with regard to the ISO automatic. Set the “Maximum sensitivity” value to “10,000”. Above this value, the image quality can suffer from noise and color noise, so we only allow the ISO automatic to operate up to this value.

White balance

Almost the same applies here as with the ISO automatic.
Actually, the automatic white balance is sufficiently reliable. I use it in 90% of all shots.

Only when using artificial light sources with different light colors or temperatures do I work manually here, because otherwise the camera tends to change the white balance during a shot. This does not look nice.

The same applies when the sky often changes the light conditions due to fast passing clouds.

Picture Control

Here I select the setting “FL Flat”.
This preserves details over a wide range of tonal values, which maximizes the optimization potential in later post-processing, i.e. you can get the most out of this profile afterwards.

Active D-Lighting

Off. I don’t want the camera to manipulate the image independently.

High ISO NR

Here we leave the default value “Normal” set.

Vignette, diffraction and distortion control

Enable all of them, apply “Normal” mode when possible.

Flicker reduction

The flicker reduction is intended to avoid flickering in the image, which can be caused by artificial lighting. Depending on the frequency at which the local power grid operates (50Hz in Germany), some light sources tend to emitt the normal fluctuations in the power grid, so that you will notice them when recording video at that light.

The automatic flicker reduction delivers good results. Sometimes, however, it also fails, this can happen in very bright environments, for example.
To counteract this, you can take the following measures:

• Manual setting of the flicker reduction to 50Hz or 60Hz, depending on which setting gives the best result.
• If the flicker reduction is not enough, you may need to adjust the shutter speed, even if this would violate the above recommended shutter speeds.
  o1/125s, 1/60s or 1/30s at 60Hz power grid
  o 1/100s, 1/50s or 1/25s at 50Hz power grid

Metering

I use Matrix metering in 99% of shootings. There are some rare cases where I use single point metering, for example when doing shots of people or objects against very bright or dark backgrounds.

Focus Mode

These settings depend on what you are shooting. For interviews and tutorials I mostly use AF-C or AF-F for making the camera follow my face when I move. In recording landscapes without any moving objects, an initial AF-S is suitable. Go ahead, try out what fits your needs best.

AF-area Mode

Same here, it depends on what you are shooting. Go ahead, try out what fits your needs best.

Electronic VR

Enable it when shooting free hand, turn it off when shooting from tripod.

Microphone sensitivity

When I use the built-in microphone of the Z6 or Z6 II, I use the automatic level.
If I use an external microphone such as my Zoom H2n, I manually level the microphone input.
You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Attenuator

Off.

Frequency response

Here you can choose between “Wide” and “Voice”. I personally don’t like the sound of the “Voice” setting in speech at all and therefore use the much more natural sounding “Wide” frequency response, no matter if I record with the built-in microphone of the Z6 or Z6 II or my Zoom H2n as an external microphone. You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Wind noise reduction

The wind noise reduction settings only work when we use the Z6’s and Z6 II’s built-in microphone.

• If I record in locked, windless rooms, I switch off wind noise reduction as a potential source of error.
• If I record outside with the built-in microphone, I activate wind noise reduction.

Which memory card is suitable for 4k video?

So that your camera can pack even high data rates quickly on the memory card, you should rely on a correspondingly fast CFExpresscard ( supported by Z6 and Z6 II) or High Speed SD card (supported only by Z6 II).
I myself use the following cards:

SanDisk Extreme PRO 128 GB SDXC-Speicherkarte bis zu 300 MB/Sek, UHS-II, Class 10, U3*

• Superschnelle SDHC- und SDXC UHS-II-Speicherkarten mit Aufnahmegeschwindigkeiten von bis zu 260 MB/Sek.
• Maximieren Sie die Effizienz mit Übertragungsgeschwindigkeiten von bis zu 300 MB/Sek.

Amazon

SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress-Speicherkarte Typ B 128 GB (1.700 MB/s Lesen, 1.200 MB/s Schreiben, RescuePRO Deluxe, ruckelfreie...*

• Lesegeschwindigkeiten bis 1.700 MB/s und Schreibgeschwindigkeiten bis 1.200 MB/s ermöglichen mit der CFexpress Speicherkarte...
• Herausragende 4K-Videoleistung. Der CFexpress Formfaktor ermöglicht die Aufzeichnung von RAW-Videodaten in 4K mit zuverlässiger...

89,99 EUR

Amazon

Record video – what do I have to do?

Now it’s getting easy. Now switch on Live-View and you will see the camera’s field of view in 4K mode on the display. By pressing the red “Record” button on the left under the release button, you start and stop the recording.

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag Nikon Z6 and Z6 II in camera 4K Video Settings – Best practise explained step by step erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Settings for HDR recordings by free hand and from the tripod saved to usersetting bank „U1“

In order to be able to record HDR recordings free hand and from tripod, we use the following settings on the User Setting bank „U1“. For freehand shooting we use the CH mode for fast continuous shooting, for touch-free and therefore shake-free shooting from a tripod we use the self-timer later. However, the following settings apply to both scenarios. With SLR cameras, there were dedicated settings for freehand and tripod, since with DSLRs we also used mechanisms such as mirror lock-up to reduce camera shake. With the mirrorless cameras of the Nikon Z-series, this is not necessary.

With the following settings, we will later take 5 images which will be combined to one HDR image.

If you prefer to create 7 images for a larger bandwidth instead of 5 images, you can put the alternative settings with 7 single images (marked blue) on the user setting bank U2. However, I recommend to take 7 single images only with a tripod.

Nikon D7500 Digital SLR im DX Format (20,9 MP, EXPEED 5-Prozessor, AF-System mit 51 Messfeldern, ISO 100-51.200, 4K UHD Video...*

• 20,9 MP DX-CMOS-Filter ohne optischen Tiefpassfilter; 180k-Pixel-RGB-Belichtungsmesssensor; Expeed 5-Bildprozessor; ISO-Empfindlichkeit...
• 8 Bilder pro Sekunde maximale Serienbildgeschwindigkeit; 51 AF-Messfelder mit 15 Kreuzsensoren und Messfeldgruppensteuerung

779,66 EUR

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General Camera settings

1. Selecting the correct operating mode:
   Turn the program selector wheel to „A”.
2. Adjust the correct aperture:
   At this point I set aperture to “8” for HDR shots and change it according to the subject and environment.
3. Setting a suitable ISO number:
   I’ll start here at ISO 200.

Settings in the “Photo Shooting Menu”

1. Optional: change folder names to HDRZ6 (this gives us our own directory for HDR photos)
2. Optional: change file name to HDR (so we can easily distinguish HDR photos from “normal” photos by the file name)
3. Choose image area: FX
4. Image size: JPEG L and RAW L
5. NEF (RAW) recording: Lossless Compression and 14-bit
6. ISO sensitivity settings: ISO auto OFF, start at 100
7. White balance: cloudy sky, so that always the same white balance is used during the bracketing row, the correct correction we carry out later at the PC.
8. Manage Picture Control: NL (Neutral)
9. Active D-Lighting: OFF
10. Long exposure NR: OFF
11. Vignette Control: OFF
12. Diffraction compensation: OFF
13. Auto distortion control: OFF
14. Flicker reduction: OFF
15. Metering: Matrix
16. Skip flash control, flash mode and flash compensation, because we don’t use flash anyway
17. Auto Bracketing set: AE (without flash)
    Number of exposures 5F / alternatively 7F
    Step size 1.0
18. Multiple exposure: OFF
19. HDR (high dynamic range): OFF
    Note: We want to create an HDR ourselves from the individual shots later, if we used this option, the camera would assemble an HDR itself, without us having any influence on the final result. This function is only used by people who normally take photos with their smartphone.
20. Interval timer shooting: OFF
21. Time-lapse movie: OFF
22. Focus shift shooting: OFF
23. Silent photography: OFF

Neewer 2er Pack 750II TTL Blitz Speedlite Kit mit 2.4G Wireless Trigger und Diffusor, Kompatibel mit Nikon DSLR DSLR D850 D810...*

• BLITZMODI: High Guide Nr. 58 (ISO 100, 180mm), Unterstützt TTL, Manuell, Multi, S1-, S2-Modus, Wiederaufladezeit: ca. 3,5s, Drehung um...
• KOMPATIBILITÄT: Kompatibel mit Nikon D810 D800 D750 D700 D7500 D7200 D7100 D7000 D610 D600 D500 D5500 D5300 D5200 D5100 D5000 D3300...

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Settings in “Custom configuration Menu”

We leave all settings on the default values except for the following settings mentioned here:

1. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C2 self-timer – self-timer delay: 2
2. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C2 self-timer – number of shots: 5 / alternatively 7 shots
3. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C2 self-timer – interval between shots: 0.5 seconds
4. Menu area E “Bracketing & Flash” – E7 Bracketing order: N (MTR > under > over)

Save settings permanently to Usersetting bank „U1“

In order to really save the settings we have made so far, we go back to the “SYSTEM” menu and select the memory bank „U1“ under the “Save User Settings” system menu item and confirm twice with “OK”.
If we now switch to another operating mode such as “A”, “M” or “S” or switch off the camera and then switch back to the „U1“ program, all our previously set data will be available again. Depending on the available light, we may have to adjust the exposure series properties to the lighting conditions.

Taking photos

We have now saved all settings and can make our recordings when we access the usersetting „U1“.
First we switch off the autofocus and focus manually, so that the focus does not change unintentionally during the exposure series.

When shooting with a tripod

First, turn off the image stabilizer if present on the lens. Switch to the self-timer. Now 5 shots (or alternatively 7 shots) are taken automatically within the configured exposure bracket with a lead time of 2 seconds. When HDR shooting is finished, simply switch back to A, M, S, or P mode.

When shooting free hand (without a tripod)

First, turn on the image stabilizer, if present on the lens. Switch to high speed mode CH. Now, while holding the shutter-release button down, 5 shots are taken in a row within the configured exposure bracket. When HDR shooting is finished, simply switch back to A, M, S, or P mode.

Beschoi Fotorucksack wasserdicht Kameratasche Kamerarucksack mit Laptopfach für Canon Sony Nikon Olympus SLR/DSLR Kamera,...*

• Dieser Kamera Rucksack geeignet für DSLR Kamera mit aufgesetztem Objektiv bis 320mm, 4-6 weitere Objektive, Blitzgerät, Zubehör, 14...
• Außenmaße: 44cm*28cm*14cm; Innenmaße: 41cm*27cm*13.5cm. Robust und wasserabweisend, zweifarbiges Nylon-Material

59,99 EUR

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How to develop the HDR photo / Which Software to use

As a software for HDR merging I use Aurora HDR.
You can get yourself a free trial by clicking this link: https://skylum.evyy.net/pixelfriedhofaurorahdr

See all steps of the configuration in my video

Camera-Carrying-System Peak Design Capture Clip v3: https://geni.us/KFxtYmM (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Sigma 24-70mm 2.8: https://geni.us/pKt2sbG (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Sigma 105mm 2.8 Macro: https://geni.us/ADMHVq6 (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Sigma 150-600mm: https://geni.us/xJ3A3 (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Sigma 18-35mm 1.8: https://geni.us/rnztt4N (Amazon Affiliate Link)

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag HDR Settings for Nikon Z6 and Z6 II on Usersettings „U1“ and „U2“ erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

The complete manual as video

Reading’s not your style? Here you see all settings with explanation in the video.

Setting the Camera to M Mode

This mode gives us full control over both exposure time and aperture.

Choosing the right shutter speed

When creating videos, the shutter speed must always be set in proportion to the video material being made and its frame rate.
As exposure time I use 1/60, because I usually shoot videos later with 30 frames per second (30p), more about that later.
If you use other frame rates, like 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p or 24p, you have to adjust the shutter speed to the next suitable value. Here again the overview:

Attention: Please also note the section “Flicker reduction” in this context.

Choosing the right aperture

Which aperture you choose is up to you, depending on how you want to present your motif. If you choose a lower aperture, the background of your motif will blur due to the shallow depth of field, making your motif more prominent.

With a higher aperture, the background of your motif is sharper due to the high depth of field and the entire image is characterized by a high depth of detail due to continuous sharpness.
Note that if you choose a higher aperture, the image itself becomes darker, and if you choose a lower aperture, the image becomes brighter.

The only important thing at this point is that we have control over the aperture, because we use the M mode of our camera to do this. If we were to let the camera control the aperture in A mode, the camera would change the aperture depending on the light situation while shooting and we would take a shot with varying depth of field and brightness all the time. Not only does this look unprofessional, it’s also really annoying for the viewer.

Movie Shooting Menu Settings

For all the following settings, we switch to the movie recording menu. The settings stored there only take effect when we operate the camera in movie mode. I don’t proceed here in the order of the menu entries, as for example some settings are already adjusted automatically by the selection of the resolution and frame rate and we don’t have to deal with them anymore.

Choosing the correct frame size/frame rate

I make my own video recordings in 4k with 30 frames per second.
At 30 frames per second, movements in the picture look most natural and smooth, and 60p shots of action cams can be integrated very easily, for example to create slow-motion functions.

Therefore, I first select the setting “3840 x 2160; 30p” in the film recording menu under “Frame size/frame rate”.
With these settings, the “Choose image area” is changed to “DX” by default, the movie quality is thus automatically set to “High” and the digital VR is off, so we don’t need to deal with these menu items anymore.

Note: To be honest, nobody buys a Nikon D500 or D7500 to make bad videos, I myself never understood why there is the possibility to set the movie quality to “Low” at all.

ISO sensitivity settings

Now you can decide how you want to proceed and whether you want to make the ISO settings manually or automatically. In the menu entry “IOS Sensitivity Settings” you can select if the automatic should be used in the field “Auto ISO control (Mode M)”.

• If you are recording a video in an environment where the lighting conditions in the subject will not change, you can manually adjust the ISO settings and then leave them at the correct value.
• If you have to assume that lighting conditions will change during shooting, for example because a person moves in the picture and their illumination varies, use the ISO automatic.
• If you are simply lazy, regardless of the ambient light conditions, you also use the ISO automatic. Seriously, ISO auto works reliably and doesn’t cause any image distortion if the ISO number changes during shooting. Actually, you can use the ISO automatic with a clear conscience.

There is one thing that needs to be considered with regard to the ISO automatic. Set the “Maximum sensitivity” value to “10,000”. Above this value, the image quality can suffer from noise and color noise, so we only allow the ISO automatic to operate up to this value.

White balance

Almost the same applies here as with the ISO automatic.
Actually, the automatic white balance is sufficiently reliable. I use it in 90% of all shots.

Picture Control

Here I select the setting “FL Flat”.
This preserves details over a wide range of tonal values, which maximizes the optimization potential in later post-processing, i.e. you can get the most out of this profile afterwards.

Active D-Lighting

Off. I don’t want the camera to manipulate the image independently.

High ISO NR

Here we leave the default value “Normal” set.

Flicker reduction

The flicker reduction is intended to avoid flickering in the image, which can be caused by artificial lighting. Depending on the frequency at which the local power grid operates (50Hz in Germany), some light sources tend to emitt the normal fluctuations in the power grid, so that you will notice them when recording video at that light.

The automatic flicker reduction delivers good results. Sometimes, however, it also fails, this can happen in very bright environments, for example.
To counteract this, you can take the following measures:

• Manual setting of the flicker reduction to 50Hz or 60Hz, depending on which setting gives the best result.
• If the flicker reduction is not enough, you may need to adjust the shutter speed, even if this would violate the above recommended shutter speeds.
  o1/125s, 1/60s or 1/30s at 60Hz power grid
  o 1/100s, 1/50s or 1/25s at 50Hz power grid

Microphone sensitivity

When I use the built-in microphone of the D500, I use the automatic level.
If I use an external microphone such as my Zoom H2n, I manually level the microphone input.
You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Frequency response

Here you can choose between “Wide” and “Voice”. I personally don’t like the sound of the “Voice” setting in speech at all and therefore use the much more natural sounding “Wide” frequency response, no matter if I record with the built-in microphone of the D500 or my Zoom H2n as an external microphone. You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Wind noise reduction

The wind noise reduction settings only work when we use the D500’s built-in microphone.

• If I record in locked, windless rooms, I switch off wind noise reduction as a potential source of error.
• If I record outside with the built-in microphone, I activate wind noise reduction.

Which memory card is suitable for 4k video?

So that your camera can pack even high data rates quickly on the memory card, you should rely on a correspondingly fast SD or XQD card.
You don’t have to buy the expensive XQD cards, even a fast SDXC card is sufficient.

I myself use the following card:

SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SDXC Memory Card up to 170MB/s, UHS-1, Class 10, U3, V30*

• Professionelle Leistung für schnelle Aufnahmen und 4K UHD Videos mit der SanDisk Speicherkarte; Im Lieferumfang inbegriffen ist die...
• Dank der schnellen Übertragung von bis zu 170 MB/s warten Sie nicht mehr lange, während Ihre Bilder und Videos auf Ihre SD Karte oder...

24,95 EUR

Amazon

Record video – what do I have to do?

Now it’s getting easy. At the bottom right of the display you will find a toggle switch with a photo and a video symbol. Toggles this switch so that the video mode is active. Now switch on Live-View and you will see the camera’s field of view in 4K mode on the display. By pressing the red “Record” button on the left under the release button, you start and stop the recording.

My first choice as a Lightroom alternative

I’m gonna do some advertising. I’ve been dealing with all kinds of image editing software for months, comparing a lot, testing a lot and finally choosing RAW developer and Lightroom alternative Luminar 3.

Have a look and try the free trial version. Just click on the banner:

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag Nikon D500 4K Video Settings – Best practise explained step by step erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

The complete manual as video

Reading’s not your style? Here you see all settings with explanation in the video.

Setting the Camera to M Mode

This mode gives us full control over both exposure time and aperture.

Choosing the right shutter speed

When creating videos, the shutter speed must always be set in proportion to the video material being made and its frame rate.
As exposure time I use 1/60, because I usually shoot videos later with 30 frames per second (30p), more about that later.
If you use other frame rates, like 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p or 24p, you have to adjust the shutter speed to the next suitable value. Here again the overview:

Attention: Please also note the section “Flicker reduction” in this context.

Choosing the right aperture

Which aperture you choose is up to you, depending on how you want to present your motif. If you choose a lower aperture, the background of your motif will blur due to the shallow depth of field, making your motif more prominent.

With a higher aperture, the background of your motif is sharper due to the high depth of field and the entire image is characterized by a high depth of detail due to continuous sharpness.
Note that if you choose a higher aperture, the image itself becomes darker, and if you choose a lower aperture, the image becomes brighter.

The only important thing at this point is that we have control over the aperture, because we use the M mode of our camera to do this. If we were to let the camera control the aperture in A mode, the camera would change the aperture depending on the light situation while shooting and we would take a shot with varying depth of field and brightness all the time. Not only does this look unprofessional, it’s also really annoying for the viewer.

Movie Shooting Menu Settings

For all the following settings, we switch to the movie recording menu. The settings stored there only take effect when we operate the camera in movie mode. I don’t proceed here in the order of the menu entries, as for example some settings are already adjusted automatically by the selection of the resolution and frame rate and we don’t have to deal with them anymore.

Choosing the correct frame size/frame rate

I make my own video recordings in 4k with 30 frames per second.
At 30 frames per second, movements in the picture look most natural and smooth, and 60p shots of action cams can be integrated very easily, for example to create slow-motion functions.

Therefore, I first select the setting “3840 x 2160; 30p” in the film recording menu under “Frame size/frame rate”.
With these settings, the “Choose image area” is changed to “DX” by default, the movie quality is thus automatically set to “High” and the digital VR is off, so we don’t need to deal with these menu items anymore.

Note: To be honest, nobody buys a Nikon D500 or D7500 to make bad videos, I myself never understood why there is the possibility to set the movie quality to “Low” at all.

ISO sensitivity settings

Now you can decide how you want to proceed and whether you want to make the ISO settings manually or automatically. In the menu entry “IOS Sensitivity Settings” you can select if the automatic should be used in the field “Auto ISO control (Mode M)”.

• If you are recording a video in an environment where the lighting conditions in the subject will not change, you can manually adjust the ISO settings and then leave them at the correct value.
• If you have to assume that lighting conditions will change during shooting, for example because a person moves in the picture and their illumination varies, use the ISO automatic.
• If you are simply lazy, regardless of the ambient light conditions, you also use the ISO automatic. Seriously, ISO auto works reliably and doesn’t cause any image distortion if the ISO number changes during shooting. Actually, you can use the ISO automatic with a clear conscience.

There is one thing that needs to be considered with regard to the ISO automatic. Set the “Maximum sensitivity” value to “10,000”. Above this value, the image quality can suffer from noise and color noise, so we only allow the ISO automatic to operate up to this value.

White balance

Almost the same applies here as with the ISO automatic.
Actually, the automatic white balance is sufficiently reliable. I use it in 90% of all shots.

Picture Control

Here I select the setting “FL Flat”.
This preserves details over a wide range of tonal values, which maximizes the optimization potential in later post-processing, i.e. you can get the most out of this profile afterwards.

Active D-Lighting

Off. I don’t want the camera to manipulate the image independently.

High ISO NR

Here we leave the default value “Normal” set.

Flicker reduction

The flicker reduction is intended to avoid flickering in the image, which can be caused by artificial lighting. Depending on the frequency at which the local power grid operates (50Hz in Germany), some light sources tend to emitt the normal fluctuations in the power grid, so that you will notice them when recording video at that light.

The automatic flicker reduction delivers good results. Sometimes, however, it also fails, this can happen in very bright environments, for example.
To counteract this, you can take the following measures:

• Manual setting of the flicker reduction to 50Hz or 60Hz, depending on which setting gives the best result.
• If the flicker reduction is not enough, you may need to adjust the shutter speed, even if this would violate the above recommended shutter speeds.
  o1/125s, 1/60s or 1/30s at 60Hz power grid
  o 1/100s, 1/50s or 1/25s at 50Hz power grid

Microphone sensitivity

When I use the built-in microphone of the D7500, I use the automatic level.
If I use an external microphone such as my Zoom H2n, I manually level the microphone input.
You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Frequency response

Here you can choose between “Wide” and “Voice”. I personally don’t like the sound of the “Voice” setting in speech at all and therefore use the much more natural sounding “Wide” frequency response, no matter if I record with the built-in microphone of the D500 or my Zoom H2n as an external microphone. You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Wind noise reduction

The wind noise reduction settings only work when we use the D7500’s built-in microphone.

• If I record in locked, windless rooms, I switch off wind noise reduction as a potential source of error.
• If I record outside with the built-in microphone, I activate wind noise reduction.

Digital VR

Off, because this setting is not available due to the 4K recording.

Time-lapse recording

Off, because no one who seriously wants to take time-lapse shots has them recorded by the camera as video, but rather composes the film from individual photographs.

Which memory card is suitable for 4k video?

So that your camera can pack even high data rates quickly on the memory card, you should rely on a correspondingly fast SD card.
I myself use the following card:

SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SDXC Memory Card up to 170MB/s, UHS-1, Class 10, U3, V30*

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Record video – what do I have to do?

Now it’s getting easy. At the bottom right of the display you will find a toggle switch with a photo and a video symbol. Toggles this switch so that the video mode is active. Now switch on Live-View and you will see the camera’s field of view in 4K mode on the display. By pressing the red “Record” button on the left under the release button, you start and stop the recording.

My first choice as a Lightroom alternative

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Have a look and try the free trial version. Just click on the banner:

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag Nikon D7500 4K Video Settings – Best practise explained step by step erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Settings for HDR recordings by free hand and from the tripod saved to usersetting bank „U1“

In order to be able to record HDR recordings free hand, we use the following settings on the quick memory bank „U1“. These settings are chosen so that the entire HDR series is recorded quickly and without long delays between shots. This prevents changes in the scenery caused by movement and thus ghost images. Settings for waiting times between two shots are reduced to a minimum and the mirror lock up is not used.

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General Camera settings

1. Selecting the correct operating mode:
   Turn the program selector wheel to „A”.
2. Adjust the correct aperture:
   At this point I set aperture to “8” for HDR shots and change it according to the subject and environment.
3. Setting a suitable ISO number:
   I’ll start here at ISO 400.
4. Activate the bracketing row:
   Hold down the BKT button and use the rear control dial to set “5F” for 5-step bracketing. Enter the value “1.0” as the selection for the entire step size with the front e-dial.

Settings in the “Photo Shooting Menu”

1. Optional: change folder names to HDR75 (this gives us our own directory for HDR photos)
2. Optional: change file name to HDR (so we can easily distinguish HDR photos from “normal” photos by the file name)
3. Flash control: TTL (no matter, because we don’t use flash anyway)
4. Choose image area: DX
5. Image quality: RAW
6. Image size: L
7. NEF (RAW) recording: Lossless Compression and 14-bit
8. ISO sensitivity settings: ISO auto OFF, start at 100
9. White balance: cloudy sky, so that always the same white balance is used during the bracketing row, the correct correction we carry out later at the PC.
10. Manage Picture Control: NL (Neutral)
11. Active D-Lighting: OFF
12. Long exposure NR: OFF
13. Vignette Control: OFF
14. Auto distortion control: OFF
15. Flicker reduction: OFF
16. Auto Bracketing set: AE
17. Multiple exposure: OFF
18. HDR (high dynamic range): OFF
    Note: We want to create an HDR ourselves from the individual shots later, if we used this option, the camera would assemble an HDR itself, without us having any influence on the final result. This function is only used by people who normally take photos with their smartphone.
19. Interval timer shooting: OFF

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Settings in “Custom configuration Menu”

We leave all settings on the default values except for the following settings mentioned here:

1. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C3 self-timer – self-timer delay: 2
2. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C3 self-timer – number of shots: 5
3. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C3 self-timer – interval between shots: 0.5 seconds
4. Menu area E “Bracketing & Flash” – E5 BKT order: N

Save settings permanently to Usersetting bank „U1“

In order to really save the settings we have made so far, we go back to the “SYSTEM” menu and select the memory bank „U1“ under the “Save User Settings” system menu item and confirm twice with “OK”.
If we now switch to another operating mode such as “A”, “M” or “S” or switch off the camera and then switch back to the „U1“ program, all our previously set data will be available again. Depending on the available light, we may have to adjust the exposure series properties to the lighting conditions.

Taking photos

We have now saved all settings and can make our recordings when we access the usersetting „U1“.
First we switch off the autofocus and focus manually, so that the focus does not change unintentionally during the exposure series.

When shooting with a tripod

First, turn off the image stabilizer if present on the lens. Switch to the self-timer. Now 5 shots are taken automatically within the configured exposure bracket with a lead time of 2 seconds. When HDR shooting is finished, simply switch back to A, M, S, or P mode.

When shooting free hand (without a tripod)

First, turn on the image stabilizer, if present on the lens. Switch to high speed mode CH. Now, while holding the shutter-release button down, 5 shots are taken in a row within the configured exposure bracket. When HDR shooting is finished, simply switch back to A, M, S, or P mode.

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Professional settings for HDR recordings from tripod saved to usersetting bank „U2“

If we really have a lot of time to shoot our HDR exposure series and take pictures from a tripod, then we should use the full spectrum of HDR functions of the D7500 to get better pictures. To do this, we use the following settings on the „U2“ bank. These settings are chosen so that the complete HDR series is recorded with sufficient waiting times between the individual shots and the mirror lock-up, so that there is no shaking movement caused by vibrations of the tripod.

General Camera settings

1. Selecting the correct operating mode:
   Turn the program selector wheel to „A”.
2. Adjust the correct aperture:
   At this point I set aperture to “8” for HDR shots and change it according to the subject and environment.
3. Setting a suitable ISO number:
   I’ll start here at ISO 100.
4. Activate the bracketing row:
   Hold down the BKT button and use the rear control dial to set “5F” for 5-step bracketing. Enter the value “1.0” as the selection for the entire step size with the front e-dial.
   As an alternative to the 5F and 1.0 bracketing above, a 0.7 to 9 step increment (range -2.8 to +2.8) can be used for a wider coverage area with finer gradation between shots.

Settings in the “Photo Shooting Menu”

1. Optional: change folder names to HDR75 (this gives us our own directory for HDR photos)
2. Optional: change file name to HDR (so we can easily distinguish HDR photos from “normal” photos by the file name)
3. Flash control: TTL (no matter, because we don’t use flash anyway)
4. Choose image area: DX
5. Image quality: RAW
6. Image size: L
7. NEF (RAW) recording: Lossless Compression and 14-bit
8. ISO sensitivity settings: ISO auto OFF, start at 100
9. White balance: cloudy sky, so that always the same white balance is used during the bracketing row, the correct correction we carry out later at the PC.
10. Manage Picture Control: NL (Neutral)
11. Active D-Lighting: OFF
12. Long exposure NR: OFF
13. Vignette Control: OFF
14. Auto distortion control: OFF
15. Flicker reduction: OFF
16. Auto Bracketing set: AE
17. Multiple exposure: OFF
18. HDR (high dynamic range): OFF
    Note: We want to create an HDR ourselves from the individual shots later, if we used this option, the camera would assemble an HDR itself, without us having any influence on the final result. This function is only used by people who normally take photos with their smartphone.
19. Interval timer shooting: OFF

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Settings in “Custom configuration Menu”

We leave all settings on the default values except for the following settings mentioned here:

1. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C3 self-timer – self-timer delay: 2
2. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C3 self-timer – number of shots: 5
3. Menu area C “Timers/ AE lock” – C3 self-timer – interval between shots: 0.5 seconds
4. Menu area E “Bracketing & Flash” – E5 Bracketing Order: N
5. Menu area D “Shooting/Display” – D3 Exposure Delay Mode: ON with 2 seconds
6. Optional: Menu area D “Shooting/Display” – D4 electronic Front-Curtain Shutter: ON (Use with caution. This can eliminate blur caused by the shutter motion, but should only be used with high-quality lenses. Better give it a try first, before using this feature productive.)

Save settings permanently to Usersetting bank „U2“

In order to really save the settings we have made so far, we go back to the “SYSTEM” menu and select the memory bank „U2“ under the “Save User Settings” system menu item and confirm twice with “OK”.
If we now switch to another operating mode such as “A”, “M” or “S” or switch off the camera and then switch back to the „U2“ program, all our previously set data will be available again. Depending on the available light, we may have to adjust the exposure series properties to the lighting conditions.

Take photos

As we only photograph from a tripod with these settings, we should switch off the image stabilizer if it is present on the lens. Now switch to the self-timer. Now 5 shots are automatically taken within the configured exposure bracket with a lead time of 2 seconds and a waiting time of 4 seconds between shots. The mirror lock up is used for the reduction of shaking movements. When the HDR recording is finished, simply switch back to A, M, S or P mode.

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How to develop the HDR photo / Which Software to use

As a software for HDR merging I use Aurora HDR.
You can get yourself a free trial by clicking this link: https://skylum.evyy.net/pixelfriedhofaurorahdr

See all steps of the configuration in my video

My first choice as a Lightroom alternative

I’m gonna do some advertising. I’ve been dealing with all kinds of image editing software for months, comparing a lot, testing a lot and finally choosing RAW developer and Lightroom alternative Luminar.

Have a look and try the free trial version. Just click on the banner:

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag HDR Settings for Nikon D7500 on Usersettings „U1“ and „U2“ erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.