6. Aperture or F-Stop Settings. Knowing what F-Stop settings to go with really depends on the type of lens you are using. Knowing your lens’s maximum aperture will help you choose the best f-stop setting for the situation. A general rule of thumb is a lens will generate the sharpest image towards the middle of the glass. A F-5.6 setting may produce a good image, but if you’re in low light, a setting like 2.8, or even 1.8 may be optimal. Warning: the lower the F-Stop setting is, the greater the shallow depth of field is.
7. Focus. Make sure your shot is in focus. Usually cameras have what is called a focus assist button. So use it! Nothing is worse than having great exposure settings only to pull up your footage and find a crucial shot was out of focus (And, if there IS something worse—save it for the comments section below).
Stay on top of these 7 things and you will be on your way to creating some decent footage.
Stephen Schweickart is the co-founder of VScreen. For more information on this topic visit VScreen’s site at www.vscreen.com.