- If you're shooting videos on your DSLR,
or your mirrorless camera,
then it can be difficult to nail
the framing, and the camera settings,
without someone there to help you out behind the camera.
So in this video, we're gonna give you five ways
that you can shoot awesome videos
of yourself, by yourself,
including some awesome camera features
that you should look out for,
and some simple work arounds, if you don't have them.
(calm electronic music)
Hey, it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video.
We released a ton of content to help
you get better results with your videos faster.
If you're new here, then make sure you click
that big subscribe button, and all the links
to everything we mentioned in this video,
you can find linked in the description below.
So let's jump into it.
So these days it's getting easier and easier
to create awesome looking videos by yourself.
The hardest part though, is monitoring everything
while you're shooting, especially if you're using
a DSLR, or a mirrorless camera.
Fortunately there are some awesome features
built into a lot of cameras these days,
which can help make this process a lot easier.
And don't worry if you don't have a camera
with any of these features,
there are still some simple work arounds
that can make the job much easier.
In this video, we're gonna run through
my top five ways to get great results,
when you're by yourself and in front of the camera lens,
including the top camera features to look out for,
and some simple hacks that will
help you if you don't have them.
And to help you get the most out of your DSLR,
or mirrorless camera, then make sure you stick around,
because I'll be linking our top resource
for understanding your DSLR settings,
and how to use them to get the best results.
Okay, so we're gonna start off with the ideal options first.
So these are features that are built
into a lot of cameras these days,
that you may already have that you may not be aware of.
So if you're looking to upgrade soon,
you definitely wanna add these to your
requirements list for your next camera.
So the first feature that we're gonna look at,
or the first way that you can record your videos
and control everything yourself, solo, is wifi control.
So this is an absolute game changer,
and it's really changed the way
that I've been able to create these videos easily,
using a DSLR is by remotely monitoring
and controlling everything over wifi.
So you can see here, I'm just using a Samsung tablet
to control, you can see it's actually the same shot there.
I can see remotely from the front of the camera
what's in focus, I can tap to focus,
I can make sure that I am recording,
I can make any adjustments to any of the manual settings
that I could do on the back of the camera,
on top of the camera, I can do them while I'm sitting
in front of it, which is absolutely amazing.
So this was a real game changer for me,
and I won't buy another camera
that doesn't have decent wifi control,
because it makes the whole process so much easier.
So the camera that I'm using now,
is the Panasonic GH4, I know the GH5 also
has really great wifi control,
and also the Panasonic G7 as well.
So most of the Panasonic cameras
will have some sort of built in wifi,
and in most cases, are gonna use the exact same app.
So you should have the same features,
no matter which Panasonic camera you've got,
if it's got wifi control.
Now that's not just limited to Panasonic cameras,
I know that Sony cameras, and Canon cameras both
also have wifi control, but you wanna look
at your particular model and see what it is
that you can actually control with it.
I know that with some of the Canons,
you'll get wifi control for taking photos,
but it won't give you control for taking videos,
at least over wifi.
And we'll get to a work around for that in a minute,
but wifi is an absolute game changer
for creating your videos, as I said,
if I was looking for a camera right now to buy,
that would be probably the number one pre requisite
for me, if I'm gonna be creating videos like this,
would be, to be able to control it from sitting
in front of the camera, and to have that control over wifi.
So number two then, leading on from that,
is to have USB control of your camera,
if again, your camera supports it.
And a lot of them these days do.
And it'll work on both iOS, on Android,
and in some cases, PC and Mac as well.
So you'll have to get a USB cable for your camera,
and if you're gonna be using an iPad,
or an Android tablet, or an Android device,
then you will need to get a USB adapter
for your device so that you can plug
your camera directly into it.
And then obviously you're gonna need the right app
to control your specific camera.
Now I know that there is Canon apps,
Panasonic apps, and Sony apps available,
but there's also aftermarket, or third party apps
that you can get, which in a lot of cases
will give you more control if you're gonna be
controlling your cameras over USB.
So it's definitely worth doing a Google search,
and finding out what's available for your particular camera.
But controlling your camera over USB will give you
exactly the same set up that I've got here.
So you'll be able to sit in front
of your camera and control it from your iPad,
or Android device, or even your computer
sitting next to the camera, so you can monitor it,
and make adjustments in real time,
while you're sitting in front of the camera lens,
and that's the whole point here,
that's the most ideal thing that you could do,
is make the changes yourself, on the fly,
without having to get up and make the adjustments.
Moving on then, to option number three.
If option one of wifi control,
and number two of USB control,
doesn't work for you, you don't have those features,
or you're not able to do it,
then the third best option, or best solution,
is to use HDMI, or video out,
to monitor what's going on, on your camera screen,
on an external monitor.
So it could be a T.V., or a computer monitor
that you've set up next to your camera,
so you can easily see what's going on,
on your camera from again, siting in front of it.
Now what this won't give you, is control over the camera,
this would be purely for monitoring.
And in a lot of cases, you can also switch on,
on that video feed out of your camera,
to display your camera's settings,
or your camera's display as well.
Which means that on your T.V., or computer monitor,
or whatever you're using to monitor this,
you can actually see your battery levels,
you can see your audio bars,
you can see that you actually are recording,
and you can see that you're in focus.
But you won't be able to control any of that,
you still have to get up and make any adjustments.
But it's another thing that'll make it easier for you,
if you don't have any of the other options available to you,
that you can see what's going on,
so at least you know those things are sorted,
and working while you're creating your videos.
So it could be, as I said, that you connect your camera
up to a T.V. screen, or a computer monitor,
or something that you can bring close
to your camera, and have it sitting next to it,
or you could actually pick up a small HDMI screen,
or a little monitor that you can mount onto the top
of your camera, to give you a bigger screen
than what you would get on your actual camera itself.
And beyond that, is option number four,
which is using the flip out screen on your camera.
Now obviously this is an obvious answer.
If your camera has the ability to flip the screen out,
or around so that you can see it while you're
sitting in front of the camera,
and this is a great way to monitor
that you actually are in shot,
that you're not cropping off the top of your head,
and that you actually are recording.
In most cases, you should be able to see,
by sitting in front of the camera,
and a short distance away from the little screen,
that you actually are recording.
And that may seem like a really small,
or insignificant thing,
but I can tell you, if you've pressed record,
or you think you've pressed record,
and you're talking to your camera,
creating your videos, and later you realize
that you actually weren't recording,
or the recording stopped for some reason,
is a huge feature, or a huge thing to be able
to monitor that, and to make sure
that you actually are recording.
So if your camera has a flip out screen,
then I highly recommend you use that,
if you don't have the ability to use
any of the previous suggestions.
And if all else fails, then number
five is to set up a mirror.
So you'd use the mirror to reflect
your camera's display, back so you can see it when
you're sitting in front of the camera,
to again, be able to monitor that you are in shot,
that you are recording, and that everything
is as you want it while you're recording.
Now this could be as simple as positioning
a mirror behind your camera,
and working out the angle so that
it reflects through, so you can see it.
Or you can actually pick up mini mirrors
on places like Amazon, that you can clip
and mount to your cameras to do exactly that.
So again, with all of these suggestions,
depending on which camera you've got,
try for the wifi, if you don't have wifi ability,
go the USB cable, and progress down
to using a mirror if that's all you've got.
But either way, the more that you can monitor
your shot, and be in control of,
or at least see what's going on while you're recording,
then it will make your video creation process
much much simpler, and streamlined.
And also, give you more peace of mind
when you're recording your videos,
because you'll know that everything is actually working.
So now that you know how to monitor your shot
while you're in front of the lens,
and filming by yourself, what are the best
setting to get great results with
your DSLR, or mirrorless camera?
We put together a video running through just that,
and it's linked on screen now.
It runs through the key things
that you'll need to know to get the best out of your camera.
So things like shutter speed, aperture, ISO,
white balance, and the easiest ways to configure them.
I'll see you soon.