Phone settings: focus, white balance, resolution

Out of the box, a phone is set up for family videos, not for content. A couple of minutes in the settings and you can mostly leave them alone.

Resolution and frame rate

Open the camera settings, find the Video section. Two things matter.

Resolution: 1080p or 4K. For social platforms 1080p is enough: they compress your video anyway. 4K makes sense if you'll punch in during editing (a 1080p export crops a close-up out of 4K with almost no loss) or if a brand asked for raw footage. The downside of 4K: files are about three times bigger and the phone heats up.

Frame rate: 30 or 60 frames per second. For a normal talking video, use 30. That's how most videos in the feed look, and the eye is used to it. 24 gives a more film-like look, but for your first videos 30 is the safer bet. 60 is for motion, or anything you plan to slow down in the edit. Don't shoot everything at 60: heavier files, and in low light the image gets noisier.

If you see flicker or rolling bands on video shot under lamps, switch to 25 fps: in countries where the mains run at 50 Hz, that usually gets rid of it. Not always, some lamps have their own quirks, so shoot a ten-second test under the exact light you'll be using.

My default: 1080p, 30 fps, the 1x lens. Not 0.5x and not digital zoom. Unless a brand asks for something else, that's plenty.

Tip. Turn off "Auto FPS" or "Auto frame rate" if your phone has it. Otherwise the phone will switch frame rates on its own in low light, and in the edit that shows up as stutter.

White balance: why your face is yellow

Different light has different colour. Daylight from a window is bluish, an incandescent bulb is yellow, LEDs can be anything. The camera tries to guess what in the frame is "white" and adjusts everything else to match. It doesn't always guess right. That's why skin looks yellow under a lamp and bluish in the shade.

The stock camera app usually has no manual white balance. Two ways around it. First: shoot under one kind of light, don't mix window and lamp, which we covered in lesson one. Then auto copes fine. Second: use the Pro mode in your camera app if it has one, or install a camera app with manual controls (there are free ones). White balance is set in Kelvin there: you tell the camera what light the scene is lit with, and it corrects the colour to match. Rough guides: daylight around 5500, overcast or shade 6000–6500, a warm bulb 2700–3200. Set it, lock it, and the colour stops drifting.

If the colour is off as a whole, it's easier to fix in the edit than exposure is. Mixed light from two sources, though, can't be fixed, as lesson one said.

Focus

You already know about locking focus: a long press on your face locks both exposure and focus. That's the main thing.

Close-up shots of objects are a separate problem. When you show a product, makeup, food, the phone often focuses on the background or your hand. Two tricks. First: use the 1x lens and keep the object at least 15–20 centimetres away, about the length of your hand. The minimum focus distance varies between models, and the 2x and 3x telephoto lenses need noticeably more room than the main one. So "the phone won't focus on the product" usually means "too close" or "wrong lens". Second: tap the object on screen, wait until it's sharp, and only then start moving.

If focus keeps hopping between you and the background, lock it and don't change your distance to the camera during the take.

Front camera vs main camera

The main camera, the one on the back, is almost always better than the front one: bigger sensor, better in low light, sharper. If you can shoot on it, do. Yes, you can't see yourself. And no, framing with the front camera and then flipping the phone doesn't work: the two cameras have different fields of view. Do a test take instead: hit record, sit down, say a few words, watch it back and nudge the phone. Two tries usually do it. Or a large mirror behind the phone so you can see the screen: the text will be mirrored and small, but you'll see the frame.

The front camera is fine for quick videos where you need to see yourself. Just don't use it in the dark.

Small things that ruin takes

Wipe the lens. Right now. A fingerprint on the lens gives a hazy picture with halos around lights, and it's one of the most common reasons for "why does everything look foggy".

Turn on Do Not Disturb: a call in the middle of your best take stops the recording.

Check your storage: the phone often tells you it's full once the recording has already cut off.

Turn off beauty filters, auto-framing that moves the shot to follow you, and HDR video if your editor handles it badly. Less automation, more predictable results.

Do this now

• Open the camera settings and set 1080p and 30 fps. Turn off auto frame rate if it's there.
• Wipe the lens with a soft cloth and turn on Do Not Disturb.
• Film the same shot on the front and the main camera and compare sharpness.