A few settings decide what kind of file you get. It is worth going through them once on a new phone, and again for each camera you use: most of them are stored per camera.
- Choose the camera. Tap the camera button among the quick access buttons and pick the lens you want to shoot with.
- Set the frame size and rate. Open the video menu, tap Resolution and FPS, turn the wheels and tap Apply. For most work 24, 25 or 30 fps is the place to start; see the video menu for what the dimmed and red values mean.
- Choose the codec and bitrate in the codec settings. HEVC gives better quality than AVC at the same bitrate, but older editing computers decode it more slowly. 50 Mbps is enough for 1080p; for 4K, 100 to 200 Mbps leaves more room for grading.
- Choose where to save: open the settings, then Storage settings. If you record to an SD card formatted as FAT32, set Divide into parts (about) to 3.7 GB.
- Check the sound: in the audio menu choose Source. If you will add sound later from a separate recorder, the camera microphone is still useful for syncing.
- Clear the screen. In Interface hide the groups you do not need, or set them to show on a swipe.
- Make a short test recording and play it back from the media manager. Check the dropped frames counter: if it turns red at your settings, lower the bitrate or the frame size.
When the setup works, save it as a preset so that you can return to it in one tap.