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The best phone video settings, and when to change them

A phone left on automatic will usually record something usable. It will also hunt for focus, brighten and darken as people move, flicker under some lights and fill your storage. Set four things before you press record: the resolution and frame rate, which way round you hold the phone, the focus and exposure lock, and the lens.

Resolution: 1080p is the sensible default

• 1080p (Full HD): for almost everything, including social media, events and small-business clips. It uses about 60 to 130 MB a minute.
• 4K: for short, important shots in good light, or footage that you may crop later. It uses about 170 to 350 MB a minute.
• 720p: only when storage is desperately short.

Social platforms compress video heavily and show most of it on a phone screen. Higher resolution does not fix poor light, shake or bad sound.

Frame rate

• 24 or 25 fps: natural motion, like film and television. Good for interviews, events and business videos.
• 30 fps: the usual phone default, fine for social media.
• 50 or 60 fps: very smooth, and it can be slowed to half speed. Good for sport, dancing and children running.
• 120 or 240 fps: slow motion. It needs a lot of light.

Choose one frame rate for a whole project, so that the clips cut together smoothly.

Stop the flicker: use 25 or 50 fps indoors

South Africa's mains electricity runs at 50 Hz, and many LED and fluorescent lights pulse with it. A phone recording at 30 or 60 fps can catch that pulse as a flicker or a rolling band, especially in halls, shops, churches and offices.

Under mains lighting, record at 25 or 50 fps. Outdoors in daylight, any frame rate is fine.

Lock focus and exposure

On automatic, the picture "breathes": focus jumps to the background when the speaker moves, and the whole picture brightens and darkens as someone in a white shirt walks past.

1. Frame the shot.
2. Press and hold on the subject until the screen shows a lock, often labelled "AE/AF lock".
3. If bright areas look burnt out, slide the brightness down a little.
4. Record.

Lock again whenever you move to a new shot. When a person is the subject, expose for their face. A slightly bright background is acceptable. A dark, muddy face is not.

Choose a lens, and do not zoom

• Ultra-wide (0.5×): useful in small rooms, but it stretches faces near the edge.
• Main (1×): the best lens on almost every phone, especially in low light. Use it for most shots.
• Telephoto (2× to 5×): flattering for faces, and useful when you cannot get close.

Anything between those numbers is digital zoom, which enlarges part of the picture and loses detail. Pinching to zoom while recording also looks jerky. Choose a lens before you record, and move your feet to get closer.

Horizontal or vertical?

Decide before you record. You cannot convert one to the other without cutting most of the picture away.

• Vertical: WhatsApp status, short-video platforms and stories.
• Horizontal: YouTube, a television, a church or school screen, or a wedding film.

Other settings to check once

• Stabilisation: leave the normal setting on. Use extra-strong modes only for walking shots.
• HDR video: if clips look washed out when you share or edit them, switch it off.
• Grid lines: switch them on, to keep horizons level.

Plan your storage

Multiply the minutes you expect to record by the megabytes per minute at your setting, and add about half again for extra takes. Compare that with your free space before the shoot.

This guide is based on Chapter 2 of Video Making with Your Phone.