A-Z of video

A small, simple and largely automated video camera (you can also shoot stills) designed to attach to a helmet, handlebars, surfboard or any other kind of object and provide dramatic first-person video of adventure sports and other activities. Almost all use fixed focal length super-wide angle lenses and shoot 4K video, some offering even higher resolutions.

A lens which compresses the scene horizontally to capture a wider angle of view which is then ‘decompressed’ to produce regular proportions again in a very wide aspect ratio. It’s effective for producing very wide cinematic footage using regular digital sensors. Anamorphic video also has some visual quirks and effects which are currently fashionable.

Using headphones or earbuds to monitor audio directly when recording video. This will give you a better idea of how the video sounds, the intrusiveness of any background noise and whether speech is clear and audible. Many cameras have headphone sockets for this, even some microphones.

A video file format commonly used by Sony and Panasonic cameras for HD and FHD video. It's an efficient file format for high-definition video, keeping file sizes relatively small while keeping the quality high. It uses a complicated directory structure, though, so that you don't get simple self-contained video files in the way you do with other video formats. The MP4 and MOV formats are more commonly used these days for 4K video.

A slightly ‘wider’ variant of 4K video (normally 4K UHD) which has a resolution of 4096×2160 pixels. Many cameras which can shoot conventional 4K UHD video may not be able to offer the same frame rates in the wider C4K format, or even offer C4K at all. C4K capture is sometimes used as a selling point, but is only relevant if you or your client has a specific requirement for this format.

Many microphones have a cardioid, or heart-shaped pickup pattern designed to pick up sound from in front of the mic and the sides, but not from the rear – though supercardioid mics may also have a small rear pickup pattern to allow for the narrator’s voice, for example.

Uncompressed, higher quality video carried over a camera’s HDMI port to an external recorder. ‘Clean HDMI’ is a kind of early precursor to today’s high-quality HDMI output, where cameras can record higher quality video to external storage devices than they can internally to memory cards.

A combination word made up of the process of encoding and decoding video data, where the challenge is to compress large quantities of video capture data into a form that can be easily stored, transmitted and displayed. Many different codecs exist, though some are much more widely used than others, such as the H.264 and H.265 codecs.

Most cameras have a hotshoe or accessory shoe for attaching flashguns and other accessories. These are 'hot' because they have the electrical contacts needed to connect with and trigger the accessory that's been added. A cold shoe is simply the same kind of mounting plate but without the connections. For example, they're used for attaching video lights (which need no connection to the camera) or microphones (which connect to the camera by cable or wirelessly) or simply as a holder for external flashguns fired remotely by the camera.

The most common type of microphone, which uses a small but highly sensitive condenser type pickup in a variety of microphone styles, from desktop USB ‘podcasting’ mics, to wireless lavalier (lapel) mics and on-camera directional or shotgun microphones.

A powerful professional-level video editing tool from Blackmagic Design which can be used both with Blackmagic’s own cinema cameras and cameras from other makers. The Studio version is paid for, but there’s a free version which offers many of the same high end editing tools.

The same height as regular 4K UHD video (2160 pixels), but slightly ‘wider’ with a horizontal  resolution of 4096 pixels rather than 3840. It’s not necessarily superior as such, but if your project or work calls for the DCI 4K resolution and aspect ratio rather than 4K UHD, then you need a camera that offers this. Some cameras offer both, but not all. 

Controllable resistance built into video tripod heads to allow for smooth panning and tilting movements. More sophisticated video heads have drag controls which you can adjust to your preference and the size and weight of your kit.

Extended dynamic range movie mode introduced by Fujifilm to handle high-contrast lighting, extending dynamic range by 200% or 400%. Other higher-end movie cameras have a similar feature. It produces flat-looking footage but with extended data in the shadow and highlight areas and the idea is that you process the video later on a computer (grading) to achieve the finished look. It's the video maker's equivalent of shooting RAW files.

A technique for manually maintaining focus on a subject as they change distance or position. It’s under human control, as opposed to subject-tracking autofocus, which is subject to the camera’s autofocus system. You can get follow focus attachments for lenses to make these focus movements smoother and easier. These are typically used for video rather than stills photography.

Two video ‘codecs’ in widespread use today and probably the most popular in smartphones, mirrorless cameras and other video capture devices. The H.264 codec is older and a little less efficient in terms of storage but easier for devices to play back and edit. H.265 is more efficient but places heavier demands on processors when editing.

Used in video to capture a wider brightness and color range with deliberately ‘flat’ looking footage designed to be edited or ‘graded’ later in video editing software. Different camera makers offer their own versions, such as S-log (Sony) and V-log (Panasonic).

A flexible microphone shock mount specially designed to absorb vibration to improve the quality of sound recordings when the mic is mounted on a camera's accessory shoe, for example, or a portable video rig. Sometimes they come as standard with microphones but you can also get them separately.

The polar pattern of a microphone describes how it picks up sound from different directions. Simple microphones are ‘omnidirectional’ and pick up sound equally from all directions, but many are ‘cardioid’ or ‘shotgun’ types designed to be more sensitive in specific directions to reduce unwanted background noise.

A small mesh shield placed directly in front of a microphone for when it’s used close to the speaker’s mouth. This reduces or eliminates ‘plosive’ speech sounds, which are especially strong with words containing the letter ‘p’. This can produce a loud ‘pop’ sound from the mic.

Immersive style of filming where the viewer feels as if they are seeing things through the photographer’s own eyes in real time, usually with an action camera and a wide angle lens and often with the photographer’s own hands, bike or vehicle in the shot.

Manually changing the focus while filming to keep the subject in focus as they move, or as the camera moves. It involves a degree of skill and often a separate operator for high-end cinema productions. Essentially the same thing as ‘follow focus’ though ‘pull focus’ is typically what you do, while ‘follow focus’ is often a device to make this easier.

A rail or a pair of rails to allow smooth horizontal camera movement while filming. Sliders can be free standing or tripod mounted. They may be hand operated or driven by motors.

UHS is a new ultra high speed bus (data transfer connection) for SD memory cards. There are two versions: UHS-I and a more advanced UHS-II type. This refers to the physical construction of the card and does not directly indicate its speed. There are speed standards for UHS cards: UHS 1 guarantees a minimum speed of 10MB/s, which is suitable for full HD video recording, and UHS 3 guarantees a minimum transfer speed of 30MB/s, which is what you’d need for 4K video.

A higher quality video capture setting than the regular 8-bit video capture of most consumer devices. The advantage of 10-bit video is that it will stand up better to any heavy video editing later on in post production. 10-bit video is especially important if you record using ‘log profiles’ to capture a wider color and brightness range.

These numbers refer to the level of compression of color data when capturing video. 4:2:0 is the highest level of compression producing the smallest and most manageable files and probably perfectly adequate quality when used as-is. 4:2:2 video is captured with less color data compression and may deliver better results, especially if you do any editing later.