Quick take: A quick, late-night lighting tutorial I made for a friend with a new Fujifilm X-T200 and the 15-45mm kit lens. Set your exposure for the background, then bring in a light at 45 degrees to light yourself. A second light behind you adds depth, and a white balance trick gets you the orange and teal look in camera. If you want to spend more money on video, put it toward lights, not lenses.
Camera Settings
I'm recording in 4K at 24 frames per second and following the 180-degree shutter rule, so the shutter speed is 1/50 of a second. The kit lens is at its widest and fastest, F3.5. An external recorder mirrors the camera screen, so you can see every setting change as I make it.
Expose for the Background First
With the aperture and shutter set, use ISO to expose for the background. In the video I had the room light on because that's how most people shoot, and it took around ISO 4000. That's a lot. I'm not a big fan of going past 3200, and I usually prefer a darker look with the overhead light off. With the background looking right, I was still too dark, and that's where the light comes in.
Add Your Key Light
If you have one light, that's all you need. Put it at about 45 degrees from the camera, a little away from it. A common problem is ending up blown out without knowing why: in manual mode, the camera no longer compensates for you. Use the exposure scale on screen, and play with the light's position, height and output until it looks right. After moving my light closer I was able to drop to ISO 2000, still a lot, but the image already looks more cinematic.
My lights here are little Lume Cubes, my go-to travel lights. I also own an Aputure 120D and a 300D Mark II, but those are overkill for most people, especially since they cost more than this camera.
Add Depth With a Second Light
If you have a second light, or a ring light plus a smaller light, put one behind you and keep it at low power. It separates you from the background and makes the image look much more 3D. Lighting controls the look of everything, which makes it the most important part of any video or film production, much more than the lens. I wasted way too much money on lenses when I really should have bought a $50 light.
The Orange and Teal Trick
If you like the orange and teal look, here's a neat trick. Inexpensive RGB lights can help, but you don't actually need a blue light. Switch from auto white balance to a manual Kelvin setting and lower it until the background turns teal; I left it at 3400K. Then warm your lights down to around 3200K. Your skin goes warm, the background goes teal, and you get the look in camera.
This is the standard Provia film simulation with no editing at all. Getting it right in camera gives you a good base and makes life a lot easier in post. You could push the saturation a little, but go easy on skin. One more reason I hate overhead lights: turn the room light back on and the whole effect disappears.
The Fundamentals Are the Same on Any Camera
The button placement and menus are specific to the X-T200 (honestly, it's a lot easier on the X-T3), but the fundamentals are the same on any camera. If you have questions about lighting or the X-T200's basics, leave them in the comments on YouTube.
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