topic Re: Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII

Jack144 — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:52:07 GMT

I'm an amateur, mostly landscape, photographer that started in the film days. Since I started with DSLR on a T4i I've taken exactly two real (rather than "what does this do?") videos. Both were torture to process.

Can anyone recommend a basic tutorial for videos in general and maybe the R5MkII in particular? I'm not looking to create a cinematic masterpiece, just the occasional video of "Hold my beer and watch this." Basically, a "how to" for a video equivalent of a JPEG in Auto mode rather than RAW in Manual mode. It will probably never be viewed on a screen larger than my laptop monitor.

Thanks for any help.

All the best,

Jack

Re: Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII

shadowsports — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:58:58 GMT

Greetings,

Not exactly basic, but definitely comprehensive. You have a professional camera. Its important to understand its features and capabilities.

If you haven't downloaded and reviewed your camera's user guide, I would recommend grabbing that as well.

https://cam.start.canon/en/C017/manual/html/index.html

Re: Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII

Jack144 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 02:20:02 GMT

Dear Shadowsports:

Thanks for the response.

I've watched similar videos on how to set up the video options. However, as you said, this isn't basic. Those other videos got me to the settings that I used to create the videos that were so difficult to process. I'm really looking for very basic video settings in order to capture very basic videos.

I understand that the R5MkII has spectacular video capabilities, but I'm not a videographer, I'm a still photographer. I've spent a lot of time and effort exploring and using the R5MkII's still capabilities, however, my meager video efforts and needs don't justify the same level of investment. I just want a very basic tutorial on how to get iPhone level videos out of my camera for the one or two short videos that I might do per year.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Jack

Re: Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII

Jack144 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 03:34:24 GMT

All:

I figured this out. I was asking the wrong question to solve the wrong problem. It wasn't a camera setting problem, but a Windows problem. My laptop did not have the proper codecs. The camera was working fine, but my laptop couldn't read the files. I downloaded the necessary codecs and things seem to be working fine.

Thanks,

Jack

Re: Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII

BurnUnit — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:05:15 GMT

If you're shooting in "full zoot" RAW mode at 8k or 4k you'll probably need a well spec'd computer to do your editing smoothly and reasonably quickly. Try shooting in MPEG/MP4 mode at 1920 x 1080 to make smaller files and take some of the load off you and your hardware and software. At least to get you started.

Can you post some of the specs for your computer? What software are you using? You won't need Adobe Premier or other pro-level software to make perfectly viewable videos. I've used a couple versions of Corel VideoStudio over the years with Win7 and Win10 machines. Of course there's a learning curve involved. But keep your editing simple and don't get distracted by the more complex tools available and you'll start to get the hang of it.

If possible shoot with a tripod, especially if it's got a smooth pan head. Otherwise it can be tricky to move smoothly while hand holding the camera, especially when you're you're shooting a bit out in the telephoto range.

Re: Looking for a very basic tutorial for taking video on R5 MkII

Jack144 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:19:14 GMT

Dear BurnUnit:

System: HP Z Book, i9 2.5Ghz, 128GB RAM, Nvidia RTX A2000 w/4GB, Intel UHD Gfx Card w/128MB, Win 11

for video software I'm using whatever free software came with Windows plus Canon's EOS MOVIE Utility, Duo Video Converter, and VLC Media Player (supplied new codecs). For stills I have a lot of editors (LRC, PS, ON1, DXO, Photomatix, NIK, &c) but for the rare videos free is probably good enough.

I don't have a pan head, but a ball head really loosened up or a gimbal would probably do.

Last night, I got good results with 4k at 30fps, but, as you suggested, I'll try 1920x1080. Is there a way to select MPEG or is that decided by the resolution?

Thanks,

Jack