Canon XF605 Resolution/Codec Settings

[saraStudioZ]

I am a professional photographer with some video experience helping out a dance studio whose videographer  cancelled at the last minute. I was able to quickly rent a Canon XF605. I can't spend the typical amount of time that I would like to research best settings, so I'm posting here hoping someone will share their expertise.

I am shooting a 6 hour dance recital. The conditions are stage lighting, fast moving dancers. The big variable here is that I'm working with a broken ankle and I may need to take little breaks. I'm not sure how attentive I'll be at the camera to zoom in and out on the performances, so I want to be able to do that in Final Cut if necessary, while retaining quality.

Any suggestions for resolution/Codec settings? From my quick research this morning I'm finding many opinions and they all sound legit. For resolution, 4k seems like the way to go over 1080, so I can get the highest quality footage to pan and zoom in on. I am not sure what format and frame rate (XF-AVC vs MP4) perform best on this camera, as I have never worked with it before. It will arrive to me about two hours before I leave for the recital!

I have 4, 256GB cards, but there is a camera shop nearby where I can go buy bigger/more cards if the best settings will require more memory. I have a couple hours today for reading the manual and getting a plan together.

I plan to edit this on a iMac in Final Cut, then distribute via USB drives or a link shared.

Thanks for any advice! 

[Hazel_T]

Hi saraStudioZ,

Since you are planning to do digital zooms in post we would recommend using the 4k recording. That way you can retain more detail in the zoom. For the file type you would most likely want to use XF-AVC. That file type retains more information than MP4, so you can do more to the file when you are editing it. Editing MP4 video is closer to editing a JPG image, so if you shoot in that format you wouldn't be able to do as much to the file while editing.

I see you mentioned you don't have a lot of time to practice with the camera, but we would recommend getting some practice in if you can. The XF-AVC video file type is a little bit different to work with and the way the camcorders work is pretty different from how our photography cameras work. If you want to look over the manual it is available HERE. Once you are on the web page click on the Manuals button and the one to reference is named XF605 Instruction Manual.