Photographing and filming LED props

Guide · Photo

Make the footage look like the real thing.

A camera sees light differently from the eye: LEDs easily burn out to white and fast movement gets chopped into pieces. A few manual settings help a lot — on a camera and on a phone. Treat the values below as a starting point and try them with your own gear.

Video settingsLong exposure

Photo:Photo — long exposure of RoPE POI in the dark with light trails — to be supplied

• Brightness
• Video
• Photography
• Light and background
• Support

Brightness

The most common mistake is a prop that is too bright. The trail turns white in the footage and the colours disappear.

• For filming, pick a mode with lower brightness and more dark spots. You can edit such a mode in the app.
• Prop brightness and camera sensitivity (ISO) go together: at a lower ISO the prop can be brighter, at a higher ISO dim it down.

Video

• Everything manual

  Turn off automatic exposure, ISO and white balance. Auto mode brightens the dark scene and burns it out.

• Shutter to match the frame rate

  Set the shutter to 1 / frames per second: 1/25 s at 25 fps, 1/30 s at 30 fps.

• 25 or 30 fps

  25 frames per second gives longer trails, 30 smoother motion. Try both.

• Low ISO

  As low an ISO as possible. A slightly darker shot is better than burnt-out colours.

• ND filter

  If there is still too much light, a neutral density (ND) filter in front of the lens helps.

• Tripod and a clean lens

  A tripod or gimbal keeps the image steady, a clean lens reduces flare.

Video:Filming — comparing a 1/25 s and a 1/50 s shutter at 25 fps — to be supplied

Filming with a phone

• Use a camera app with a manual mode and lock the shutter, ISO, focus and white balance.
• Night mode only as a last resort.
• Without a dimmed prop, a phone almost always burns out the image in the dark.
• With a shutter shorter than 1 / frame rate, the trail breaks into pieces with gaps.
• The camera captures a shorter trail than the eye sees. You can extend it in editing with an echo effect.

Photography

Photo:Photo — long exposure with rear-curtain flash, sharp performer and trails — to be supplied

Long exposure

1. Camera on a tripod, manual mode M.
2. A starting point to try: ISO 100–200, aperture f/6.3, shutter 1/4 s.
3. Is the shot dark or burnt out? Adjust the aperture. Is the trail short or long? Adjust the shutter.
4. For a sharp performer and long trails, use a flash with rear-curtain sync — it fires at the end of the exposure.
5. For longer exposures, a remote shutter release and Bulb mode help.

Light and background

• Outdoors: shoot at sunset or shortly after, against a dark background such as trees.
• Indoors: do not switch off all the lights or the performer disappears in the dark. Light them with a dim lamp.
• Background: choose dark and matt; a bright background hides the trail.
• Text and logos in an animation: check which way they move relative to the camera so they can be read.

Video:Filming — example: the same scene at full and at reduced prop brightness — to be supplied

If you see flicker or stripes in your video, email us which camera or phone and which settings you used.

More guides

• App guideModes and editing them, syncing several props.
• Charging, battery and protectionHow to charge, look after the battery and restart the device.
• Flying with LED propsCapacity in Wh, luggage rules and a note to print.

Need help?

Email us. Tell us which product it is, what is happening and what you have already tried; a short video or photo helps a lot.

The contact form in the app does not reach us — we do not receive messages sent through it.

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