Turn your Nikon z30 into a Cinematic Beast - for Free!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2025
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Personal Cheatsheet
Start with Flat Profile
Quick Sharp ~ Leave Alone at 0
Sharpening ~ Set to -3
Mid-range Sharpening ~ Set to -5
Clarity ~ Set to 0
Contrast ~ Set to -3
Brightness ~ Set to 0
Saturation ~ Set to -3
Hue ~ Set to 0
Set Active D-lighting to Extra High
Thank you so much! What a great video!
But... what are the best settings when you want to just vlog with the z30 and not have to do so much colour correcting in post?
Good question. Each project has its own needs, and this method, while useful for more control, is not so good for fast turnarounds like vlogging often needs.
I prefer the "Portrait" setting for vlogging - as it is the most flattering for skin tones - but if your face is not in your footage much, you might try "Landscape."
Amazing advice! Thank you. I use the Z30 and love it. I’ve been using on a DJI rs3 mini. But watching your footage it seems the natural stabilisation is better!
I have a pretty stable hand, but your rs3 is easily capable of getting better results than mine with some practice. The footage you see here is 120p slow mo, and has pretty significant stabilization applied in the edit - these go a LONG way to "cheating" a smooth look.
If your having some weird shakes in your rs3 footage - maybe you have your image stabilization turned on in camera? Stabilizers like the rs3 don't play nice with camera/lens VR and can make for some weird results.
@@DallasJyl interesting. I'll do some experiments and release a video about the subject. Thanks.
The best video on the subject! It helped me a lot. Here on TH-cam, videos about the Nikon Z30 are quite hard to come by.
Wow, that's pretty high praise! Thanks!
@@DallasJylbe my mentor bro
Yes, I agree! Finally some love for Nikons on video side
Don’t realize 8bit footage could be adjusted so well. I used a Nikon Z30 and this was a huge help!
Hi I followed your steps but the custom picture control I created is not showing among the others when I am about to record, but if I go again to settings > manage picture control it is listed there
Magical! Thank you so much for this valuable video. Greetings from Egypt! 🌟 The insights with the Z30 are truly inspiring
can't wait to try these tips out!
Thankyou for the kind comment!
Very Excellent Video, my Good Brother! Many Thanks. Wishing you folks the Best. 😎💓
Thank you for the kind comment SourceAwareness!
Having trouble seeing the custom z log profile amongst the picture profiles when i hit the i button
Excellent tutorial, tons of thanks to you
Thank you for the kind comment :)
Awesomely informative video, fantastic production. Thankyou for taking the time to do it.
Your Wellcome - I'm glad you found it helpful!
Thank you so much for this, im new to cameras and just got a nikon z30 so i was looking for camera specific tips. Looking to make cinematic videos. Just one question, when you make setting adjustments on u1, u2, u3 will those settings save and be recorded just on that profile for video? So you essentially have 6 separate profiles, 3 for photos, 3 for videos?
Yes, you essentially have 6 separate profiles, 3 for photos, 3 for videos - though actually 8. Because your standard (M, A, S, P, etc.) also count as one for video + photo!
However, I would think of your u1, u2, u3 more as presets than separate profiles, because they behave differently. This your standard modes, (M, A, S, P, & Auto) your settings are saved across modes, and are saved when you turn the camera ff and on again - so you can jump back in where you left off.
u1, u2, u3 setting changes are NOT saved when you leave the mode and come back, or turn the camera off and back on. - Any ajustmants will always reset to as originally saved (including controls and dials).
So I would think of these as quick setups for common shooting scenarios you encounter that are almost always the same, like: daylight vlogging, slow-motion, warm night light photos, 4k studio settings, sunrise landscapes, etc.
Note: You CAN link your photo and video settings together (the camera's factory default settings are set this way out of the box), and you can pick which settings are linked, and which are not.
Excellent Video! Well done. Will recommend it to my friends.
Thank you the kind comment - and for sharing!
Hello sir, thanks a lot for sharing. I have a Z6, i was always asking myself why by defaut the sharpness is so high in those videos.
Well , that's a damn good video !!! ❤
hermano me salvaste tu video es increíble he mejorado la calidad de mi cámara con tu configuración muchas gracias
Your welcome! I'm glad to have helped!
I find that a little extreme. OK in that snow scenario it makes sense but with that profile you run the risk that the later usable dynamic range is just a couple of dozen tone values and that is visible.
Very clear information
And thanks for that.
Have a happy new year 2025 🙏🍀
So no sharpening?
Thanks for your video. I wonder how one of the camera presets would have performed A/B with the log/graded version …
I actually originally had some example of that in the video but it was getting to bloated (long and slow) and so got cut last minute! I certainly recommend doing some tests yourself to make sure this is actually something that works well for your workflow and look you are going for!
Thank you bro
Hey! I'm glad to hear it was helpful to you :)
Thanks for the Z-Log set up brother! Quick question, what picture profile do you use for photos? Is this Z-log good for photos?
No, it's not so useful for photography because you have true RAW available for photos.
The image profiles only get baked in to compressed formats like jpgs, so when shooting RAW the picture profile doesn't really matter - except for previewing what your image might look like after editing.
When shooting jpg photos I prefer using the portrait profile, but that is because I'm typically shooting people!
@@DallasJyl prostrate? or did you mean portrait?
@@StephenAmaguinJr lol, oops! Yes I meant portrait!
Good looking for a long time
Amazing video. Thanks for sharing this gold value infos!
Glad it was helpful!
Can you colour the film shot like a Star Wars film from 2019, for example?
Yes! Getting your lighting right plays a big part in your look though.
Thank you, this probably saved me hours!
Your welcome!
Can I apply this in my z50?
Yes, unless you have the Z50II which has an "N-Log" option
So making these settings in camera, allows me to use Nikon lut in Davinci resolve?
Please see my video: " Free LUT pack for Accurate Colour (z6 + z30) " for the correct LUT to use with this profile.
can we adjust the tint inside camera? I really like the canon look. But I like the controls of z30
Yes, there are controls for shifting hue in the colour profiles - and more nuanced controls that let you shift colour balance in the white balance - which is where I would personally recommend doing this.
@@DallasJyl so I can get canon like color tone then right?
Kinda. You could get more accurate results in colour grading with more advanced tools, as color/tint adjustments in camera will effect all colors not just green and red.
Nikon and Cannon use different "colour science" math, which is baked into the hardware level - so technically you won't ever get a 100% match.
Good info thank you😊
You’re welcome 😊
Hi, your video is amazing, I like to try and experiment with the settings. One problem I am facing, I have followed you each and every steps, but while on video mode after pressing the i button, I couldn't find the C1 Z-Log in picture control, it's showing all the default set. Can you pls help me?
Hmm... I think I need more details.
But the first things that come to mind are:
1. Check is to see if you made it in Photo mode instead of Video mode. They have separate image profiles.
2. If your not seeing any options to change your image profiles in the (i) menu you need to customize the (i) menu to include it.
Hit the MENU button on your camera, then navigate to the pencil icon > g Video > g1 Customize (i) menu. Pick a spot and pick "Set Picture Control"
I hope one of those help!
I think I am having the dame issue, I saved the picture control in C-1 and i have Set picture control on the menu. Te problem is that the custom picture control is not shown among the rest of the options @@DallasJyl
Yes mate, having the same issue being unable to access the saved profile in the set picture control menu to shoot
All, what I found is after creating a custom setup and saving it under "Manage Picture Controls", I then had to go to "Set Picture Controls" and I saw the default was for video mode to use camera mode. I scrolled down to where my saved C1 Z-LOG was saved and selected it. Now C1 shows up when I hit the "i" button. I believe that step was left off.
Is the software for android as well?
I don't think so.
Going to try this on my old Nikon d90
For sure! I used a variation of this with my Nikon D7000 (one gen after the 90) and it worked pretty well - though not as well because the compression is a bit stronger on the older cameras. I would recommend not bumping the saturation all the way down in your case. Maybe -2 or -1.
Sorry, I am new to cameras. But, do people always shoot in log? I mean, there must be a lot of work in post.
Great question! The answer is: NO!
There are lots of reasons to shoot LOG and "not LOG" (just like there are times its best to shoot .jpg photos, and other times its better to shoot RAW photos) - so always consider what fits your project and style best!
The point of LOG is that it DOES take more time in post - allowing you to finesse that extra 10% pop in your image where you want it - and tweak exposure and colour that would be difficult or imposable to do on the shooting day. Which is why they use it on cinematic movies.
But by that same token, if you don't have the time, have a quick turnaround time, or no desire/need to get that extra 10% ... you should not use it!
awesome sir!!!!!!
Thank-you :)
I followed every step but my waves are all the way to the left? It also looks so grainy, what should I do?
Same...
You still need to expose your footage properly. If your waveforms are to far left and the footage is grainy you need more light to get you your sensor. Try:
First:
- Lower your ISO, aperture, and shutter to as low a value as the they can go. (eg. ISO 100, Shutter 1/25 or 1/50, aperture f3.5)
Second:
- If the image is still to dark (waveforms to the left) bring the ISO number up until the wave forms are in the middle of the histogram.
- If the image is to bright (waveform is to the right) "increase" the shutter (or optionally the aperture) number until the until the wave forms are in the middle of the histogram (eg. from 1/25 to 1/200).
Let me know if this helped!
@@DallasJyl thank you so much for getting back to me! I’m tinkering with my camera now
is it work with z 50?
You bet! Should be almost identical to setup.
@@DallasJyl ty!
Hum... I was intrigued to buy this camera. But to be honest... This doesn't look great. I would've expected more actually. But maybe that's because you choose to focus on the camera rather when your face while speaking? Anyway the image seem noisy even with that kind of studio lights you're using. Also the image outside seem juddery. Maybe that's due to incorrect shutter speed though to get motion blur? I'm a noob so please correct me if I'm wrong?
I am struggling to set up my Nikon z30 for filming . All of my videos come out blurry / low quality although I have it on auto ..
Any advice ? ✨
This might be late, but general rule of thumb is use manual mode and set your shutter speed to double your frame rate (ex. 24fps = 1/50, 30fps = 1/60, etc.). For your F-stop and ISO, I usually keep them as low as possible because most of my filming is handheld and cinematic vlogger style type of videos. Personally I turn on my autofocus in manual mode so I don't constantly adjust the focus and I usually set it to AF-C or AF-F. Hopefully this helps!
@ Thank you :)
Very helpful thank you so much for the video🎉🎉❤
I'm glad it was helpful Munna!
Why does mine say the option isn’t available at cameras current state when I try to change Active D Lighting 😭
You can not set this setting if you are in "auto" mode.
Great video thanks for the advice ❤
Glad it was helpful!
Ok dope…but the shutter and iso don’t play a roll? Say I’m shooting at 24 frames and my shutter is 1/50, aperture is high (sunny conditions) this is gonna be ok?
Yes, shutter can play a role. IMHO it is way over-rated ... however, some people CAN pick it out in recored footage, and I can't see it.
If you want to follow conventional shutter rules, shoot in 24p (I always do) and your shutter should always be as close to duble multiple of your frame rate as you can. eg: 24p = 1/50 or 1/100, or 1/200, or 1/400 etc. 30p would = 1/60 or 1/120 or 1/240 etc.
in a sense todays log footage is captured in 10 12 or 14 bit. the reason its hard to color grade other footage is they are 8 bit. Thats 10s of Millions of colour data that the camera isn't able to capture in 8 bit. I am not saying this doesn't help the 8 bit footage if you want to add color but the dynamic range will nor be comparable to a 10 12 or 14 bit footage
On paper yes, everything you’re saying is true, but there is a nuance to using Nikon and I have seen it… if you have any Nikon Z camera, choose Flat picture profile and activate D-lighting on Normal or High, and use any lens f2.8 or lower and you shall see, your nikon will beat even the Sony a7siii in terms of color rendition, dynamic range and low light… mark my words! And go test it…
@@standclear23 I thought the point was to set the image up for colour grading?
You are correct - 10/12/14 bit will always outperform 8 bit for colour grading. And I probably should have mentioned that in the video!
However, bit rate is different from dynamic range.
Dynamic range has more to do with the hardware, and bitrate more to do with the software.
A camera *can* have high bit rate recording and poor dynamic range, and another camera *can* have low bitrate recording and good dynamic range. However, in most cases, if you have a high dynamic range in a camera you will find it likely records at a higher bitrate as-well!
@@Kori_INJNYou can do that too, as flat is not so harsh on your image… btw Nikon Zs shoot at bitrate 144. The sony a7iii shoots s-log at 100mbs, which on paper, making the Nikon, even the Z50 have better video quality than that of Sony. But also from experience, I’ve learned that Nikon image doesn’t break that easily
I think you should not take down sharpening. The footage from the Z30 gets compressed and then you are trying to compress an already baked in unsharp file. You lose some details when you do not sharpen your footage from the camera directly and go for that Z-Log look.
This kind of applies for the rest of the settings as well. It's best for this type of camera, which has no real Z-Log option, to get the "look" about right in camera without too much post-work processing.
Valid opinion - this hack isn't for everyone.
You are a wizard!
Ha! You'r too kind :)
Why does your 4K look like 720p?
TH-cam compression? I'm not sure, I'm pretty happy with how it looks on my end.
@@DallasJylI think you oversharpen and maybe over saturate your footage, it does kinda look like its lower quality. Great video otherwise!
muy buen video , tendrias que poner subtitulos en español , saludos
Thankyou very much! I will have to look into how to make Spanish captions hepen.
Ok, so this is basically trying to get as close to “raw” as possible?
Yes.
@DallasJyl I'm not an audio pro but here's some stuff I noticed, The vocal chain is just terrible i.e.
1. If you're using an eq on your voice try playing with it so that the bass end isn't to cut off. Currently the bass sounds thin.
2. The voice sounds very compressed. Could be a recording issue or like I said processing issue. Most probably terrible input If I had to guess.
Now that I hear it, it's not the worst sounding audio but it is very, very noticeable coming from a different video with much better audio quality.
P. S. I appreciate you taking it positively and wanting to improve. All the best ❤
Thanks for taking the time to give me some ideas! I would be curious for you listen and compare the audio before and after the 9:55 mark - both use cheep mics but the 2nd has a different - more bass - "sound."
@@DallasJyl 2nd one is definitely better
What you forgot to mention is to warn folks not to be too trigger happy with colour editing, because it's an 8bit video camera.
Yes - good point. You will never be able to push this faux-LOG near as far as a 10 bit or RAW log!
@@DallasJyl 👍
I like his hat
Thanks! I got it from greekshops.com
While this is a great way to get an image with more dynamic range out of the z30, it really shouldn't be refereed to as log, because it isn't. It's just very flat, where as log is applying a known logarithmic curve to the exponential sensor data to encode more dynamic range into a limited format container and then by applying the inverse curve in post it results in a consistent and repeatable return to the original exponentially exposed image, but with additional information in either the highlights, shadows or both depending on how one exposed. While this solution gets one a flatter image with more dynamic range, it's not doing in a logarithmic manner, and there isn't a reverse curve to convert it back to the original baseline. One just plays guessing games.
Correct. Thus why I say it is a "simulated LOG" throughout. If you want more predictability out of it, I do have a video that has specific LUTs for correcting the footage called: "Free LUT pack for Accurate Colour (z6 + z30)"
th-cam.com/video/7OGcDACMETo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=RKd62kYj9oqbThna
a dead pixel?
Did I mention dead pixels in the video? Or do you think you see one?
I have found that what I sometimes thought was a dead pixel in my images or video was actually a peace of dust on the camera censor. I just needed to blow it off.
the z30 is not a dslr.. it breaks my heart hearing this
Im like DSlwut? Hehe that threw me off too hehe
Why? 🤷♂️
lol
He has no idea what DSLR stands for 😂
@@rodolfo_mdn lol
not working
Can you give me a little more detail? What exactly isn't working for you? Maybe I can help?
Can't trust a video where you look blown out and just no details lol
You lost me before u got half way thorough. Over complicated needs simplified
bro, your talking head scene looks like you shot it on a potato and edited on a banana. bad lighting(hot spot), bad colors, oversharpened, out of focus frequently.
Some people like bananas. Nikons are usually referred to a potatoes though. ;)
Why does your audio sound so terrible?
Shouldn't you have a better audio quality especially since you're making content related to cameras
Sound is an area I am still trying to improve in - could you help me out by being a bit more specific on how it sounds so terrible? Maybe a time code where it is especially bad? Also, what device are you watching the video on?
@@DallasJylman some people do not appreciate your work and come here to throw shade and leave you
-
Your video is exactly colours are exactly and audio are exactly keep up the work you are really do help people in comments ❤️
You have Facebook?
We do have a facebook page - facebook.com/DallasandJyl?mibextid=JRoKGi
nice explanation about Z30 setting. very useful. #drjnanadeevige
Glad it was helpful!