Canon T2i Manual settings. If you're going to be shooting on Canon T2i's, this is your starting point. The manual settings can be intimidating at first, but once you've started using manual mode, you will never want to go back to auto. Please also read the information from the "Magic Lantern" page.
Step 1: ISO, Shutter speed, and Aperture: (watch the first video below) Download this CHART:
ISO is the light sensitivity of the camera. In the film days, ISO was determined by the roll of film you purchased. If you were shooting indoors, you needed to buy ISO 400 film. Outdoors in bright sun, you needed 100. Not surprisingly, problems arose when you needed to shoot both indoors and outdoors. A higher ISO results in grainier images so it should be set to the lowest number needed. Remember to turn the lights on to full before you start to set the camera.
Aperture is the size of the opening of the iris (or diaphragm) in your lens. If you open it wider, you let in more light. The smaller the number, the larger the aperture. Doesn't seem to make sense? Aperture is actually a fraction so F4 is really 1/4 of the lens is open. F2 means 1/2 the opening of the lens is open. Indoors, it will help your image to open the aperture wider, however, this will decrease your depth of field (DOF). What is DOF? From wikipedia: "DOF is the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image." The lower your DOF, the less your background will be in focus (which may be what you want).
Shutter speed: is a measure of the time that the shutter in the camera remains open. In film, you should set this to twice your framerate. If you're shooting at 30 frames per second (FPS) you should set your shutterspeed to 1/60 or a multiple such as 1/120 (on a bright day).
Step 2: Exposure compensation and White Balance (2nd video below)
Exposure Compensation: In the Canon Menu - make sure it is set to 0! If it is set to any number above 0, it will overexpose your images. If it is set to any number below 0, it will underexpose your shots. While this can give some interesting stylistic images, it is a much better choice to make the changes in post production on your computer.
White Balance: In the Magic Lantern menu, make sure you set the white balance at the beginning of your shoot, and whenever you change locations.
Video 1: T2i ISO, Aperture, and shutter speed
Video 2: Exporsure Compensation & White Balance
Equipment:
T2i spare battery and charger
Juiced Link mixer and 1/8 to 1/8 audio cable
9V battery (and possibly a spare for a long shoot)
25' XLR cable
Shotgun mic and extra 1.5 V battery
Boom pole and shockmount (check that it fits boompole!)
Allan key and screwdriver
Attachment screws (if needed)
SD cards
Tripod, Glidecam, etc. and associated mounting hardware
Camera Checks (do prior to filming!)
Video System - NTSC! (T2i menu)
set to 1920x1080 30 FPS (T2i menu)
ensure you have a 32 GB SD card
format card (T2i menu)
use Grid Display 1 (T2i menu)
Ensure "Exposure Comp." is set to 0 (T2i menu)
use zebra bars! (ML menu)
check for spare battery - place on charger
How to Shoot with a "flat" profile:
Install the correct Canon EOS Utility program. Find the correct version here:
Download the Cinestyle profile.
Unzip it. Follow the instructions in the zip archive
Steps to Install:
Put camera in Manual mode
Plug camera in and start EOS Utility
Select "Camera settings/Remote shooting in the main window
Click the camera icon
Under "Shooting Menu", select "Register User Defined style" (if greyed out, ensure in M mode)
Once the new page opens, select one of User Def. 1, 2, or 3
Select the CineStyle.pf2 file
Click OK
Go into the T2i Menu:
Picture Style
Go to User Def. 3 (or whichever you set)
Click: "Disp"
Click "Set"
Scroll to find "CineStyle"
Done!