Church camera setup checklist for your media team
A printable checklist for a church camera operator: the order to set exposure, shutter, white balance, focus and recording, a preset card for one camera with room for two more, a shot list for each service moment, a rule for filming the congregation and an operator handoff, with variants for a phone, a PTZ, a Mass and several campuses.
Free printable PDF
Church camera setup checklist
What is inside
- The setup order: light, exposure, shutter, white balance, focus and recording, with the source for each setting
- A preset card for one camera, with room for two more, and a shot list for each service moment
- A rule for filming the congregation and children, with examples to adapt (information, not legal advice or US law)
- Variants for one fixed camera or a phone, a PTZ, a volunteer operator, a Catholic Mass and several campuses, plus a handoff sheet
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What the checklist covers
Light first, then the camera
- Check the front light on the speaker before touching a setting, and keep every light the same color temperature (Churchfront, DCMM; see Sources).
- Run the camera in manual mode: auto drifts during worship.
- Set shutter to 1/(2 × frame rate): 1/50 at 25 fps, 1/60 at 30 fps (the 180-degree rule; Blackmagic Design, Switcher Studio).
White balance, focus and recording
- Set white balance by hand to the color temperature of the front lights, and use the same value on every camera (Churchfront).
- Check the speaker's face with zebra or false color if your camera has them, and focus on the face (Blackmagic Design).
- Record at the quality your storage allows, test the file on the computer that edits it, and save the settings as a preset.
Shots, people and handoff
- Default to a waist-up shot of the speaker, with a hand's width of headroom, and zoom slowly (Churchfront).
- Agree once how you film the congregation: announce it, offer a seating area out of shot and plan close-ups of children only with parent or guardian consent (a US church insurer's guidance, Brotherhood Mutual; the Church of England and a US diocese are examples; see Sources).
- Fill in the preset card and handoff sheet so the next operator starts from your settings.
Frequently asked questions
Start in manual mode. Set the frame rate you will use on every camera, then shutter 1/(2 × frame rate) (1/50 at 25 fps, 1/60 at 30 fps), ISO as low as the light allows, and white balance set by hand to the color temperature of your front lights. Check the speaker's face, save the settings as a preset and write them on the card. These are starting points, because cameras and rooms differ: check your camera's manual, and see Sources for who says what.
Shutter 1/(2 × frame rate), often called the 180-degree rule. Churchfront and Switcher Studio both advise a shutter speed of about double the frame rate, and Blackmagic Design's manual calls 180 degrees the optimum shutter angle for satisfying motion blur in most conditions. The arithmetic: 1/50 at 25 fps and 1/60 at 30 fps. Under LED lights, use 1/50 on 50 Hz mains and 1/60 on 60 Hz (North America), or your camera's flicker-free option, and pick a frame rate that suits your mains.
Set it by hand to the color temperature of your front lights, and give every camera the same value. Churchfront runs its cameras in manual mode and sets white balance from the temperature of its front lights. DCMM advises keeping every light at the same color temperature.
Decide it once and write it down. A US church insurer's published guidance (Brotherhood Mutual) says crowd shots are generally acceptable when people are not individually identified, advises telling the congregation at the start of the service, and says a parent or legal guardian should sign photo forms until a youth is 18. The Church of England (written for UK data protection) and one US diocese are examples, not US law. Rules differ by country, state and denomination, so this is information, not legal advice. Check your denomination's policy, your insurer and your safeguarding lead.
The camera craft is the same, but your diocese decides where cameras may stand and what may be shown. The USCCB's televising guidelines say broadcasts of sacred rites must be marked by discretion and dignity, and that elements of the liturgy should not be omitted. One diocesan policy asks for seating out of camera view and for consent for children in close-ups. Ask your pastor or diocese for your own rules.
Everything above still applies. Fix the position, lock exposure and focus if the phone allows it, start the recording before the service and check the file afterwards. Use the most compatible format if the computer that edits the video cannot open the phone's default, as Apple's support page describes, and keep the original file.
The preset card, the shot list, the camera position, and what changed this week. Write the settings down so the next operator can recall them, as Churchfront and DCMM advise saving presets. The checklist has a one-page handoff sheet for this.
Yes. Enter your email, confirm the code we send and the PDF downloads. It is also emailed to you. Marketing email is sent only if you tick the separate box.
No. The checklist is for your team and your equipment. Church Media Kit helps afterwards: Sermon Clips makes vertical, captioned clips from your recording for you to review and download.