Filming in 4k

If its just this one off event and you're looking for renewing your phone anyway its hard to argue against just filming it on a phone. They're generally pretty good. The most recent film my GF made was filmed on a mixture of a Sony FS7, some sort of little point and shoot waterproof camera and an iPhone used appropriately you don't really notice the joins.

An additional consideration though if you're 'on location' is sound - phones can be surprisingly good for sound but with anything compact wind noise can be a real problem if filming outdoors.

Does it have to be 4k?

4k isn't essential, it's only background stuff, but it'll be on a 56" screen and the viewer will be close so decent resolution will be nice.

Use 1080 and use something like Corel video to upscale it to 4k? I use Corel and it downscaled video for editing on a laptop then upscales to 4k when saving so should work

All these are downscaled then upscaled to 4k
https://youtube.com/@ukgravelco
They are fine for watching on my 55" TV so clarity seems ok

I'm not hugely impressed by phone/GoPro 4k stuff, if you actually zoom in on the pixels you can see they're often blurry, so the lense isn't actually capable of resolving a 4k image even if the sensor technically is, and there's only so much sharpening you can apply before it looks like it was shot on a go-pro.

That said, unless it's for something really impressive like a screen demo, it'll be fine.

Use 1080 and use something like Corel video to upscale it to 4k? I use Corel and it downscaled video for editing on a laptop then upscales to 4k when saving so should work

I've not used anything Corel since Draw 3.0. But normally when editing software does that is it creates a low-res proxy in something like h.264 at a low bitrate, so you can edit smoothly, then it takes all the work you do and applies it to the original footage. It never 'upscales' it's using the original footage.

I’ve not used anything Corel since Draw 3.0. But normally when editing software does that is it creates a low-res proxy in something like h.264 at a low bitrate, so you can edit smoothly, then it takes all the work you do and applies it to the original footage. It never ‘upscales’ it’s using the original footage.

Possibly, I'm no tech expert, I just press some buttons and it stops my std laptop from being laggy. Results are fine for YouTube though so I'm happy

I run a film production company and have owned and still owned a massive range of cameras. From Reds (the original 4K system 10 years ago) to the modern Ronin 4D and blackmagic 6k setups.

I've tried just about every combination of personal camera and phone for travel use and MTB use.

There's a trade of between durability and function/picture quality.

I would recommend looking at the Sony RX100 mk5. It's the absolute sweet spot of picture quality and features. The mk5 has a ND filter too and fast aputure for 1" sensor. No other compact camera comes close unless you want a massive zoom range. Couple it with a Sony mini tripod and you have a decent system.

Slightly larger the Sony a7c makes a good complete camera but doesn't have then ND filter so your got to add one but is a big step up.

I recently tried the new 1" sensor Insta 360 camera RS1 and that was excellent for getting shots that you take take to set up but you need to do a lot of processing afterwards. Great results though.

The cheaper insta x3 360 is worth a look at too for quick 360 shots. Still a lot of processing involved. But you can put it on a tripod and ride around it.

4K is definitely a good starting point but not all 4Ks are equal, even the much celebrated s22ultra gives a totally useless 4K image with terrible noise etc. Phones are getting closer but they're still handy rather than good quality. Using shutter speed to change exposure is still a big problem in my opinion.

I just did a trip with a Sony Rx100 mk5 and my new phone Oppo Find X5 pro and an osmo action 2. That was a good combination.

Ask any questions I've probably done it.