Fixes issue #11314 -

src/_pytest/logging.py

@@ -303,13 +303,13 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser: Parser) -> None:
     add_option_ini(
         "--log-file-format",
         dest="log_file_format",
-        default=DEFAULT_LOG_FORMAT,
+        default=None,
         help="Log format used by the logging module",
     )
     add_option_ini(
         "--log-file-date-format",
         dest="log_file_date_format",
-        default=DEFAULT_LOG_DATE_FORMAT,
+        default=None,
         help="Log date format used by the logging module",
     )
     add_option_ini(
@@ -635,7 +635,9 @@ class LoggingPlugin:
         self.report_handler.setFormatter(self.formatter)
 
         # File logging.
-        self.log_file_level = get_log_level_for_setting(config, "log_file_level")
+        self.log_file_level = get_log_level_for_setting(
+            config, "log_file_level", "log_level"
+        )
         log_file = get_option_ini(config, "log_file") or os.devnull
         if log_file != os.devnull:
             directory = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(log_file))

testing/logging/test_reporting.py

@@ -77,14 +77,14 @@ def test_root_logger_affected(pytester: Pytester) -> None:
     assert "warning text going to logger" not in stdout
     assert "info text going to logger" not in stdout
 
-    # The log file should contain the warning and the error log messages and
-    # not the info one, because the default level of the root logger is
-    # WARNING.
+    # The log file should only contain the error log messages and
+    # not the warning or info ones, because the root logger is set to
+    # ERROR using --log-level=ERROR.
     assert os.path.isfile(log_file)
     with open(log_file, encoding="utf-8") as rfh:
         contents = rfh.read()
         assert "info text going to logger" not in contents
-        assert "warning text going to logger" in contents
+        assert "warning text going to logger" not in contents
         assert "error text going to logger" in contents