Gear for Beginner Creators 2021

For a creator, the story is the first and the most important thing. Cameras, Lights, and gear are all tools that help you tell a better compelling story. Today I would like to go through some of the basic gear that would be required for making "high quality" content.

Disclaimer:

  1. These are my personal preferences. It will change based on the user's needs.
  2. "Quality" in terms of the produced content depends upon the end viewer. So never overthink quality.
  3. Links provided are affiliate links.

For Talking Head Video

These are the type of videos where the creator is looking straight into a camera and talking. There are two ways people normally do it.

a. Vlog

b. In a room or studio space. (a controlled environment)

a. When filming a vlog in public you are constantly moving. Showing people around. So the basic necessity here is to have good stabilization in the camera and the weight should be less. Since we are in public, if the camera can be small in size, then it will be less intimidating to shoot in public.

In this scenario, if there is less budget, I would recommend using your mobile phone. If you have a budget, then invest in a mobile phone that has good video stabilization and quality. iPhone videos are good because of these factors. It provides you with good high-quality videos straight out of the camera.

If you are shooting with mobile with low stabilization, I would recommend you to buy a mobile stabilizer. Zhyiun Stabilizers provide good stability for the mobile.

If you have a budget of Rs 30,000, I would recommend getting a Go Pro Hero 8. It's the older version (2019) of the GoPro. But for the price, it provides an amazing picture quality and the stabilization is just insane.

But if you are a person who needs to see what is being recorded, the latest GoPro Hero 9 has a front display that shows the video in front. That front display, higher quality in video, and better stabilization will cost 10000 more than the other Go Pro.

The price of these models may go down in September as a newer model of GoPro is being released then. Also, it would be best if you could buy the necessary accessories for the go pro. These help you mount that camera in different places and get beautiful shots that normally we would not get. These are important for getting the most out of GoPro.

b. While shooting in a room, you have the ability to control everything. Lights, audio, background everything. Present YouTube creators generally use DSLRs to give the look they want. In this case, the lights and the audio is more important than the camera that is being used. Don't get me wrong, the camera and the lens provide the image but what is more important here is the composition of the video, the quality of light, the audio being captured, and the background of the speaker. All these things are very important, sometimes more important than the camera that is being used.

So for this case, I would first recommend some Light and Audio Equipment first then move on to the camera.

For Lights, I would recommend using a window light. If you have to shoot at night I would recommend a Ring Light by Digitek. It costs around 3500Rs.

For Starting, I would recommend a microphone by Boya. It's very cheap but can provide good quality audio for the price. The reason why I recommend a mic is because the internal mic from devices does not provide good quality audio. Another thing to keep in mind is to keep the mic as close to the mouth as possible.

Then Set up the background and foreground to make the video how you want it to look and feel.

Set up the Camera steadily. Use Tripod for that or get creative.

Only now comes the role of the video quality. I believe if the above steps are done properly, you could get amazing videos just from mobile.

If you still feel the setup is limiting your creativity or the way you express it, I would recommend getting the Canon EOS M50 Mark II. This is an entry-level mirrorless camera from Canon. This comes with a kit lens in the box so you can get started with a price of around Rs. 55000. The quality of the image from this camera will depend on the lenses that you use. If you invest in good quality lenses that fit this camera, then the image quality will substantially grow.

Some of the major benefits of using this camera are: a. It is made by Canon so it produces amazing colors for skin. b. There is an amazing autofocus system in this camera. c. This camera can be used as a Webcam for meetings or live streams. d. Has a flipout screen

So I hope you have a list of gear that you need to invest your money into that would help you get better at sharing stories that would inspire or entertain others. Share with a friend if you found it useful.

PS. this is just for beginners.