BEST Vlogging Camera for Beginners in 2021 | The Vlogging Kit I use

If you've been following me for a while, you must've certainly my travel vlogs in recent times. It's been a lot of fun (and a lot more hard work than I ever imagined) and one of the questions that I was asked was - what's the vlogging kit that you currently use, and what could be a good vlogging kit for a beginner? This article will showcase my vlogging kit and why I use what I use. I hope this will be useful to some of you as well.

vlog setup camera beginners 2021
My vlogging set-up for beginners!


Here's a video about my recommendations.

The Camera

Like many of us who want to start vlogging, I am also a bit shy - especially when it comes to walking the streets with a camera pointing towards me and talking into the camera. When I was young, such a thing just didn’t exist and even today I cringe at the thought of doing it myself. 

I have tried vlogging in the past using my iPhone and some of those videos have even garnered decent views, but I just didn’t pay attention to editing them properly or being consistent on the platform. 

But as I said, this camera changed it for me. However, before I get into the camera I want to mention a few things that I considered before starting to vlog, or rather restarting to vlog.

1. Light and easy to carry and something I could use to vlog in public without the huge setups that some vloggers use - at least till I am comfortable with being awkward in public

2. Great Audio - this was super critical for me. I know it from experience that a great audio can actually save a video, but a video with poor audio would just not work.

3. Fantastic auto-focus! Must have because I was not planning for manual focus at all.

4. Flippy screen - this really helps in looking at yourself when you are shooting yourself and making sure you are always in frame. You can also check the audio levels to make sure they don't crazy.

5. The videos need to have decent quality - a reasonable depth of field was essential (I just didn’t like the phone vlog look for travel vlogging where everything is in focus). Though if used well, it can be - check the video linked above and you’ll know what I mean. 

My camera of choice is Sony ZV-1. I purchased it when it was on a discounted sale on Amazon and frankly I've been extremely happy about it ever since. For now it does everything I need it for though I have added a few accessories to make it even better. 

 

You can just use the camera itself as your vlogging set-up to start with and it works quite ok. I do use more than just the camera and in the next two sections you can read about my vlogging accessories. 

Must-have accessories

So enough about the camera. Let’s move on to the next section on must-have accessories. Again these are must-have accessories from my perspective and may not be necessary for everyone out there.

1. Rode VideoMicro - As I said audio is super important and the camera actually has decent audio, but since I am often out in the streets, I needed better. So I bought a second hand Rode VideoMicro from OLX for Rs 3500 and I absolutely love it.

 

2. Manfrotto Mini Tripod - My second accessory is this tiny Manfrotto tripod which I bought a long time back in Hong Kong. Frankly I never hold the camera directly - it’s always on this mini pod. 

Nice-to-have accessories

However, I do have a few other accessories which are nice to have, though by no means necessary. I do carry them in my bag often, because I have them, but I must confess that I don’t use these often enough.

1. Ulanzi wide angle lens - The wide lens in ZV-1 is decent, but I do feel that for the kind of videos I make, a wider lens works better especially for talking head shots. 

So this is how my current vlogging setup looks like.

2. Ulanzi light (VL49) - this is useful early morning and in the evening. You can see this video here to know what I mean - it’s not awesome, but without this, I would’ve been completely dark.

3. Variable ND filter - I use a variable ND filter by K&F. An ND filter is essential when you shoot outdoors - it's like sunglasses for your camera and allow you to shoot with the camera settings that you want to shoot with without overexposing. I do often use it, but even now it's a hassle to use. ZV-1 has a 3 stop ND filter built in and that certainly helps when it's not too bright outdoors.

4. Zhiyun Crane M2 gimbal - Gimbal is great especially for getting that buttery smooth footage. It's completely acceptable when you talk in the camera and the camera might be a bit shaky, but this looks especially bad for B roll footage. I purchased his gimbal second-hand on OLX for Rs 8500. this is the first video I made with the gimbal - let me know if you see any difference. I personally think, you certainly don't need to invest in this right at the beginning. I don't use this very often in my work.

 

Apart from the above camera and accessories, I also use my iPhone and GoPro for b-roll footage sometimes. Here's a video I shot completely on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. 

 

This is all in my relatively simple vlogging set-up! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I will answer any doubts there.

Note: This is not a sponsored video. However, the links to the products above are affiliate links. When you do use the link above to purchase a product, I get a commission at no extra cost for you and that helps me keep this blog running. Thank you for your support.

Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing this vlog. its a very interesting and amazing vlog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very useful post and video on Vlogging , Thank you so much :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks For Sharing beautyfull information.This Article is usefull for my proffession,Keep sharing such informative Article.
    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are some great recommendations. The Crane M2 Gimbal is my favorite

    ReplyDelete

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