Walk around camera for vlogging?

Soulvapes

Soulvapes

Well-Known Member
I have a new channel starting up soon that will be just a mix of everything and anything really, vlogging, reviews, pranks and whatever else we feel people might want to watch.

I already have a Panasonic G6 for making static videos etc but i would like some ideas on a camera to use to film some vlogging whilst out and about etc as the G6 will be to heavy.

Do you vlog? What do you use?
 
Casey Neistat and a few others I know strongly believe in using your phone. If you ever do one of those youtube bootcamp courses, many of the contributors will say so too.
Of course it depends on your phone. Most of the people are referring to a modern iPhone or a modern top-of-the-line android device (Samsung Galaxy Series, Sony, Google Nexus).

I think it would be a good start but you already have a pretty great camera it seems. Some vloggers attach a GorillaPod to their DSLR cameras and use them to record. I can't speak for how comfortable that is though, i've never had the money for gear like that. And of course you would want to attach some sort of external microphone; maybe a shotgun mic?

EDIT: Also if you are looking for a lighter new camera, Casey Neistat, the aforementioned famous vlogger, also recommends the Canon S120 or whatever the latest is in that series. He made a video about it if you are interested
 
I'd definitely recommend using your phone, provided you have a mid-range smartphone or better.

Advantages:
-Quality is more than good enough for vlogging, etc., potentially even good enough for a short film if you use it intelligently. Good quality content is much more important than good quality video, anyway.
-Most phones handle auto focus and auto exposure surprisingly well, leaving less to worry about when filming.
-Most people have one on them at all times, and have a very low set-up time. Just have a shortcut to your camera on your lockscreen and you should be ready to record in seconds in almost any occasion.
-Great live view screen.
-No extra cost if you've already got one.
-No need to worry about lenses.
-If you feel like you need better audio (something which is often neglected), you can pick up a smartLav on Amazon. This is a good quality lavalier mic, which plugs directly into your phone. It should be easily afforded from the money you've saved not having to buy a new camera.

Disadvantages:
-If you're a social media addict, battery might be a problem.
-If you're shooting handheld, it can get a bit shaky and jittery, but viewers probably won't mind or notice if it's a vlog or similar. A selfie stick reduces this problem quite well, but you sometimes run the risk of looking a bit silly, and you probably don't want to be carrying one everywhere.
-You may need to get creative with some tape if you want to mount it to a standard tripod.
-Storage space might be a problem if you've got a phone with a small memory and no external sd slot.

All in all, if you've already got a phone with a decent camera you've got nothing to lose. If you don't, it's worth thinking about next time you're buying a phone. I got a second-hand HTC One m7 on ebay for €170 and the picture is probably as good as a point-and-shoot you'd get for the price with two advantages: the front-facing camera means I can see the picture on the screen when I'm shooting a vlog or somthing similar; and it's also a top notch phone for a great price. I often use it to shoot videos here and there in favour of my Canon 550d.

Hope this helps!
 
If you want to do filming walking around I recently saw the difference between the same camera filming handheld and on a rig.

If you haven't used one; The rig made a crazy amount of difference and it was only a cheap one. Whether you end up using a phone or a small video camera or dslr; the biggest thing that makes it look professional is not having camera shake & if you don't want a static shot on a tripod, these are basically awesome.

I've been looking into it for myself (not sure what I will buy yet). And you can get these really cheap one shoulder things for £18/$20, great for videoing where the light is good & compact. But you can't add stuff. You can get these larger ones that let you bolt extra equipment on later for £50/$60. And the guy I spoke to had lights on bits and it made filming in really low light easy and put the light to the side of the subjects face so flattering and pro looking if you want to interview people or something...

Other than avoiding shake, lighting seems the next biggest thing - when I got lights it suddenly made it look like I knew what I was doing even though the setup was otherwise the same!

You can get these small LED lights that take AA batteries designed for filming. They work way better than I thought they would & are cheap (like £15/$20) and really light.

I hope this helps!

cam.JPG alzo-cine-camera-transformer-rig-with-bmcc-small-rig-350w.JPG light.jpg
 
I have been using the Hero 4 session recently (£150) but I have also used iPhone 4 and iPhone 6 which have been fine. I recently got the Canon G7X - I do recommend this camera, but it is VERY pricey! So unless your going into the serious side of VLOG, start with a mobile phone camera and work your way up! that is what I done. My first set of videos were using a iPhone 4 as mentioned.
HTH
Simon (Loved the Canon G7X :) )
 
The NX looks nice and small - you can put it on a Gorillapod and vlog from anywhere - or even put it on a selfie stick... really makes it easy!

Let us know how it goes!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top