Recently I’ve been asked one particular question quite a few times which is: What’s essential vlogging equipment do you need to film video blogs, particularly if you’re just starting to vlog?
It’s a great question.
So I’m going to answer it in this video and tell you about 4 essential pieces of equipment you need to film your video blogs. And why you need them.
Watch the video below or read the full transcript below the video.
Before I tell you what vlogging equipment you need, let me point out that I’m not here to recommend specific makes and models of equipment. Simply because there are so many out there. New products come on the market all time. And it all depends on your budget and what other equipment you already have.
1.Camera
So the first one is pretty obvious. Yep you need a camera to film your videos. If you’re starting out, you don’t need fancy, heavy, expensive cameras. Your smart phone will do the job perfectly. In fact it’s what I use to film my vlogs on – I have an iphone 6 – so it’s few years old but it does the job pretty well. And smart phone models are always improving their camera technology. So stick to filming on your smart phone.
2. Tripod
Next get a tripod. You don’t need to balance your phone on a book or shelf. Just invest in a tripod. It will hold your smart phone and means you can present hands free. Then you can use your hands to express yourself or show something else in the video – like a product you want to talk about.
You can stand back from the equipment and focus on delivering your message.
I don’t know about you but I personally find it distracting when there’s too much shaky footage so using tripod means stable footage.
There are lots of tripods on the market. And again it depends what size device you have. You might want to try an extendable tripod which has an smart phone mount. You can then position your device at different heights so gives you that flexibility. This one was about £25 and I’ve had this for a few years now.
3. Microphone
Next, you need a microphone for your smart phone to give better sound quality. When you’re filming you’ll be standing back from the camera so a mic will be able to pick up your voice up from a distance.
You can get mics that plug into your phone like mine does.
Or there are blue tooth mics out there which you can clip on. Again lots to choose from so see what suits your budget and your device.
4. Light
The final thing you need to film a video is lighting.
Now I do have a ring light. I bought this last year before we moved house because our old house was quite dark. It was about £99. And these come in different sizes. There are desktop versions and larger ones like this one. The benefit of this is that it’s a tripod and light in one so does two jobs.
But if you didn’t want to buy something like this or buy separate lights, then you can get good lighting for FREE.
All you need to do is FACE the window and use natural daylight.
Position your tripod in front of the window so you’re facing the window – as long as the sun is not coming through it. And to be honest the last few videos I’ve made have all been filmed using natural daylight by just facing the window.
And that’s all the vlogging equipment you need– camera, mic, tripod, lighting. And you’re ready for action.
So hope that was helpful.
Get in touch if you have any questions.
Until next time – happy vlogging.