Speaker 1: So, what camera gear do you need to start shooting professional looking videos and what's the difference between an amateur and a professional? Well, in this video I'm going to walk you through all the gear needed to take your footage to the next level. It's coming up. Hey everyone, Steve here from Learn Online Video and today I'm going to list all the gear needed in order to shoot professional videos. But before we start, look, it's really, really important to remember that just because you own professional gear, it doesn't make you a professional. There is so much more to videography than just the gear. Having creative ideas, storytelling abilities, framing and composition, the gear will only get you so far. It's knowledge and experience that will give you the skills required to shoot professional looking footage. Okay, so with that out of the way, let's talk about must have gear for videography. Gear that is essential. Gear that you cannot shoot and edit videos without. Essentially, a bare basic kit list. We'll then dive into non-essential camera equipment, but equipment that will make life a whole lot easier, save you a whole lot of time and make your videos look and sound even better. As always, everything I mention in this video will be listed in the description below. Okay, a basic kit list. Let's start with the most important piece of equipment of them all, a camera. Now, I'm happy to make some recommendations here, but everyone's budget will be different so only get what you can afford. You can always upgrade your camera once you've started landing some work and making some money. Now, you'll want a camera that has the option of interchangeable lenses and also the ability to plug in an external microphone. Being able to shoot in slow motion is very, very useful, but not essential. Now I can highly recommend the Sony A7S Mark II. That's the camera that I've been using for the last two years and the camera that I'm using to shoot this video. Great in low light, shoots in 4K and slow motion. Another great camera and slightly cheaper is the Sony A6500, a slightly smaller camera, but it's small, compact size comes in really useful for videography. For those of you that prefer Canon cameras, then the Canon EOS R is fantastic, 4K, touch LCD, flip screen, so perfect for vlogging and videos where you need to see yourself. You can, of course, get much better cameras and spend way more money, but these are what I would describe as really good entry-level professional cameras. Also, look, don't forget that you don't need to buy a brand new camera. My first camera was secondhand and it got me through my first two years. Just make sure that you buy it from a reputable seller. Camera strap. If you buy a new camera, then this should come with your camera, but if not, then this is one of the cheapest items on the list and will make a huge difference to your footage. If you haven't seen my video on shooting handheld, then be sure to check that out. I will link that in the cards and put it in the description of this video. I break down six handheld camera moves using a camera strap that allow you to capture silky smooth footage. Okay, next up is microphone, and this is where lots of people get it wrong. They'll just use the internal microphone on their camera and their audio sounds terrible. Here's an example of what the audio would sound like in this video if I just used the internal microphone. Apologies for interrupting this video, but I've got a confession to make, okay? I'm just sat here editing this video and yeah, I messed up. I was trying to be really clever when I shot this video and prove my point that the internal microphone doesn't sound great, so I unplugged my lapel mic thinking the internal one would kick in and it didn't. So I've now got no audio for this part of the video, but this is now being recorded through the camera's internal microphone and hopefully you agree that this audio doesn't sound great, right? Anyway, back to the video. How much better does this audio sound? Yes, it's not perfect. I still need to soundproof this room, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but it's a massive improvement on the internal microphone. Now this is the Boya BY-M1, a great cheap microphone for recording videos just like this one, but it is wired directly into the camera. So if you're not looking for a clip-on microphone, then I can highly recommend the Rode VideoMic Pro. This is a must-have when it comes to videography. The microphone can be easily attached to the top of your camera and provides a really nice crisp sounding audio for your videos. SD cards, okay, so far so good, but you're not going to be able to record anything without an SD card in your camera. Now try not to scrimp here, okay? The last thing you want to do is get home from a shoot and realize you've lost all your footage because you wanted to save a few quid on an SD card. I recommend the SanDisk Xtreme cards, anything with a 95 megabit transfer speed or above. Lenses, okay, arguably the most important thing after your camera is the lens. There are many different options out there, so it's important to choose the one that is best for you. Now if you can only afford one lens, then I recommend getting a lens with a large focal length, meaning that you can zoom in and zoom out. The 24-105 is a great focal length if you can only afford one lens. Yes, it might not have the crispness of a prime lens or a lens with a fixed focal length, but it will mean that you can get a nice variety of shots, everything from wide establishing shots to mids and close-ups. So in an ideal world, you'll have a variety of lenses, a nice wide-angle lens, a prime lens and a telephoto lens, but the absolute key here is to create a good mix of focal lengths with the budget that you have. An image-stabilized lens will also come in very handy to allow you to get nice, smooth shots. Also, a lens with a very low aperture, 1.4, 1.8 looks beautiful and allows you to shoot in low light and get a really nice shallow depth of field. Camera bag. It's important that you have something not only to carry your equipment in, but also you want to protect it and keep it safe, and this is where a camera bag comes in. There are many options out there. I personally use the Lowepro Fastpack. It's comfortable, fits everything I need and cost me less than £100. Now I bought this thing over six years ago and it's showing absolutely no signs of needing replacing any time soon, so an absolute bargain for the price. And no, this video is not sponsored by Lowepro. The key here is to get a camera bag that will fit all of your camera gear in and that works for you, but look, to be honest, anything by Lowepro, you're on to a winner. Tripod. Now, I almost didn't add a tripod to the basic kit list because I'm such an advocate for shooting handheld, but a tripod comes in really useful. I'm literally using one now to shoot this video. Super useful for talking head style videos or time lapses and can really help you get a nice, smooth shot when you're first starting out. Anything by Manfrotto will do the job, but failing that, just make sure you get a tripod with a fluid head. This will make a huge difference to your pans, your tilts, and really help you get a much smoother shot. Okay, so that's everything you're going to need to shoot your footage, but you're now going to need to edit it. Now I personally edit everything on a 27-inch iMac using Final Cut Pro, but again, work with the budget that you have. MacBooks are great and come with iMovie, free editing software that will allow you to create good edits. Definitely enough to get by. Failing that, then a PC with Adobe Premiere Pro is another great option, but regardless of your preference and budget, just make sure that you have a computer with enough oomph, enough to edit your footage with a decent processor and memory. Now the not-so-fun bit, so I'll keep it short, insurance. Please ensure that your camera equipment is insured. Having your equipment lost, damaged, or stolen is the perfect way to ruin your day, so hope for the best, but plan for the worst. I pay about £10 a month and that covers everything I need, just in case anything bad were to happen. Okay, so that's it. A basic kit list for professional videography. The bare minimum required to start shooting professional videos, but what if you want to take it one step further? What if you want to be more efficient, capture an even wider variety of shots? Well, here are a few more items that will really help you stand out and take your footage to the next level. Gimbal. Now I'm a big fan of the gimbal. If you haven't seen my video, 10 Gimbal Moves for Beginners, then definitely check that out. Gimbals will allow you to capture shots that are near on impossible to capture handheld, although I do regularly try, and give your footage a really unique look. Super smooth shots, perfect for all types of videos, and are relatively easy to use. Sliders. Sliders are another great way to give your footage really smooth camera movement. This is really hard to do any other way. A slider mimics a dolly shot, often seen in Hollywood films, and some can be programmed to pan and tilt. Not essential, but look very cool, and is a really good way of leveling up your videography. Lighting. Now I probably should have put this on the essential list, because lighting is such a huge part of getting your footage to look more professional, but I didn't have a lighting kit for the first 12 months of being a professional videographer, so it is possible without. It really just depends on the videos that you're making. LED lighting is great because it doesn't get hot, and some can change colour, like the ones that I've got in here today, which come in really useful, and if you're planning to light a subject, then I highly recommend getting a softbox. This will be much more flattering to your subject. There is of course a lot more equipment I could have talked about and added to this list. We're really only scratching the surface here, but look, I hope you found this video useful. If you did, let me know, give it the old thumbs up, and if you'd like to learn more about video production, watch more tutorials, then you can do that by clicking over there, but that's it from me. Thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next video.