My Search for a Good Camera - might help some of you
All right, this is off topic, I guess. Probably for most of my followers, this is irrelevant. But I do want to cover this because I believe for a minor group of you, that will be helpful in your own journey as well. So I'll tell you a little bit about my current setup and how I do stuff.
My Previous Setup
Basically, back when I was in my apartment, I had the Rayzer Kiyo webcam. And this is what I used for YouTube, basically. This is what I used for videos, because I didn't want to go fancy. I just bought a nice, decent webcam and recorded with my nice little PC. That's it. I had a nice setup. Obviously not cinematic by any means, but the content is more important and the ability to transfer the message out to more people is more important than anything else.
The Challenge of Traveling
Since then, a lot has changed. I've been starting to travel again. Basically every month, me and my beautiful, beautiful lady, Eva, we are every month in a different location. Every single month. Like last month, we were in Tbilisi, Georgia, believe it or not, for a whole month. And now we are in Bulgaria, which is a completely different area, completely different location.
I don't have my PC anymore, which was beautiful. I still have it, but it's in storage. I don't travel with it, obviously. And I have a laptop now. And that laptop has a webcam. I figured I'm not going to bring my big old webcam just for filming stuff. I can use an iPhone or something like this.
So for Reels, Eva's iPhone really gets the job done for me. We can create multiple videos in a very short amount of time because I'm able to curate the list of topics I want to cover. When we take it to film and edit, it goes very fast. I edit my short form videos with submagic nowadays. great app.
But since I started traveling, I stopped doing YouTube videos. And this is a big problem for me because I want to be able to show my face for you guys. I want to be able to share my screen with you guys. I want to be able to put you guys in the perspective of the way I see stuff.
Why Not Just Buy an iPhone?
The first thought was, maybe I'll just buy an iPhone. And I don't know if you know me, but I don't really have a smartphone. I have a very tiny phone with dials, clickable dials - the old school buttons. A simple phone that has WhatsApp and internet connection capabilities. I can also receive email. That's basically all I can do.
My fear is if I'm going to get an iPhone, I'll be back to my old habits - watching too many videos of other people and generally social media. You don't want to be a consumer; you want to be a creator. I have this simple phone for almost two years now and I love it. I absolutely love it.
So I didn't want to buy an iPhone, even though a lot of people told me to just get an iPhone. It's too big of an investment for me for a very small device when I'm looking for a bigger device. I'm looking for something that will be more stable, something I can put on my desk and leave it there, something that can record high-quality video, something I can invest in for the next five years.
Understanding Camera Equipment
This is when I started looking at high-quality cameras. Looking at this right now, this is a big subject. They have many different names for different stuff. The amount of technical detail you can get in photography or videography never ends. Really. Very, very deep.
Camera Bodies
You have the camera itself - the body. When people mention Canon, Sony, Fujifilm, Nikon, these are just the bodies. The body is important because it determines how much resolution you'll be able to get out of your footage. What frame rate, what resolution - basically, is it going to be 4K or not?
Connectivity is also a big deal for me. I want to be able to have Wi-Fi, I want to be able to connect it to my computer if I need to stream - for Zoom meetings, live shows, or streaming recordings. For these cases, it's very important to take something that is latest for those connectivities. I want something that is new, modern, 2024 or 2025.
The Look You Want to Achieve
What type of look do you want to achieve? Something closer to the iPhone but higher quality? Or something closer to YouTube style with blurred background, cinematic lighting? More raw and intimate, or polished and professional?
For me, the answer is clear. I want something more professional, but not too professional. Something that will be high quality, blurred background, but with natural lighting. I want warm colors, natural looking video.
What Really Matters - The Priority List
But we need to keep in mind there's something even more important than the visual part - lighting and audio. If I rank everything:
- Content quality is the most important. Many millionaire content creators film with smartphones.
- Audio quality when talking about YouTube
- Lenses
- Camera body
So when buying a camera, we always think about the camera body first, but it's not the most important element.
Understanding Lenses
Lenses have two main criteria:
Focal Length (Millimeters): If you want to hold the camera in your hand like a vlog, you probably need 16 millimeters - a wide angle. But if you want a nicer result, you'll need higher millimeters, which means placing the camera farther away from you.
Aperture (F Number): If you want a blurred background, you want this F number to be as low as possible. The lowest usually is 1.2 or 1.4 (very expensive). As an entry level, you'll look at 1.4, 1.8, or 2.8.
The Audio Challenge
Audio is a pain. I bought a really good microphone - this is the microphone I'm talking to you with right now while walking. But this device won't work with any professional camera because it's made for smartphones. So now I need to invest in a microphone again, and those cost way more money.
The Investment
You're probably looking at less than $2,000 worth of investment for the next five years of content creation. To me, this is a fantastic investment because I know how much quality content I'm going to produce and how important it is.
This is for entry level but super high quality:
- Latest camera bodies with good connectivity
- High-quality lenses that create the effects and mood I want
- Good audio, which is very crucial
My Advice to You
I'm not saying you have to invest $2,000 in gear to be helpful for society. In my particular use case, it was either buy an iPhone I didn't want for at least a thousand bucks, or invest a little more in professional camera equipment. I went with the latter because I want my videos and content to look great.
But definitely start creating now. Start getting those followers. Start sharing your message with the world. Do it with what you have. You probably already have the best equipment you need - your phone.
Any headphones mic will sound better than your phone's built-in mic. Find a quiet room, record yourself, enjoy the process. Enjoy the creation.
Take Action Now
If you want to create content for other people, if you want to help others with your journey, if you want to share your voice, if you know deep inside that you have stuff to share - you really gotta take that phone and start recording now.
Really. Just take that phone and start recording now. Now. Stop everything you do and start recording now. Even though you don't know what to say, you don't have any script, just start recording now.
Don't look for fancy gear if you haven't started creating already. Start recording now. You will see how difficult it is very soon, but this challenge is going to make you grow in ways you never even imagined.
When one viewer follows you and listens to your advice, it's a whole world. It's so much more meaningful than every real estate deal I ever made. Because this is pure impact, pure communication, pure one-on-one connection that with technology we can achieve.
I wish you nothing but the best, really. Invest in others. Invest in society. We need you. You can make a difference. Take it from here.