Any content creators here?

No, not OnlyFans. Well, maybe, lol. Anyway, I am wanting to try my hand at producing some automotive content to put on the old tubes of you. What I would like to know is what sort of gear everyone is using. Cell phones won't cut it, even the newest, wiz-bangiest model doesn't seem like the droid I'm looking for.

It seems like what would best suit me is a couple of action cams of some sort, and a "real" camera for detailed shots where not only resolution, but clarity, count. I plan on at least one mic of some sort. From what I've seen, a Rode VideoMic Go looks like it fits the bill.

Should I be looking at video capable DSLRs? Mirrorless? A dedicated video camera? I'm not sure what sort of budget I should set aside for this, so I'm open to most suggestions. I'd probably be shopping the second-hand market for pretty much all of this gear, so something a couple years old would probably be a better choice.

I don't ever plan on taking this beyond a hobby, but I really want to learn this stuff and maybe help some people out with how-to videos along the way.

It all depends on what you want to accomplish. I've done all of mine with a phone camera coupled with a few bits from a GoPro. I've been commended on my video quality by a few viewers. I find the microphone to be the biggest challenge. Works okay indoors, can struggle outside if you are any distance from the camera or if it's windy. A corded mic solves some of it but then you are limited by the cord.

Granted, most of my stuff is done from inside the garage and I'm not big on production values, just want the video to be steady and with things in the frame.  Based on the popularity of the YT channels I watch most viewers don't care about adding 'bling'.

I do have a dedicated video camera, but I bought that mainly because it was that or upgrading the phone because my main phone at that point was short of storage. Don't underestimate the video quality of a good cellphone camera, especially when combined with something like Filmic Pro - people have shot feature films on iPhones, after all and there a phones with good cameras in both the robot and fruit universe.

A good video camera is higher-end phone money (something like the Sony ZV-1 or the Sony AVX series), even used. IIRC I paid something like $800 for a used Sony AVX-100 which has a pretty big sensor, image stablisation and a good, non-interchangeable lens but still only does 4k/30. The big advantage of a camera over a phone is twofold - usually, they come with zoom lenses rather than one of more fixed focus lenses, and they use memory cards rather than non-expandable internal storage. The latter being a huge pain because if you don't have a lot of storage free, you're taking very regular breaks just to grab the footage of the phone, free up more storage so you can continue shooting.

I second ddavidv's comment about sound - that's where a lot of the YT hobby videos fall flat on their faces. I have three microphones that I tend to use - a wired and a wireless lavalier mic for when it's important to capture what I say, plus a camera-mounted directional mic to capture my regular grumblings. I record the audio in camera because I'm not that fancy, so only one of the three mics is in use at any given time.

Also, if you're shooting a lot in the garage, make sure that you have some proper lighting. Getting some cheapish LED photo/video lights on tripods was one of the best investments I made in the visual quality of my videos. That's especially important when shooting with phones or other cameras with smaller sensors.

I do use action cams occasionally but that's mostly for riding/driving shots. I don't have an external mic adapter for mine so it's a bit of a problem when I try to use them for wrenching footage.

I've made YouTube videos that mostly used a fairly basic camcorder on a tripod - the tripod being the key ingredient here to hold it steady. Then I've used a cell phone for some close up filming. The videos haven't needed an action camera so far.

Good point, a decent tripod is definitely an essential ingredient. Action cams can be very useful even for non-action shots simply because they tend to have really wide angle lenses and don't tend to break if they fall into your engine bay for the tenth time in a row.

A good quality cell phone camera with an external mic can produce very good video, as can modern high-end action cams, even many professionals use this kind of setup - DSLRs and prosumer gear aren't as common as you might think. What will make your videos look a lot more professional is stabilization, postprocessing, and lighting for indoor work. So definitely do get a tripod, and an electronic stabilizer mount if you'll be doing any shots while moving around.

Also GoPro2s can be had very cheap used now, and their only major weak spots are audio and lack of digital image stabilization - and the audio can be greatly improved with an external mic.

I do very simple setup, mainly because I don't really care - I'm either making a "how-to" for my students, or I am "inviting you into my hobby" and if my videos are any more than that, it will become work and suck the joy out of my hobby.

Used Sony Camcorder, and a GoPro knock off.  All mixed with Windows Movie Maker because it's quick and easy.

I bought a lapel mic that I plan on plugging into my phone and use a sound recording app.

I am just doing home videos of the kids right now and sharing with my family via YT, but I am planning on documenting my Renault 8.

We use an iPhone for a camera with Rode mics. Sound has definitely been the worst problem based on bitchy viewer comments. For action shots, we have my old GoPro and some newer fauxPros of some description. I've used a toscam recorder but we often end up with the Rodes. Interior lighting depends on the venue.

Most of our content is streamed live so that does influence our choice of rig. 

My current phone is a Huawei Mate SE. A marginal phone when new, woefully inadequate now. If I were to use a phone, I'd have to purchase a new phone.

A new still camera is in the cards, whether it be for filming, or just for photography. I do desire to change my lenses. Wide angle, fisheye, telephoto, all stuff that can be done with software, but it's not the same as real glass. Sure, there are clip on lenses available, but I've never liked the way anything shot through them looks. There's also the pure physical aspect of the camera sensor that phones are equipped with. A larger sensor is massively beneficial to anything serious, IMO. It's not about megapixels. As a matter of fact, I've shot some pretty decent pics with my rather old Nikon D40x, with the kit 18-55 lens. It has an ASP-C format sensor, so I'd like to step up to a full frame anyway. One feature I would like from a standalone camera is WiFi, that not only allows me to download media from the device, but lets me stream direct to the web. 

I'll not only be shooting in a garage a fair amount, but also be using this equipment to create urbex content. A camera that can perform well with only ambient lighting would be highly beneficial, since lights are bad when you're where you're not supposed to be. Low-light photography is an interest of mine, has been since I shot with an old 35mm Pentax Super Me.

The action cams will be used when size is a limiting factor, or as a secondary camera for overview shots.

On note of upgrading phones, something I want to add to my tool kit at some point is a FLIR camera. There are several models on the market that have the FLIR Lepton sensor. Has anyone here ever gotten their hands on one to muck around with? It seems like the easy button, considering I am due for a phone upgrade, anyway.

In RE to MSM: Are you filming tutorials for MS stuff? If so, what are you doing for lighting? I've fought many times trying to get a clear photo of a PCB, much less film it.

Derick Freese said:

In RE to MSM: Are you filming tutorials for MS stuff? If so, what are you doing for lighting? I've fought many times trying to get a clear photo of a PCB, much less film it.

We've been using other equipment at work - primarily DSLRs and a few action cameras - but I generally don't handle this for work. The cameras I mentioned are for my own Bodgery Barn Youtube channel. Which I have been off and on working on a video with a PCB in it, but it didn't use any special lighting and is more of a long shot rather than any close up.

So, I went to school for audio engineering as well as film school, and I worked as a wedding photographer in Baltimore for a few years.  If you're interested in photography, I would very highly support your desire to move up to a full frame camera.  I use a Nikon D750 and it's been absolutely fantastic, and is still pretty affordable for a DSLR.  I have an ultra wide-angle lens (not fisheye) that zooms from 15-30mm and there's nothing like it.  There is no comparison between a full frame DSLR and any phone camera on the market.  The DSLR will always win when it comes to photography.  Now, it can shoot video that'll look nice through an appropriate lens on a tripod, but honestly a modern cell phone will take comparable or better video than most cameras, unless you're spending a good amount on a camera and lens(es).  Plus, my 2 year old iPhone has fantastic built in stabilization.  I can shoot 4K video with it if I wanted to.  Really, the only downside is you're stuck with whatever mm lens the phone camera uses, although there's several phones out now that have multiple built in lenses you can choose from.  Modern cell phones take fantastic video and are hard to beat.

Those that have mentioned lighting and audio are spot on.  Light your subject (you) properly!  It doesn't take much money, you can do it with some $8 home depot worklights, a cheap LED bulb, and something like wax paper in front to diffuse the light.  Learn about 3 point lighting - key, fill, and backlight.  It really does make a difference.  Or shoot outdoors during the golden hour.  Use a microphone.  Even a cheap one will be an improvement.  You can spend $30 and get one that'll clip on your shirt and give you good quality audio.  Then learn some basics of processing the sound - things like running a high pass filter around 100Hz to eliminate boominess, and some gentle compression to keep your voice around the same level.  As for the video itself, you can tweak that as well with free software.  You can lighten or darken your shot, lift up some shadows, increase the contrast by a few percent, etc.  

I posted a video of my old boost buggy and it's got like 11k views in 8 years so I'm basically famous. That was with an iPhone 4. 
 

Seriously though, almost any relatively modern cell phone camera is up to the task. Watch for sales on a little personal mic setup, wife has this one: Tascam lapelle mic. Then some free video software to attach the video to the audio and you're golden. 

Yes hello:

https://youtube.com/outmotorsports

I film with a mix of iPhone 12 Pro, Sony a6400, and GoPro Hero8 Black. I hate the GoPro but it's fine for secondary/in-car type stuff. 

Rode Wireless Go is the audio solution, don't bother with any cheapie solutions, just get the Rode.

Edit in iMovie if you have a Mac or DaVinci Resolve if you don't.

The Apple hardware/software is dead reliable and (cliche I know) just works. AirDropping 4K clips of B-roll to my laptop in seconds is really something.

One thing that probably shouldn't have to be mentioned but does - content is the most important thing. When we went into lockdown, I started shooting our FB Live videos with nothing more than previous-generation iPhone SE in my shop. Sometimes handheld, sometimes on a stand. But when it was good content, some of the most popular videos on our channel came from that setup. And we get almost no complaints about quality.

If your viewers are looking at the production values, they're not deep enough into the actual content. Unless the production values are the point.

Seems like a lot of you are saying to go with a phone. That will probably be the way I'll go, since it's the most pressing upgrade that I need to make.

I've dabbled in audio quite a bit. As a teen, I played around with MP3s to make them "sound better". Of course, this was back when 128kbps was high bitrate. I'm also familiar with compression and expansion and such. Audio shouldn't be too hard for me to pick up.

I fail to see a reason to get anything BUT a Rode mic. Every 'tuber I know that uses one has stellar sounding audio.

I have access to an older Macbook Pro, but it's OLD. If I get serious about this, I'll probably make the switch, as I prefer 'nix-based systems over Windows. I, however, don't care for iPhones. That's more of a personal preference thing, but I'd totally get one if that's the right tool for the job.

Like I stated above, I really want a thermal imaging device. If I'm upgrading my phone already, it makes sense to at least consider a Flir-equipped device. CAT has a 5G thermal phone coming out, but it has only a single visible light rear camera. Then I found this phone. 5G, thermal imaging, 48MP main Sony sensor, AND, it's ruggedized. When I get a minute, I'm going to go look at reviews. Does anyone here have hands-on experience with an world market "cutting edge" phone such as this one? Should I buy the iPhone12 and get a separate thermal imaging camera? This feature is not just something I can play with for videos, but I can actually use it to troubleshoot electronics issues, so it would serve multiple purposes for me.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Great point! The ability to broadcast live straight from the device over cell service is a feature that I prefer over having to connect it to WiFi, or stream it to a PC, then to the interwebs. 

In reply to Derick Freese :

One problem with "world market" phones is that they often don't cover frequencies used in the US, because the US uses some funny frequency bands. Before I got my last "work phone" (I pay for it, but that's where all the work stuff goes) I was looking at a few Xiaomis that had spectacular reviews, but were more or less bricks with the US networks. You'll have to very much check that whatever World Phone you pick supports all the bands that your cell providers uses.

Re the "second tier phone manufacturer" question - I've got some bad experience with some of them. A lot of phones use the aforementioned Sony sensor, and a lot of the image quality comes from the processing software in the phone even before the camera software sees it. Usually, the software from second tier manufacturers isn't particularly good although there are exceptions.

I often use my iPhone X or my OnePlus 7T Pro for B roll. The iPhone does have noticeably better image quality, althought the OnePlus is good enough for me as well. Both will shoot in 4k, although I can't remember if the OnePlus will do 4k/60.

If I had to buy a phone to use for video right now, I'd get an iPhone 11 or 12 with the biggest storage capacity I could get my hands on (at least 128GB if you don't store much else on the phone, ideally 256GB). Heck, even an iPhone X will do nicely. The 12 Pro has the three camera system, the others have a two camera system - I'd check the specs to see if it's worth the even more extra cash.

If you'd rather have an Android I'd look at a high end Samsung. In both cases, spend the extra $15-20 for Filmic Pro as that gives you more control over the camera. Unfortunately it's mostly the flagship phones that have really good camera quality, so you end up spending a rather large chunk of change either way.

Regarding editing software, I believe the free version of DaVinci Resolve is available for Linux as well, not only Windows and macOS.

If you have access to a Macbook Pro - even an older one - there's a really great reason to use an iPhone. AirDrop. It's magic. Brake_L8 mentioned it as well.

My own Macbook is a mid-2012 and it works just fine for this sort of editing and has AirDrop. Not as fast as a new one, of course, but computers you own are a lot more affordable than computers you don't :) Spend the money on software instead.

I don't mind spending good money on a phone. I tend to keep them for years until they break or, in the case of a sealed phone, the battery stops performing well. My Wife gave me my current handset about 2 years ago, and she used it for about a year herself. Not bad for a $200 retail phone. But it's just that - a phone. It doesn't do anything else well, and it doesn't even handle calls that well sometimes. Flagship Samsung devices have always pleased me. Maybe I'll ask around work and see if anyone will let me take their phones for a quick spin to see what I like best. Thermal imaging can always be acquired later.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Come on here looking for ways to spend my money on electronics, and y'all are trying to get me to keep as much as I can. Not the enablers I'm used to 

It does free up money for cars, though.

Re: iPhone. Just do it IMO. I bought a fancy gimbal and things to help shoot B-roll and honestly...... I still do it all handheld with my iPhone. The built-in image stabilization is fantastic, I shoot at 4K, 60fps and slow-mo it and it looks pretty dreamy. Check out this Aviator review I did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYcabJuZYw8

The first B-roll shots come in at 01:28 and they are handheld iPhone shots slowed down in iMovie. The stuff before (where I am outside the car) is on my Sony a6400, but in the past I stuck my GoPro to a tripod and used that. It worked fine, though the Sony does color a bit better. I have a circular polarizing filter on the Sony to cut reflections/glare on the cars. You can get those filters for cheap for your phone or GoPro, too.

I had a few Samsung phones and the earlier ones were all different forms of junk. Android is not nearly as cohesive an OS as what Apple puts together - if you are willing to buy the hardware, the "it just works" factor is great.

Also worth mentioning, the video with the most views on my channel was shot entirely with a GoPro on a selfie stick and edited on an iPad using a cheap but powerful editor called LumaFusion. Get good audio, try to light your shots well enough, and don't over think the rest.

At the place I worked in 2019 I picked out a Huawei P20 Pro with an external mic for noob-friendly in-house video production (recording meetings, presentations etc), worked quite well, that phone had a camera off the nose of an attack helicopter with optical image stablization, a zoom lens, and a good low-light mode.

For what you're doing a ruggedized/cased DSLR that can shoot video may be the best option, it will give you switchable lenses and great stills and can shoot in low light.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

After what everyone has said in here, I think a good phone is the way to go, at least to get started. I can go with more professional equipment later down the road.

I've used a phone, a DSLR with video, and now an actual camcorder.  They all work, with enough light.  You never have enough light.  

I recently dumped some cash on some bright lights and a fill light.  Been doing this for years and only recently got lighting equipment.  It's nice but not required.  I havent published anything with the new lights but the raw video looks far improved.

The phones are usually pretty good cameras, but the editing software sometimes doesn't like the file format. 

Edit: when I do live streams I do it with a phone on a tripod.  I used to tape it to the tripod.  It works just fine

The DSLR works great, but shuts off every 20-30 minutes and doesn't have a view screen thing to watch while I record.  

The camcorder is great in every way, but doesn't have as wide angle of a lens, so it has to be further away.  It also needs more light for 60fps or 4k video.

I'm not saying exact models, because I can't remember them, but the point is none of them are deal breakers.  All work.  

For sound absolutely record sound with a separate mic, the on-camera ones always suck.  Even a cheap pin mic is better than a thousand dollar smart phones built in mic at video recording distance.

For software there are tons of options, the important thing is that you learn to use that software and develop a fluency with it.

And what other said, content is the most important.  Camera taped to a tripod with a bad pin mic recording something cool is much better than pro equipment doing nothing.  Id watch red green in 480p, but not something lame in 4k.