This Will Change The Way You Spend $$$ On Cameras

This video is the story of why I rethought buying camera gear, and what I found. Below is some of the best reviewed camera gear I’ve found with good value compared to the competition.

CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
0:23 How I Created the Value Graphs
2:10 Overall Best Value Piece of Gear
3:04 Best Value of Other Camera Gear
3:42 Recommendations Based on Findings

CAMERAS (Check used prices!)

XLR MICROPHONES

OTHER MICROPHONES

LENSES (Just a few, there’s a bunch)

LIGHTING

TRIPODS / STANDS

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[DriventoDraw]

Seriously! The production quality of this video is outstanding. It checks all the boxes in terms of pacing, and engagement. You know your stuff. I have to say WTH is up with Youtube not spreading this video? This video and your channel deserve way more views and subs. Outstanding work Brad. It takes such a long time to create videos like this.

[Hoffa]

Im looking at this video from 2 years ago and can not believe that it has less than 2k views!?! You are really good and now you finally got a couple of videos that has taken off! Congrats!

[darksinge]

How have not exploded on YouTube yet? I just bing watched a ton of your videos and they're all such high quality.

[Zay-DHD]

the first video I watched of yours (@ 830 subscribers) had nothing to do with microphones, but the audio was the first thing I noticed. Thinking, "I wonder what lav mic he's using that grabs his voice so clear". needless to say, your research and purchase were well worth the effort!

[sorinalexandrucirstea]

Fantastic video Brad, I really appreciate the effort put into the editing and the fun/playful nature of it all. I've never considered how much value microphones hold over time and it's definitely something to consider moving forward in a filmmaking career. Only problem with modern lenses is that they might malfunction down the line regardless of how you treat them (those with electronics) compared with old, manual focus ones. I'll be keeping an eye on your channel as I'm sure I'll see your numbers skyrocket in the near future. Keep it up!

[HollowRosario]

honestly im gonna end up watching all your videos. Sooner than later you're channel will blow up.

[leggsoutdoors]

Absolutely loved this video! Lol, watched it a little to late though. Already knowingly wasted money on my gear. Your my absolute favorite camera channel on youtube. You break things down very simple for us new to learning to film.

[alexandrevaliquette]

Your channel is very well made and I like your tips/mentality.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of equally great youtubers on this niche topic. It's hard to grow a channel in theses conditions.
I would say that it's way harder in 2024 (compare to 2014) for any new or even older Youtube channel. There is a lot of new channels every day, people expect very high quality/standards in every aspect.

[byRRVW]

wow, thank you for sharing that info! the channel is hella underrated

[AsherSkylark]

Thanks for the insight. Technology is rising at a fast paced so companies are trying to follow the trend and make innovations. Its always best to buy products that are future proof for around 3 to 5 years in order to get your money's worth

[FelixChamber]

This video should be seen by hundreds of thousands of people.

[alexandrevaliquette]

Prime Manual lens for Youtube channel are underrated.

[_topiece]

Interesting point of view🧐 but definitely stands out! Loved it

[hh]

Brad, what did you do fall from Google's grace? I love your videos. Please dont stop making them.

[zidelll]

Great video. If you were consistent non doubt you would be at 100k subs in a month or 2. Btw do you do your own special effects? And if so are you self taught?

[alexandrevaliquette]

I'm a very cheap skate.... Dreaming of doing Youtube one day...
999$ microphone.... Or you can get the whole filming equipment for less than that... And make awesome video:
Start with a 30-50$ Lavalier and use it inside or outdoor if you need it. And/or get a USB NEEWER7000 for 35$ with the boom. Look great and sound nice!
You can plug your Mic on your phone or a sound recorder such as the H1N1 (under 100$).
Invest 200$ for a DIY *sound treatment in your studio. It will improve your microphone ten fold by removing the unwanted reverbs.
DIY cheap lighting. Get regular LED lightbulb, but make sure you get the dimmable version and +95% CRI (colour rendering index).
Make a DIY softbox with large cardboard box (or else, get creative) + 1$ white shower curtain as diffusion material.
You can make a DIY prompter with a cardboard box + dollar store glass from a small frame and your phone . Plenty of tutorials on Youtube about it.

The camera... or not the camera?
Before investing a lot of money... Please do this for at least 2 months:
Start your channel with your phone using the back camera at 1080p on a tripod.
You could probably borrow a second phone to get more than one angle at the same time.
Learn how to use your gear, get creative, make mistakes, learn how to use a free but pro editing software such as Davinci Resolve.
Avoid low light situation so you won't get grainy/ugly picture and it will prevent your phone to overheating due to high processing (possible on low light).
Illuminate your background with cheap colourful light: people won't realise your camera is cheap if you have a nice background and a great content.

And then... according to your remaining budget... The camera gear!
Two months latter and you are still passionate? Do you REALLY think the next thing your channel need is a blurry background? I doubt it, but I understand!
Find a used 3-5 years old APS-c camera that can do proper 1080p (200-700$)
If you go 4k, make sure it's not the useless crop 4k. And make sure your computer can process it. You might have to upgrade your computer + graphic card. Useful for small zoom in.

Test your computer with 4k footage (from your phone) to know if your computer struggle with 4x more information. That might influence your camera purchase.
For the bokeh/blurry background: get a manual focus, high quality prime lens. Around F/1 or F/2 such as AArtisan brand under 100$ (cheap but sharp image and a lot of blurriness).
Keep the phone as a second camera angle.
Get a slightly better tripod for the camera, use a cheap tripod for the phone.

But remember...
Your phone + lavalier + DIY lighting is already way better than +90% of beginners on Youtube. From there, the real game changer is the quality of your content, not the 2000$ camera. You need to start making your mistakes, watch a little Youtube to learn the proper lighting technique, basic editing skills, how to get a better story. Just don't do like me: too many hours on Youtube, not enough practice and paralysis by analysis! Back in the days.. the film was extremely costly and it was expensive to make mistake. Today, film is free... How lucky we are to live in such a world isn't!


*DIY sound treatment:
Aka Corning or ROXUL Sound n Proof kinda stuff. Watch BoothJunky to know how to make your own, very efficiently, on the cheap.