Looking to buy a new camera....Any Advice? | Squat the Planet

Looking to buy a new camera....Any Advice?

ZombieJack

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I'm not sure if this is the best section to post this, but there wasn't really a section on film/tv/youtube and I figured art would be the closest.

I wanted to make youtube videos for fun, mostly talking about media and art with some political theory and such. I considered going with pretty much just recording my voice over some B roll and such and maybe I should start with that, but I would really like to film myself talking and take b roll myself sometimes and stuff since I find on a personal level that most reviewers and commentators and such I like tend to go that route.

What I need help with is, if I do get a camera, what kind of camera should I get? I want to spend as little as I can, but I also don't want to get a camera and like the audio is all messed up or the battery won't charge or something, and I'm not really that big of a tech person and most info I can find online recommends cameras that are $200+ which seems like a lot.
 

Matt Derrick

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you're going to have a hard time finding something decent for under $200, unless maybe you go with an older gopro sports camera. i did recently see a hero 4 for 70 bucks at a pawn shop which seemed like a steal to me.

thing is though, if you're going to be doing youtube videos, you really, really, really, need to have good audio. people will watch a shitty quality video if they can hear you, but they won't watch a super HD amazing quality video if it has shit audio no one can hear.

so. i highly recommend the rode videomicro: https://amzn.to/2QqBXci

it's cheap ($60) and the sound is excellent for the price. use it with any smart phone / cell phone that has a decent camera and you're set to start making youtube vids. remember that you can always upgrade your equipment later, but it's generally best to start small and work your way up.

if you need a cell phone with an excellent camera, get the LG G4. the camera is shockingly good, and while i originally bought mine for like $200 used, you can now get a used one for around $70 which is just ridiculous:

https://swappa.com/buy/lg-g4

you don't even have to use it as a phone or get service on it, just use it as a camera, the quality is quite worth it for the price.

if you'd like to see what videos look like when filmed with this combination of phone/microphone, check out this playlist of videos on the StP youtube channel:




this is the exact equipment i used and i think you'll be surprised by the quality.
 
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ZombieJack

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you're going to have a hard time finding something decent for under $200, unless maybe you go with an older gopro sports camera. i did recently see a hero 4 for 70 bucks at a pawn shop which seemed like a steal to me.

thing is though, if you're going to be doing youtube videos, you really, really, really, need to have good audio. people will watch a shitty quality video if they can hear you, but they won't watch a super HD amazing quality video if it has shit audio no one can hear.

so. i highly recommend the rode videomicro: https://amzn.to/2QqBXci

it's cheap ($60) and the sound is excellent for the price. use it with any smart phone / cell phone that has a decent camera and you're set to start making youtube vids. remember that you can always upgrade your equipment later, but it's generally best to start small and work your way up.

if you need a cell phone with an excellent camera, get the LG G4. the camera is shockingly good, and while i originally bought mine for like $200 used, you can now get a used one for around $70 which is just ridiculous:

https://swappa.com/buy/lg-g4

you don't even have to use it as a phone or get service on it, just use it as a camera, the quality is quite worth it for the price.

if you'd like to see what videos look like when filmed with this combination of phone/microphone, check out this playlist of videos on the StP youtube channel:





this is the exact equipment i used and i think you'll be surprised by the quality.


I mean, you're def right about the audio. The main thing with using my cell phone camera is that I'm not sure if there's enough space with all the music and crap I have on there to be recording a ton of video, but I suppose that doesn't matter if I just transfer the files onto my computer right away and start with only having short bits of me being filmed talking or doing stuff at first.
 

Matt Derrick

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I mean, you're def right about the audio. The main thing with using my cell phone camera is that I'm not sure if there's enough space with all the music and crap I have on there to be recording a ton of video, but I suppose that doesn't matter if I just transfer the files onto my computer right away and start with only having short bits of me being filmed talking or doing stuff at first.

for sure, and if you're willing to spend another $40, you can get a 128gb micro sd card, which should be enough space for all your stuff plus recording video. sd cards are getting really cheap lately... dang, i take that back, there's even nicer cards for about $30 now:

https://amzn.to/2xXXimx
 

Antlered

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Whatever camera you choose, make sure to get one of those bendylegs tripods so your shots are precise and steady. A pelican case or one of its budget knockoff cousins can make anything tough as nails and waterproof. I look forward to your videos!
 

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