Youtube Blogging Essentials?

Having now been a Youtube video blogger for the past 3 and a half years, I've had a bit of experience with the equipment that makes it all work and so I thought I'd share with you my current setup.

Originally I started out with an iPhone 4s propped up on a stack of books with a vanity mirror behind it - so that I could see the screen while sat in front of the camera! Fortunately things have moved on a little since then.


Camera

The camera is probably the most exciting part, at least it is to me... but then again, I am quite into my photography. These days I'm using a Canon 700D (which is called a T5i in North America). It's not the most cutting edge video camera you can pick up, but then again it's also not the most expensive. Canon DSLRs are known for their video capabilities and this one does exactly what I need - It records in HD, it has a rotating screen so I can see what I'm doing and it has an external microphone input (more on that later).

At the moment I'm just using the standard 18-55mm STM kit lens with it, it's not the greatest lens in the world but the STM motor allows me to have the camera set to continuous focus without the annoying focus noises that I used to encounter with older lenses.



Microphone

Having an external microphone is important... as anyone who's tried to go back and watch my old videos will tell you. Upgrading the mic makes a The in-camera microphones... well... they're not the best, let's just leave it at that. Using an external recorder or plugging in an external microphone can really improve the overall quality of the video... plus, if no one can hear what you're saying...

I use the Rode Videomic Pro. The Videomic Pro is pretty much the go-to mic for people who film using a DSLR, it's not the perfect mic for all situations, but it's gonna have you covered in most instances.


Editing

When it comes to the editing side, I'm a mac user. I started out with windows live movie maker for my first videos, moved on to Sony Vegas and I've since moved over to a Macbook Pro with Final Cut Pro X. Every editing setup that I've used has had it's strengths and weaknesses, but the mac with Final Cut is a pretty streamlined process and allows me to get on with producing my content quickly and efficiently without too much fiddling.