Start with a good USB microphone like the Rode NT-USB Mini, then add cheap lighting from Costco, then worry about camera. Reinvest 20% of your earnings into gear as you grow, not thousands upfront.
Rode NT-USB Mini; purchased in 2020.
Approximately $50.
A $25 light from Costco that included a tripod and accessories.
Reinvest 20% of channel earnings back into gear.
Sony ZV-E10 Mark II.
Have you ever dropped a painful amount of money on a hobby only to have your gear collect dust in a closet? I have with scuba gear, but that won't be you after hearing my approach to acquiring video gear. Do not go out and drop $2,000 on Fancy Video gear. As a beginner, you don't need it yet. Start simple and as you master the gear you have and figure out that you actually enjoy making videos, then and only then build up to fancier gear. The first thing I recommend you get is a really good external microphone. It doesn't need to be professional quality with a bunch of other accessories required to operate it. Just start simple with a USB microphone like this one right here. This one is a Rode Podmic and before I upgraded to it a couple months ago, if you see my earlier videos on this channel, I was using this one right here. This is a Rode NT USB mini and I use this one for over four years. I bought it in 2020 and viewers will tolerate poor video, but if they can't understand you because the audio quality sucks, they're going to leave. So if you only have the budget for one tool, make it a microphone. By the way, one of the reasons I'm making this video is that today is Amazon prime day, so there are some sales going on. For everything I'm mentioning. The second thing I recommend after you've got your audio dialed in is good lighting. I did a video recently showing the effects of lighting on my laptop's built in webcam. You can click up here to see that the takeaway was you can do some amazing things with a cheap camera, even your cell phone camera if your lighting is good. So my recommendation here is to get yourself what's called softbox lights at least one, but ideally two. And lots of them come in pairs on Amazon and they aren't expensive. My pair that I have always on right here in front of me was $50 on Amazon. If you're even more budget constrained as I was before I bought these softboxes, I was using this bad boy right here and it helped a ton. This one was $25 at Costco and it included a tripod and all the accessories I needed to to start making video with better light. The third thing I recommend after you've gotten your audio taken care of and your lighting taken care of is a camera. If you're mobile, you're filming videos out and about then I love this thing right here. This is my Osmo Pocket 3. It fits in my pocket and includes a wireless microphone, a little stand and it shoots crystal clear video. In fact, I'm using it right now. This is my 4K webcam that I'm recording into Descript with, but I consider external cameras to be optional. If you're just starting out and you have a modern iPhone or Pixel or Galaxy phone, these things have amazing cameras. And if you get your lighting and your audio figured out, you it's indistinguishable to the average viewer, whether it's a $2,000 camera or your cell phone. Some people ask, when is it time to upgrade my gear? I've seen some people set milestones for themselves so they'll say something like once I hit 10,000 subscribers, then I'll upgrade my microphone. 25,000. Then I'll upgrade my lights. 50,000. New camera. For me, the way I run my business, I reinvest 20% of what I make from this channel back into my gear. So for me, if I have the budget for it and I want it, I'll upgrade. I just ordered the brand new Sony ZV E10 Mark 2, so I'm super excited for that. That's going to be a big upgrade to my my video quality. But this isn't only my my business, this is what I love doing. This is my life's work and my hobby all in one. So don't feel like you have to have the fanciest gear. My recommendation is to start simple, as simple as possible. Master what you have and as you start generating income, then invest into that fancier gear. Start where you're at, grow as you go. And check out this video next for more content creation tips like this. See ya.
