My Vlogging Cameras

I’ve been asked about what cameras I use to shoot my various YouTube videos, but I could rarely give a quick answer as the camera used depends on a few factors. Here I go into which camera I use for what scenarios.

Smartphone

When I first started vlogging in 2013, phones did not capture very good video, so I got myself a Canon point-and-shoot (I don’t even remember what model it is now) that I did all my on-the-go vlogging on. I did occasionally shoot on whichever Android phone I had at the moment but avoided it if possible.

When the iPhone 6S Plus was released, I decided to switch from Android. YouTubers were starting to vlog using iPhones by that time and the video quality looked pretty good, I liked the bigger form factor, and I had fond memories of my iPhone 3GS from several years back. Around the same time was when I started to make party and travel videos, so having a good video camera in my pocket at all times was alluring. The 6S Plus effectively replaced my Canon.

The 6S Plus is now long gone, and I switched back to Android after that, mostly the Google Nexus and now the Pixel line of phones.

Sony RX100 IV

Oh my god, the adventures my RX100 and I have been on could write a novel. I use the RX100 at parties where the lighting conditions are challenging: it’s very dark at these events, there are unpredictable lasers and strobe lights, and sometimes I need to zoom in on a performance on stage from far away. The combination of small size, big sensor, flip-down screen, and optical zoom is pretty much unbeatable in these conditions. To do any better means bringing a substantially larger camera into a party, even then I’m not sure the results would be that much better or worth the effort.

My RX100 is pretty beat up as a result of being a party-goer: the flash no longer works and causes a constantly-flashing error on the screen, there is some sensor damage causing tiny magenta-colored dots in photos and videos, and the EVF (which I never used) died at some point. A few years ago I dropped it at EDC and it failed to power up, a trip to the repair shop and some amount of money later, it was fixed. 

GoPro Hero 7 Black

I have a poor history with GoPros. I had an older Hero (a 4 or 5 maybe?) that I lost at EDC (you can tell by now, EDC has not been kind to my electronics). Then I got a Hero 4 Session, which snapped off my helmet after I took a dive during a whitewater rafting trip. The video quality also wasn’t that great: there were worse than a phone in dark conditions and in stabilization. I didn’t actually have a real need for a GoPro - I’m not a particularly outdoorsy or active person - so after losing my second GoPro and with smartphones getting better with videos, I became disinterested for a while.

To be honest, I’m still not completely sure why I bought the Hero7 Black, but I’m glad I did because it is now a much improved vlogging camera. HyperSmooth gives really smooth video, better than any Android phone I’ve tried and roughly on par with the cinematic video stabilization on an iPhone, except the Hero7 Black can apply HyperSmooth at resolutions above 1080p*.

One amazing thing that the GoPro does is give a lovely cinematic look when shooting at 24fps. 2k @ 24fps Linear is what my GoPro is set to for regular vlogging, and I switch to a higher frame rate for action shots. When I’m willing and able to carry around more than my phone, the GoPro comes along as my main camera, with my phone pulling back-up duty. The exception is if I’ll be shooting in low light, then the RX100 comes along instead.

*Side note: The iPhone 11 line now does Cinematic video stabilization up to 4K. Previously, it only worked up to 1080p.

Panasonic GH4

The big daddy. The GH4 is my stay-at-home camera, meant to be permanently attached to a tripod and ready to film whenever I wanted to sit down in front of a camera, and for that it has been a great tool. 

The GH4 replaced a Sony NEX-5R, which was annoying to use: it frequently overheated during recordings, sometimes I would run into its recording time limit, and it was missing a microphone input. Those faults led me pretty naturally to the GH4: it never overheats, didn’t have a recording time limit, and I could attach a microphone without blocking the fully articulating screen. The plethora of video-specific features, lots of programmable hard buttons, and massive battery life made filming sessions much easier.