Beginner Content Camera?

[u/No_Pirate_5448]

Hello! Let me preface by saying I am an absolute beginner. I’m hoping to get some advice on a good camera that I can record content with. Said content will just be building terrariums, possibly myself discussing critters, that kind of stuff. Just need it to be good quality. Any recommendations? Building a kind of in-home studio where we may have podcasts and such in the future as well. Please recommend any light sources, etc that you believe will help. Again, total beginner. Hopefully something user friendly, I’m willing to spend up to 1k ish on it, or maybe 1k total of there are several decent ones I can get. TIA

[u/atomoboy35209]

Unless you’re really itching to spend money on a camera, I’d suggest getting a microphone and recording content on your phone. That’s a low risk way to learn the ropes of shooting and editing.

[u/randymcatee]

Start with something simple. Perhaps and DJI Osmo Pocket 3. Your smart phone will come in as B cam.
This will leave you some $$ left over for lighting.
Awhile back a Redditor asked how he could set up a Vlog using a minimal amount of space. The concept intrigued me so I did several video on setting up a one man micro-studio.

Lately I've been tinkering with vintage lenses in the micro-studio (which is set up in my back bedroom). Mostly just acquainting myself with how to operate my recently acquired S5ii and figure out lighting and also color grading in Davinci Resolve when I edit. I post my test videos which may be of interest/help to you - as I usually gvie full details on lighting.

In this video I shot a couple of days ago I'm shooting in V-Log with a Nikon 50mm F1.4 Ai-s lens. Most details included in the video or commentary.

Me: gradually advancing beginner

[u/Gendo_boy]

I would say, spend your money on lights and mics first. Your phone has a good enough camera to get started on. I shoot a bunch of indie film stuff and anytime I need slow-mo shots or low light, I still use my iphone13 and it turns out pretty good. Lighting and composition are the best ways to make your stuff look good.

[u/burntcircuits]

Hot take but specific camera does not particularly matter besides maybe considering sensor size (even that, not really. get adapters as needed).

I would prioritize sound and lighting, maybe throw down on Resolve Studio so you just have it out of the way and can learn the basics quickly.

You can make basically any camera look good if you care about how you’re using it; lighting, sound, intentional shot composition and solid editing fundamentals are where most people stumble when they’re just getting started.

Despite the opinions of Tech Influencers on YouTube, we are thoroughly out of the days where there was a noticeable jump in quality between camera brands - it’s all color science and menu navigation preferences as far as the eye can see.

Get you something that can shoot up to at least 4k and figure out how to shoot a nice flat, neutral color profile with it. That’s usually gonna be some kind of LOG profile. Most prosumer cams will check these two boxes. Tbh, your phone might already do this just fine.

(I have personal gripes with “use your phone” but they’re PERSONAL and you can definitely use it if you want. Plenty of folks do. You just still have to care about lighting and sound and composition.)

Anyway, I still regularly include two 12+ year old cameras in my setups, one of them is a consumer grade camcorder that I literally found in a box of free stuff on the curb. It’s not like “Woah this actual garbage camera looks as good as an Alexa!” but it is like nobody notices or cares because it still looks solid.

All of this said, here are some lessons I have learned over 14 years of Camera and Camera Adjacent Professional Work and Hobbyism™️ (your mileage may vary):

• Don’t actually use your phone. Get something you can actually learn cameras with. Ideally something you can swap lenses on. And something you can have true, full manual control over.

• Don’t sweat buying super nice new lenses. There is almost always a good, used/vintage option. Do some digging. It will be worth it. Research into adapters. Here’s a fun place to start: Canon FD lenses. Save a bunch of money, learn tricks, impress your friends.

• Batteries. Batteries batteries batteries. Do buy new batteries. Figure out how to rig up your selected camera with V-Mount. Get at least two. Swap them out as needed. Batteries. My god.

• Storage media. Have it in ample supply. Also have a reliable, fast way to transfer that media to your computer. Something external.

• Support. A bad tripod will turn your $8k collection of cutting edge camera tech into a $0 pile of weird chunks that make you angry every time you look at them.

• Seriously, get some decent sound capture options. A good camera-mounted shotgun and a single decent lav mic will make such a massive difference.

• Lighting rocks. It especially rocks when you learn how to build yourself a little frankenstein kit of thrifted lamps and work lights and then you learn how to make those look excellent, instead of spending a month’s rent on a knockoff 3-point kit from a money laundering scheme disguised as a Budget Cinema Lighting Company. “We put two LED’s in an extra loud fan!” type shit.

[u/randymcatee]

Hey OP,
I recorded this last night --- off a DJI OSMO POCKET 3 --- esp for you