Starting a YouTube Channel – Beginner – Equipment

So you want to be a YouTuber, is that so? A lot goes in to starting a YouTube channel, but I’m gonna list the equipment you need in order to get the best quality pictures and/or videos. Video content is super important no matter what business you’re in, so keep that in mind. Just think about how many videos you scroll through on Facebook and Instagram compared to still shots or regular statuses.

The things in this post can be switched out for different brands or equipment , whether you find a more affordable option or expensive, if you’re just ballin’ like that.

Equipment is an investment.

– Affiliate links are used – I make a small commission if you purchase using the links provided. Does not affect the price you pay –

Of course there are a ton of people who create great content with their phone, but I prefer the following.

 

In case you don’t want to read the entire article…

Here’s all the equipment I use or would get myself based on reviews.

Camera | Lens | Memory Card | External Hard Drive | Tripod – Option 1 $. Option 2 $$. Option 3 $$$. Mini. | Lighting – Soft Boxes. Ring Light. | Audio – Lavalier Mic. Audio Recorder. Shotgun Mic. | Backdrop Stand

-Purchase everything with two clicks HERE – you can edit your cart once everything is in there.-

 

Camera

The camera I currently use is a Canon T7i and I love it!! There’s autofocus, touchscreen (which I rarely use because I like to keep my screen clean), and live view shooting (where you can look at what you’re shooting from the screen and not just the viewfinder). It was a huge upgrade.

You may need an extra battery or two as well, just to be safe. The manufacturer, Canon, produces them and there are off brand ones, that I personally wouldn’t recommend. Canon replacement battery.

I started off with a Canon Rebel t3i, which I still have and use. It’s a great starter camera, it just lacks some of the more advanced features a lot of people would like to have in a camera; most importantly, auto focus. If you’re just gonna be sitting in the same spot the whole time you’re recording, you can get around the auto focus thing by setting your aperture to a higher number, like 5.6. If you don’t set your aperture to a higher number, any movement you make, even the slightest, will throw you out of focus. A LOT of YouTubers started off with this camera and some of them still use it.

TIP – There is a disk that comes with Canon cameras called Utility. Some computers don’t have a dvd slot anymore, so there is an option to download the software from the Canon website. It lets you connect the camera to the computer so you can see  what you’re doing. The cord may need a USB extension if your camera is a good distance from your computer. I use the extension cable all the time.

 

Camera Lens

You think the camera body is the most important thing, but plenty of people argue that the lens itself is more important.

The kit lens gives you the option of zooming in and out, but the aperture only goes to 3.5 at the lowest, meaning you don’t get that bokeh effect a lot of people love. Bokeh is the amount of blur behind you in photo(s) and/or video(s).

You can get great photos with the kit lens, but it’s something about PRIME lenses that just give your photos that extra mmph. A prime lens is a lens that does not zoom in or out. It is set at a certain mm. If you have a prime lens, you either move your subject (object or person you are shooting) or you move the camera to adjust  how close or far away you want the picture to be.

I use a 50mm lens with 1.8 aperture, which is a prime lens. It’s absolutely great and it’s known in the photography world as a Nifty Fifty. It gives you a ton of bokeh (blur) the lower your aperture. 1.8 gives you the most blur the closer the subject is to the camera and the higher you set your aperture, 5.6 , 7.1, etc… is when more of the background is in focus.

When purchasing your camera, you can purchase the BODY ONLY, which means you won’t get the kit lens, but you can buy the 50mm lens separately.

 

Memory Card

You can’t do anything without the memory card, so DON’T forget this!! I would suggest a 64GB, because this gives you plenty of space to record and not have to stop recording in the middle of your video to clear off your card to make space. You don’t want to take 64gb of space to record one hair tutorial or makeup video though, lol. You want to record bits and pieces of the most important things, not the ENTIRE process and then put them together during the editing process.

 

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

This is a MUST if you will be taking video / YouTube / photography seriously. Files take up A LOT of space. You won’t be able to put everything on your computer’s desktop or store it on your computer in a folder. You WILL run out of space on your computer. It’s a portable storage solution. DON’T lose it!

I have a 1TB hard drive, which is 1,000GB. It holds a lot, but file size adds up quickly when you film or shoot a lot of content.

It’s a better deal to get the 2TB external hard drive, but it’s totally up to you.

2 different designs, same pricing. Option 1. Option 2.

TIP – these hard drives come ready to work with Windows, but in order to use on a MAC, or on multiple computers, you NEED to FORMAT the hard drive before you put anything on it.  If it is not in the instructions, just call or chat Seagate customer service and they will walk you through it.

 

 

Computer and Editing Software

 

You choose the type of computer you want. Apple or PC.

Depends on your budget and the type of computer you get. Some Apple computers come with iMovie already installed, and others you have to pay $15 one time from the App Store. Windows computers come with Windows Movie Maker.

There are more advanced editing options as well. Final Cut Pro is an Apple only editing software  which can be purchased for a one time fee on $300. It’s a great option and a ton of people use this to edit their YouTube videos. There’s Adobe Premiere Pro, which has a monthly rate of $20 and can be used on Apple or PC computers. It is a more complex software and you’ll probably have to watch a ton of YouTube tutorials, but once you get the hang of it, like anything else that’s new to you, you’re good to go.

Downside to iMovie is that you don’t get a ton of layers and cool effects. In order to get more and more layers, you’ll have to keep exporting the project and bringing it back into iMovie and ain’t nobody got time fah’ dat’.

With Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro, you get sooooooooo many features and you get a ton of layers. You need a layer for your main footage, a layer for your b-roll, a layer for cool effects, a layer for overlays, a layer for your logo/watermark, voiceover, music, and the list of layers you’ll need goes on.

TIP – Be sure to name your files before importing them into Premiere Pro. It’s not as easy as scrubbing through your clips on iMovie. You WILL get confused like I did and just wanna throw in the towel before you even get started.

-I’ve only used iMovie and am a newbie to Premiere Pro.

 

 

Tripod

When looking for a tripod, you want it to be sturdy.  You do NOT want your camera to fall over…bad news. If you have a child, you definitely want to pay attention to the weight of your tripod because one small bump and it’s over.

We currently use a SLIK tripod, which was a bit pricey, but Derrick is really tall and our old tripod had to be rigged for his height when standing. We would put it on top of our table and if we weren’t at home filming, the tripod just didn’t get tall enough. This tripod has a nice weight to it.

They also have table-top tripods < I have this and love it>  which are great if you’ll be filming in the same spot all the time, inside or vlogging. You can set the tripod up on a table and use a few books to make it taller if you are pressed for space or cash. It is a great option.

Affordable <$20 . Sturdy, but still affordable option <$40. Expensive <$140. Mini.

 

Lighting

Daylight is free and can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. A lot of times it was my worst enemy because clouds move and time of day changes the tone of the sky. You don’t want your lighting to be all over the place in the same video. This happened to me in one of my videos, but I didn’t notice it until it came to edit. You want your lighting to be consistent.

Now I use soft box lights, which are amazing! I wear glasses, so if you don’t position the lights properly, you’ll have a glare, but I don’t mind too much because I need my glasses to see. I also use 2 standing lamps from Walmart with daylight bulbs to make sure my background is nice and bright, but the soft boxes illuminate me, the subject, perfectly.

Make sure you are ALWAYS using DAYLIGHT BULBS if you are going to be using lamps or studio lights, which require HUGE bulbs.

You could also use a ring light, which is a very popular lighting setup among online content creators. Not all of them include the stand, so make sure you don’t forget to look for that or find a set that has both a ring light and a stand.

You might also want to invest into a ring light diffuser. This particular ring light is dimmable, but it still might need that  added softness.

A lot of people use two soft boxes and a ring light together.

 

Audio

The audio quality from inside the camera isn’t always the best, so you have a few options for external sound recording. There are three options that I am familiar with. A lavalier/lapel mic, audio recorder and a Rode VideoMic, also known as a shotgun mic. I use the Lavalier and audio recorder interchangeably, but have considered the Rode VideoMic.

Lavalier mic – is a mic that has a long cord that has one end that you either plug into the mic input of your camera or into an audio recorder and the other end has a mic that you hook onto your shirt. It is great at picking up sound in the direction it is pointed. If you’re going to be doing a lot of moving while using this, I wouldn’t recommend it. One time I was recording a hairstyle tutorial and I had the perfect intro, it flowed and it was so natural, but I went back to listen to the audio and I kept hitting the mic, on multiple clips. This mic is great if you’re just going to be talking or doing interview type videos. This is the kind of mic you’ll see on news reporters, etc…

The cord from your mic may not be long enough, so an extension cord is a handy accessory. I use the extension all the time. This is the mic I use; it’s good, but the clip always comes off the mic…that’s annoying.

Zoom H1 Audio Recorder– this is a mic that you sit close to the subject. You can record right into it or plug a lavalier/lapel mic into it. The downside of this is that you have to sync the audio recorded on this to your footage. For example, if you use this audio recorder, it records the sound onto the recorder and not directly into the camera, so when you go to edit, you have to match up the audio from the recorder and your camera so that the audio doesn’t speak before your mouth moves on the footage. Audio from this is really good. They have mini tripods (mentioned under tripods) that can hold your audio recorder close to you.

TIP – In order to sync the audio easily, you can clap, say a key word pretty loud, say 1,2,3, etc. You just want the loud sound  to peak on the audio layer when editing so you can match the audio from the camera to the recorder. This is why in movies you see that black and white clamp thingy and they say “Take 1.”

Rode VideoMic – This is a microphone that sits on to the top of your camera and has a short cord that you plug into the mic input on the side of your camera. A lot of people use this to capture audio while filming if they like to talk during their footage. Seems to be the easiest option. On one of Sean Cannell’s videos, he shows you what to do with the audio setting on your camera to get clean audio and no background noise; something that a lot of people complain about and can ruin a video.

The Rode video mic also comes in a set with a boom pole, which is a tall stand that you can use an adapter to hold the video mic above you, out of the shot, to record audio. I seen this set up on this video and thought it was such a smart option. It comes with a really long extension cord as well.

 

Backdrop

You’ll want a backdrop stand if you have the space for it. If not, you could always pin stuff to your wall or figure out some way to rig up your background.

There are a ton of options you could use as a backdrop.

Backdrop options:

Seamless paper is a huge roll of paper that comes in a variety of colors. I recommend the 53″ x 36′ (53 inches wide, 36 feet long). If you’re trying to do full body shots or a lot of cookbook type videos, go for the 107″ x 36′ (107inches wide, 36 feet long) It’s gonna be super heavy, so you may need some help. Measure your space and your budget and order accordingly.

Bed sheets from anywhere.

Fabric from Walmart, Jo-Ann fabric, Michaels, and any other craft store

Curtains. Some come with beautiful embroidery to add a little extra, or there are plain ones. Whatever floats your boat.

I know some people love the look of the white sheer curtains with fairy lights. I think this looks nice, especially with the bokeh (blurry background) you get when using the 50mm lens.

You could use wrapping paper.

A lightweight blanket.

Tapestry.

You’ll want to purchase a few clamps as well. It keeps the seamless paper from rolling and rolling or it helps to secure your fabric backdrop onto the stand.

 

Grow and Continue Learning

I did a lot of research before I purchased everything and even started my channel. There is so much to learn about content creation that you always have to be learning. I’m always listening to a webinar, reading a blog post, listening to podcasts, and even watching YouTube videos on ways to get better and learn about this industry. There’s still so much I need to learn, but I take that time out regularly to do so.

Be the best at what you do and produce content that is quality and valuable.

Mattie James always says VALUE = USEFULNESS.

 

I hope you found this list useful. Leave your questions below and until next time…