A vlog setup for every situation | Mirrorless, Compact, iPhone Vlogging 2021

- For the past six months, I've been trying to find my perfect vlogging setup. A setup that is easy to use, doesn't draw too much attention, and gives me great quality footage. I've been trying different cameras, different accessories, and I wanna break down the pros and cons of each of my setups, and let you know which one is my favorite. Let's jump in. (gentle upbeat music) Welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, my name is Dan. I make videos for part-time creators, or lazy creators,

to help them get things done. Thanks so much for clicking on this video, and I hope you stick around. Vlogging is not something that is very natural to me. The idea of vlogging in public still terrifies me. I always stop recording immediately when I see people. So my aim for my vlogging setup was to find the sweet spot between a low key setup and great video and audio quality. For my vlogs, I'm using three main vlogging setups. And this is only part of the equipment. In my head, I had this shot

in mind, with all three setups in front of me, but then I realized that, well, I need a camera to shoot this video on, so I'm filming on my mirrorless camera at the moment. We'll make it work. I'm going to walk you through each of my vlogging setups, and we'll break it down into three key areas. Gear and accessories, ease of use, and image quality, including some sample footage. By the way, I will leave links to everything I talk about in this video in the description below in case you wanna che

ck it out. Okay, let's start with the mirrorless setup. I just changed cameras, so I'm filming now on the Sony ZV-1, so I can show you this setup. For my mirrorless vlogging setup, I am using the Fujifilm X-T4. But you can really use any mirrorless camera. A lot of the more advanced YouTube vloggers use the Sony a7S III, or the Canon R5 or R6. But this one works well for me. For vlogging, I use the Fujinon 16-55 mm zoom lens. Because this camera has an APS-C size sensor, this lens is the equival

ent of a 24-70 mm lens on a full frame body. For audio, I use the Rode Videomic Pro+, which you can simply attach to the hot shoe on your camera, and plug it in. It's a shotgun mic which I love because it gives you clear and crisp audio, while not picking up all the noise around you. I also use a variable ND filter for vlogging, which allows you to control the amount of light that's coming into your camera, so you can keep the same settings for aperture and shutter speed, even if the light chang

es. So you just attach it to the front of your lens, and then you can just turn it and that controls the amount of light that's coming in. As a tripod, I use the SwitchPod, which has a super slim profile, and it fits into any side pocket of any backpack. You can either screw the camera right on top of the SwitchPod, or you can use this ball head in between which gives you a little bit more flexibility when it comes to angles. Okay, ease of use. So, of all the three vlogging setups that I'm showi

ng you today, this one is the most inconvenient one, because it's got a big camera, big lens, it's quite heavy. The Videomic Pro on top is also quite big, so you'll definitely have people looking at you when you're out and about filming with this. With a setup this size, it's also not very easy to just put it away if you wanna have a break from carrying it around. Because you need to, you know, unscrew the tripod, take off the microphone, and then you need to attach it all again when you wanna f

ilm next. Okay, let's talk image quality. Because this sensor is the largest one of the three that I'm showing you today, this camera has the best image quality. The bigger sensor means more dynamic range and a wider field of view. And with the opportunity of changing lenses, you can really get the shot looking exactly like you want to. I'm really happy with the image quality for video on the X-T4 which is one of the reasons why I upgraded last year from the X-T2. Because Fuji really put a lot o

f effort into their video features, with improved auto focus, and they included image stabilization, which is perfect for video. Okay, this is the test footage of the first vlogging setup using the mirrorless camera, in my case that is the Fujifilm X-T4. As a reminder, I am using the SwitchPod to hold the camera, and the sound comes from the Rode Videomic Pro+. It is quite heavy to hold, but the image looks great and I'm pretty happy with that. Onto vlog setup number two. The second setup that I

wanted to show you is the Sony ZV-1. The ZV-1 is a compact little point and shoot camera that Sony designed specifically with vloggers in mind. It can shoot 4K up to 30 frames per second, and HD up to 120 frames per second. The lens is the equivalent of a 24-70 mm, and you can get an aperture of up to f1.8 With this camera, you also have a directional microphone built in that comes with this little wind muff. Obviously it's not as good as the Videomic Pro+, however it does give you much better

audio quality than most other internal microphones, including the one that I have in my mirrorless camera. So you don't necessarily need an external mic to record audio with this camera. As a tripod I use the Manfrotto Mini Tripod, and it's perfect for the weight and the size of the camera. Because of this, it's really easy to carry around when you're out and about, or traveling. Even with the tripod attached, I find that I can easily put it in my pocket of my jacket, and I can just take it out

next time I wanna shoot something. Changing the settings is pretty easy as well, as you can access aperture and shutter speed quite easily, and you can pre-save three different manual settings and quickly switch between them. It also has an internal ND filter, it's not variable, but definitely workable, and you don't need to carry around any extra filters. One down side of a camera this size is that the battery life is pretty short, so I usually carry two to three of these third party batteries

with me, and I got them pretty cheaply off Amazon. The Sony ZV-1 has a one inch CMOS sensor, so it is smaller than my APS-C sensor in my mirrorless camera, but it is bigger than the sensors that are built into the iPhone. The image quality is pretty good, I'm usually very happy with how everything looks. It's a little less cinematic, but with the aperture of f1.8, you can still get pretty great results. The dynamic range on this camera is not as good as on my mirrorless, which makes sense with t

he smaller sensor. I feel like the highlights blow out pretty easily which might be because the image, when I put it onto the computer, it always looks much brighter than on the camera. So even when I use the histogram to monitor exposure, so I feel like I need to remember to always under expose a little bit, and then the image is a little bit better. Okay, this is the same test again, now using the Sony ZV-1. I'm holding the camera with the Manfrotto Mini Tripod and I'm using the internal micro

phone. And the last vlogging set up is the iPhone 12 Pro Max. I actually made a full video about this vlogging setup a while ago, and I'll link it up here in case you wanna check that out. There's not much to talk about when it comes to camera equipment, I'm obviously using the cameras that are built into the iPhone. The good thing is that you have a variety of different cameras, so you get a variety of different shots for your vlogs. But the best results you can usually get using the wide camer

a, which I believe is this one? (graphic dings) In terms of accessories, I use this little Rode Video Mic Me, which is a small shotgun mic that attaches to your phone via the lightening port. It's super handy, but unfortunately, I always have to take off the case if I wanna use it, and it also comes with this little wind muff as well. Which is great in windy situations, and you kind of need it even if there's only a little bit of wind. But it does make it a lot more noticeable, so people might s

tart staring at you. I also use this variable ND filter, this is the Sandmarc Motion Variable ND filter, I think. I'm not sure, I'll link it down below. And you just clip it to your phone over the camera, and then you can control how much light is coming in. And that's perfect if you wanna shoot in manual settings, and wanna control your shutter speed or your frame rate. If I wanna shoot using manual settings, I use the Protake app, which I have on my phone and it lets me control each of the set

tings individually. If I vlog with my iPhone, I'm also using the Manfrotto Mini Tripod, and the SwitchPod phone clamp to hold the phone. Taking this off again. Okay, ease of use. So this is by far the most convenient setup of the three. Even if you don't use any of the accessories that I just showed you, you can still get pretty decent results. If you're filming on your iPhone, I feel like it's much less obvious that you're vlogging. And you can just pretend that you are on a FaceTime call. But

with all these accessories, that might give it away. Okay, let's talk about image quality. This is actually the biggest drawback for me when using the iPhone for vlogging, cause I feel like the image quality is just not comparable to the other two cameras. And I personally don't like how the image looks, and how artificial it looks. Especially when the software kicks in to correct exposure and different areas of the image, it just makes it look a bit weird. And I even find this when I'm using th

e Protake app, and shoot in manual settings. I usually try to use the standard wide camera on the back, even if I'm filming myself, because I know this has the best image quality. And I don't really use the front camera very often. And this is the test footage using the iPhone. I'm using the Video Mic Me for sound, and the Sandmarc Variable ND filter. And I'm holding the phone with the Manfrotto Mini Tripod. I'm very precious when it comes to image quality, but if you are just starting out, I th

ink the iPhone is a great tool and it's perfectly fine for getting into vlogging. All right, here's a quick recap for you. The Fujifilm setup wins in image quality, but is the most inconvenient to use and it's got a lot of expensive gear. The Sony ZV-1 doesn't really win in any category, but it does a good job in both image quality and ease of use. You have to pay for the camera once, but you don't really need any accessories. The iPhone is the clear winner when it comes to convenience and ease

of use, but the biggest compromise is the image quality. Generally, I think you can create great vlogs with each of these setups. All three cameras can shoot in 4K and up to 120 frames per second, so it really comes down to your personal preference. And ultimately, it's all about story telling anyway, and how you keep your viewers engaged. I personally watch vlogs on YouTube that have been shot on the iPhone entirely, and I don't really mind. But what is my favorite vlogging setup? You might hav

e guessed it, it's all of them. Because each one of them is working really well for certain situations. What I do find interesting is that I see myself returning to the big vlogging setup with the mirrorless camera a lot more often than I thought I would, because, you know, I got the Sony ZV-1, and all the iPhone accessories so I don't have to use the big camera for vlogging. But, in some cases, I just prefer using that, and that's mostly when I want the best image quality. Here are some example

s of different use cases for each of these vlogging setups. For travel vlogs, I use the Fujifilm if I want the very best image quality, or the Sony ZV-1. For a day in the life vlog, I would use the iPhone or the Sony ZV-1, and for a behind the scenes vlog I would also use the iPhone or the Sony ZV-1, depending on how much gear I'm already carrying around. That's it for this video. I hope you enjoyed this comparison. Let me know in the comments below what you are currently using for vlogging, and

if you could see yourself using one of these three setups yourself. If you like the video, give it a thumbs up, it would really help the channel out. And if you wanna see full length vlogs, I'm gonna link an example for each of these setups below so you can check it out. And again, I've linked all the stuff that I've talked about in today's video below as well, if you wanna have a look. And once again, thanks so much for watching. And I'll see you in the next one. Take care.