Equipment I use to make art & tutorial videos

Here's the list of equipment I use to make my art, sketchwalk and tutorial videos on Youtube. Some brands are mentioned but it's really a personal preference. Most companies have competing products with rather similar features. I just want to point out the features that worked for me.

Camera

I use a Panasonic GH4. This is a mirrorless camera that uses the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor format. Basically it's a smaller version of typical DSLR systems such as Canon and Nikon. I went the mirrorless route because the cameras and lens setup are relatively more compact and weigh less.

Other manufacturers also make their own mirrorless formats. The other reason why I went with Micro Four Thirds is because of the wide variety of lens available. However for shooting videos, I use only those with stabilisation... More on that later.

The best thing for me about Panasonic's MFT cameras would be the video quality. It's fantastic. I know there are other brands that also have cameras with good video quality but I wanted something that's compact and portable. Panasonic's image quality is good but it can never beat cameras with bigger sensors. Anyway, every camera will be a tradeoff in certain aspects.

Over the years, I've used Panasonic GF1, GX7, GH2, GH3 and now the GH4.

When you're shooting video, it's important to get a camera with a microphone input. Audio is as important as the video itself. If your camera does not have mic input, you're at the mercy of outdoor conditions, e.g. heavy traffic, ambience noise. Try to get a camera with a 3.5mm port so that you don't have to get a 2.5-3.5mm adaptor. If you can't get a camera with 3.5mm port, at least one with 2.5mm port.

For people with limited budget, the previous generation GH3 is still a fantastic camera. Main difference from the GH4 is the newer camera can shoot 4K, but you don't really need that kind of resolution to produce art tutorials, or homemade videos.

Here are some videos shot from various cameras:
GX7 | GH2 | GH3 | GH4

Lens

There are three things to note about lens: zoom, aperture and image stabilisation.

The lens I use most of the time is a Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens.

The effective field of view with that lens is 24mm to 70mm because of the camera sensor's crop. 24mm is a wide angle lens so it's great for capturing a wide view, such as group photos, landscapes. It can also zoom in to a less wide view of 70mm for close ups and details. Just for comparison, most phones come with 24 either 28mm lens. Having a zoom lens is much more convenient than using a fixed lens. With zoom, you can stand at a spot and adjust the field of view using the lens. With a fixed lens, you have to move your feet and sometimes you may not want to do that for particular reasons or because you just cannot because of the location.

Aperture determines how much light it can let in. The bigger the aperture, the better, and the more expensive the lens will be. Generally speaking f0.95 to f2 would be considered big and bright (some call it fast), f/2.8 above average and anything smaller than f/2.8 such as f/3.5 and smaller are considered slow lens. Larger aperture lets in more light, so you'll get better image quality especially in dark conditions, such as when shooting indoors. Large aperture allows you to shoot at faster shutter speed so that your moving subjects, such as people, will not be blur.

It's important to get a lens with optical image stabilisation. Some camera bodies have stabilisation so you may not need that in the lens itself but check to see if there's a microphone port. Stabilisation is critical when you want to create handheld videos. Without stabilisation, I have to bring a heavy tripod and I don't like to carry extra weigh if possible because I'm already carrying a lot of art materials.

So the lens that I'm using, the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens, satisfies the criteria on my checklist. The only downside is it weighs 305g, still lighter than bringing a tripod.

Sometimes I use the bundled kit lens, the Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 because it's lighter (165g). It nearly satisfy all my criteria as well except the aperture is smaller. So it's not that good when used indoors, or when zoom in because it will make the aperture smaller (f/5.6).

Aperture steps/stops go like this, from f/0.95 to 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8 and so on. If you can shoot at the widest f/0.95, you can use the lowest ISO and get the best visual noise control quality (depending on the sharpness of the lens). Let's say you can shoot at ISO 200 at f/0.95 and get good noise control. Let's say your camera's video quality becomes unusable at ISO 800. To maintain the same quality, depending on the lighting condition outdoors, say evening, it would be something like this:

f/0.95: ISO 200
f/1.4: ISO 400
f/2: ISO 800
f/2.8: ISO 1600

Once, I brought the 12-35mm f/2.8 lens overseas to shoot and had to shoot at night. I wasn't able capture any useable video because at f/2.8, I had to use ISO 1600 and the video quality was unusable. It's this video: https://vimeo.com/60566880

The other lens that I use frequently is the Olympus 12-50mm f/3.5-f/6.3 lens. The lens mount is also Micro Four Thirds so I can use it on my Panasonic camera. I only use this at home. The zoom is convenient but aperture size is not so good. There's no stabilisation so I have to use a camera tripod. Highlight of the lens is it has a macro function that allows me to shoot closeup. Not many zoom lens have Macro functions. Because this particular zoom lens has macro, it means I don't have to change lens at all. Because sometimes I want a wide view, sometimes I want to zoom in closer slightly, and sometimes I just want to macro to show the details. With other lens, you have to switch lens and it's a hassle at times. However, this Olympus lens is not a lens good for handheld video as there's no stabilisation.

Microphone

As mentioned earlier, audio is as important as video quality.

The microphones I use are the Sennheiser MKE 400 and Sennheiser EW 100 G3.

I don't use both at the same time as there's only one 3.5mm microphone port on my camera.

The Sennheiser MKE 400 is a shotgun microphone. It's a directional mic that's able to isolate and pick up audio from the front. This is good for interviews. I like this mic because it's compact, light and use one AAA battery. It's good when your vlogs involves a lot of your face-time because you can point the camera and mic at yourself. It's not as good when you want to shoot something that's in front of you and speak at the same time because the mic is pointing away from you. Usually, this means I have to detach the mic to point it towards me. A hassle.

That hassle lead me to buy the wireless Sennheiser EW 100 G3. This is a lavalier mic, like those clip-on mics used by TV presenters. So now I can point at myself or away and speak at the same time and audio will always be recorded with clarity. Downside is it's heavier. Depending on how many other things I bring outdoors, to make things light, I bring the smaller shotgun mic instead.

Anyway, there's a more detailed article that I've written about microphones at https://www.parkablogs.com/content/best-external-microphone-bloggers-an…

Tripod

Tripod is useful for videos but they are heavy.

If your lens or camera does not have stabilisation, a tripod is a must. If your lens or camera has stabilisation, you can create hand held video that won't make people giddy. If you want a shot that's stable, you have to use a tripod.

I use the full-size Velbon Ultra Maxi L. The latest model is Velbon ULTRA 355 (shown above). It's not a light tripod, but it's lighter compared to other brands. Main highlight is the collapsible lens are easy to deploy and keep. You can turn the leg and pull to extend. With other tripods, there are usually latches where you have to release. For a full size tripod, each leg has three latches.

There's a smaller size tripod called the Velbon Ultra 353 Mini Q. It's more compact and lighter but the maximum height is up to knee level. It's good to put on the table to shoot while you're sketching, such as I how did it in this video below where I was sketching at a cafe.

I use the mini tripod because it's probably not good manners to put a huge tripod in the cafe.

For drawing tutorials or those flip-through videos (shown below), I use the full size tripod tipped to one side so that the camera can roughly point down almost directly.

A tripod head is included so that you can use your camera on it straightaway, obviously. However the best tripod head, or the one I prefer, are those ball heads, basically anything without that handle. The handle takes up space and I find it difficult to maneuver to get steady shots.

Both my big and mini tripod use the same ball head. That allows me to use the same tripod plate (QB-3B) on the camera and I can use the camera on either tripod. The tripod plate is on all my cameras all the time. Many models of ballhead can be used with that tripod plate. I use the Velbon QHD-41Q and QHD-51Q which have been discontinued. Regardless of which tripod head or release plate you buy, I recommend getting one that's compact.

Software

I use Final Cut Pro on Mac OS. Sometimes I use iMovie.

If you're starting out, perhaps it might be better to learn Adobe Premiere since this software is available on both Windows and Mac. There will be no problem when you switch systems in the future.

Compact camera

All the camera and accessories mentioned above can be quite heavy. If you just want a lightweight video camera, then I say get the Sony RX100 IV. Downside is it uses a built-in mic. Or shoot with your camera with a wired lavalier like the iRig Mic or Rode SmartLav+.

Here's the video quality of Sony RX100 IV:

Conclusion

There's no perfect camera. Each camera will have some sort of compromise. For example, for the GH4 I'm using, I wished it can be lighter. Or for the Sony RX100 IV that I recommend as a compact camera, I wished it had an external microphone port.

The most important thing though is the microphone. Good audio is more important that visual quality of the video. This is more so if the video is going to have people talking.