Ahoj, this is Zdenka.
What's in my camera bag 2024?
Well, it's getting smaller and smaller thanks to latest technology
and that's a good thing.
The outdoor filming season is about to start.
It's time to make decisions about what will be included in our camera bags.
I certainly made my decision,
so in this video, I'm going to be sharing with you what I am
including in my camera bag when it comes to filming
outdoors on a location.
I will be also sharing a lot of tips and my thoughts when it comes to gear
because no, you don't need to buy every single latest
camera gear on the market.
All the gear will be linked below
for those interested.
First of all, I am not changing my camera bag.
I got this one three years ago.
I also reviewed it on this channel.
The best camera bag I've ever had
and I've been in photography business since 2004.
I have had many different bags.
I had small bags, large bags, backpack, on the wheels, on my shoulder.
It's simply a day and night difference.
It's PGYTECH
One-mo backpack.
I've had some people commenting in the past
asking me if I still like this one.
I love that bag.
I've put it through some much dirt, snow,
rain and look, it looks brand new.
I don't know what kind of material it is, but there is no scratch, nothing.
My main camera that is filming right now is Sony A7SIII
and unless it's going to break down.
I'm going to destroy it.
I'm going to smash it or do something with it,
there is absolutely no reason for me to even think about changing it
for something else.
One battery is inside and extra battery goes here.
The only lens I use for outdoors filming for all my tutorials
is Tamron 17 to 22mm f/2.8.
It's a budget lens.
It's not weather sealed, so you cannot use it when it rains.
For what I do though, filming YouTube tutorials,
the lens gives me exactly what I need.
I have bigger selection for the lenses for studio filming.
I would love to share my thoughts when it comes to buying a camera.
So I am on this channel for six years now
and when I started I was using just a camcorder.
Then I got Canon M50 because my budget was very low.
I needed something quite cheap.
Very shortly I overgrown the camera and then I got Canon M6 Mark two.
To be perfectly honest, I definitely overgrown
this camera as well and I am just using the Sony right now for everything.
Obviously back then my budget was low so
I could not buy right away Sony camera.
But perhaps instead of getting Canon M50, I should have gotten right away
with something like this one, a Canon M6 Mark two, because
buying all the accessories, there was a lot of money lost.
So if you have the flexibility
to buy instead of the cheapest camera on the market
maybe a level higher, that will give you a little bit longer time before
you realize that you outgrown the camera and you need something better.
Of course, depending whether you are doing video videos, if you are just a hobbyist
just doing for fun, then you will be okay with Canon M50.
But if you are using your camera for your business,
or creating YouTube videos, or taking it to the next level down the road,
then the
cheapest camera you are going to get will not be enough for you down the road.
At least that was my experience.
Everybody will have their own experience,
but yes, I have lost a lot of money there.
I should have made a little bit different decisions back then.
When it comes to filters, I use Freewell versatile magnetic set.
I absolutely love this set.
I love that it's all in one.
It's compact and it's magnetic.
The quality is there, no doubt.
It gives me the ability to quickly change things on the go
because of the magnets.
You don't have to mount the filters on the lens, only the base.
You mount the base, and then the rest just snaps in.
I do have very important tip when it comes to buying filters.
Please don't buy the cheapest all in one filter.
I mean, F1 to
F8 in 1, because when are you going to be closing the filter,
when you going to be making it darker,
you will end up with the crosshatch patterns.
If you have a great camera with a great lens,
the picture is amazing from that lens and camera.
Once you put that filter on, the more you close it,
it's going to literally destroy the footage.
I've been there.
I bought those cheap filters.
Definitely don't use them.
The best solution is to buy filters that come in 2.
Basically, they are split in 2.
You get lower F stops and higher F stops.
Those filters don't have that crosshatch pattern.
You will definitely get the quality there.
There are two brands I do have here.
There are definitely more brands out there, but I don't know them.
I did not come in contact with them,
so I have Moment filters and I have Freewell filters.
Those 2 brands I highly recommend.
When it comes to microphone,
my best friend is Comica Vimo-C.
It's a wireless microphone.
So far I never had an issue with connection
even if I turned my back towards my camera and walked far away.
I can use it with any camera I have here.
Smartphone as well.
It's easy to hide as it is small.
One thing I learned from experience though,
is that if you attach it to materials such as winter
jacket, you have to be very careful as it can slip.
As I was filming in the winter with it,
there were a few times when it fell off my jacket.
Luckily, I always found it.
Now what I do when I'm filming with that jacket and
I have the microphone on there,
I literally check all the time,
or better yet, I just open up a little bit of jacket
if it's not too cold, and then I put it directly on my sweater.
When you are wearing t shirt or sweater or hoodie,
it's holding very well.
It's just not doing very well
with those slippery materials such as my winter jacket.
Another important tip is here
when it comes to microphones, because you don't want to be me.
I am very notorious at this.
You don't want to be me.
So learn from my mistakes, please.
When you get a microphone like that Comica Vimo-C, which is pretty high tech,
it's got all kinds of filters and stuff on it.
Grab the manual and learn how to use it.
Practice with it at home.
Get it into your head because you don't want to end up
with some videos like me, where you hear the wind sounds.
In the last one, it was there and it should not have been ther.
For me, when I'm filming on locations, my main focus is on teaching
you guys what I am doing and explaining what I am doing,
so my brain is already really full,
you know, busy with that stuff and
I don't sometimes realize
that there is a button I should change to get rid of those noises.
So I told myself this week priority
before I head out outside again, grab that microphone.
Really learn that there are those filters and get it into your head,
so next time when I'm actually outdoors, it's not going to happen again.
So it's not all about the camera always.
The sound is very important as well.
And if those microphones have those features, get to know them and use them.
Don't be like me.
There is one new item here
and that would be a tripod.
Believe it or not,
I've been using the same tripod since 2004 until now.
I had to finally buy a new one because
it fell apart.
Finally.
I've been searching for a while
ahich one to buy?
I chose to go with Smallrig
CT 180 tripod for a number of reasons.
The price was very good.
It's not expensive. It's budget friendly.
It's very lightweight and it can go quite high and quite low.
I'm five nine and a half, fairly tall person,
so I need the camera to go in my eye level.
That's why I needed a little bit higher tripod.
I've had this tripod for about three months now.
I'm getting used to it.
There are three things I don't like though on the tripod.
The one is that the tripod has these turning knobs instead of clamps.
I'm finding that it takes longer with the knob,
as you have to turn it to unlock and then turn to lock.
I couldn't find a similar tripod with clamps,
so that is the reason I got this one.
It might be just me though.
Some other people might really like it.
The other thing I don't like, the two things I don't like,
is that I'm losing these two parts.
This part fell off the other day, and I can't figure out where it's supposed to
be. I will have to probably grab a manual and figure out where it should go back.
The other item is more
problematic because I use it where I hang my camera bag.
Over at a time,
it kind of unscrewed on me and it fell off already two times
when I was filming outdoors.
My big fear is that one day I'm just going to lose it completely.
I do have a camera strap in the bag and
I don't know why. I never use it.
The last time I used it was when I was shooting a wedding last fall.
I was doing a photography there, so I actually put it on the camera.
But for video, I'm finding I really don't need it.
So it's going to be going out of the bag.
There are, however, two items that need to stay in my bag at all times.
Kleenex and these little clothes for cleaning
lenses and filters.
I always have two just in case I lose one by accident.
If you don't have those little clothes, don't worry.
Once you hit 40 around that age, you will get a big birthday present
that's going to be your first pair of glasses.
And then you will learn to have those clothes on every level of your house.
One big camera, one lens, microphone and filters.
Is the ultimate base.
Last year I had a 360 camera in my bag for creative shots,
but this year I'm replacing it with the Insta360 Ace Pro. Why?
I want to create more personal,
kind of like a vlog,
kind of like close-up, style of videos,
so it feels like, as I'm taking you with me on the location,
so you kind of feel like you are there, and that camera can definitely do it.
But I only want those shots here and there.
I don't want to use it throughout the entire video.
This camera is super lightweight, has a great quality,
and I don't need any gimbal as the stabilization is amazing.
I just throw it on the multi mount,
attach a Comica microphone and I'm ready to film.
If I am
filming with both cameras at the same time,
I just leave the Comica microphone on my Sony
and once I sync those clips,
I use sound from Sony and add picture here on there from ace pro.
The production is way faster with this than when I was using the Insta360 X3
as there is the additional step, reframing the shot in the post.
Insta360 X3 this year will be only used
if I need to fake drone shots on a location
I am not allowed to use a drone or if I need a shot
as I am writing an e-bike.
My goal for this year is to simplify
and simplify, and I can't stress it enough.
Simplify my gear. Simplify my production.
Simplify my business.
Simplify everything.
I am moving my whole business to all in one platform.
A lot of things will change down the road.
I will definitely let you know.
Big, big changes are coming.
The last item in my camera bag is a selfie drone
Hover Air camera X1.
Not a typical drone.
It doesn't have a GPS.
You cannot fly it over the water.
You cannot fly it over the snow.
You cannot fly it far away or high,
but it gives perfect quick shots
that can really give you interesting intro to your videos.
Or just spice up your videos.
It is small and it is loud, but I've been filming
with it around the people outdoors and nobody really said anything.
I got few smiles because honestly it looks like a toy.
The camera quality is okay.
It's not amazing.
I like the colors.
It's just a little bit over sharpened.
For me, this is a game changer
and has a permanent spot in my bag.
All I need is a few shots here and there
to create some eye catching moments in the videos.
That's all.
I'm really hoping that they will come out with another version in a year or so,
with better picture quality and longer battery life,
that will be absolutely amazing.
I do have some thoughts when it comes to drones.
Do you really need them?
Well, I just want to share my experience with you a little bit.
Of course, if you have niche, if you're doing videos, for example, travel videos,
and you need to show scenery, definitely drone is a big part of the production.
For me though, in my niche where I'm just teaching people
how to use smartphones, I'm teaching video and photography.
It's not really necessary.
In fact, I had some comments in the past below
my videos where people were saying, I don't really care
about those drone shots, I just want to get to the point.
I just want to learn.
So I had two DJI drones and I sold them
and now I have only the hover, but I'm planning only to use it
to spice up the videos to make a very quick shot here and there.
So I still keep the main focus on what I'm doing, what I'm teaching,
what I'm coaching.
You have to kind of figure out your own direction,
what you are trying to really accomplish with your videos,
and then choose the right equipment accordingly.
I created two tutorials how to fly with a drone,
but to be honest, the rest of the year
that the drone was just sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
There is one more item that I will have only sometimes with me
in my camera bag, and that is this 140W power bank.
This I will take only if I know I will be filming
somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and I will be there for long hours.
I've had trouble before when my smartphone or gimbal got very low with a battery,
and then I was simply rushing to finish the shoot.
What happened to me with
my smartphone, for example, I was using native camera
app somewhere and I forgot to close the camera app.
So I was moving,
I was walking from one location to the other location for quite a while.
Then I got there and looked at the smartphone.
Oops, half of the battery was gone.
I got to say that this year, the iPhone 15 Pro,
I'm not happy with the battery life.
It's quite short.
I am charging it fully before I go filming
and I have to really pay attention to the battery.
Well, this is my base equipment for filming outdoors
YouTube videos in 2024.
Of course, here and there
I'm going to bring additional gear depending on what I am filming,
what I am teaching, what I need with me.
But that's the ultimate base.
Let me know in the comments section below.
What is your most favorite piece of gear in your camera bag.
What is that one item you simply cannot be without?
Believe it or not, for me are those two pieces of cloth
to clean my lenses, filters and my glasses.
If I don't have them and need them, I am in a lot of trouble.
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