- Hi there.
If you are new here, my name is TJ.
I'm a travel and food vlogger,
and this is my vlogging setup.
I'm filming this in collaboration with Skillshare.
If you do not know them yet, okay,
they are an online platform with classes including growing
your Instagram, turning your creative hobbies into money,
and taking your video skills from zero to over 9,000.
They're giving the first 500 of you
a free two months trial.
That's right, that's two months of free classes.
Even after that, it's just about $10 a month
for an annual membership.
That's a little for a lot of knowledge.
You can take advantage of that freebie and grab it
by clicking the link in description.
(TJ claps twice) All right.
Let's talk gear.
Number one, this vlogging setup is for people
who wanna create higher-quality videos.
Number two, if you're looking for a more compact setup,
you can check out my older video for minimalist travelers,
and number three, you do not, do not,
do not, do not have to buy this entire setup.
This is just what I use,
and hopefully you guys can get some good ideas.
I will be offering cheaper and free alternatives
throughout the video, because I know
that this can get very, very expensive.
All my money goes into video making or food.
That is why I have worn the same outfit
in many, many videos. (TJ laughs)
Wassup, mm.
Okay, let's talk camera.
(jazzy instrumental music)
My camera is the Sony A6500.
It's light and small, two very important things
when filming on the go, especially when you're traveling.
Video quality is great.
It's got 4K, 120 frames per second for sexy slow motion,
and you get a range of lenses to swap in and out of.
Also, a microphone port for better audio.
It's much better audio than the smaller vlogging cameras,
such as the Sony RX or Canon G7 X.
I had this one for about three years.
It's pretty much broken.
Check out this big hole to Narnia on it, ha.
If we wanna talk camera terms, 24 megapixels,
it's cropped, which means it's a step smaller
than the full-frame, and it has great image resolution.
For the price, the size, and the quality,
I just found this camera unbeatable.
However, a camera can't be that perfect,
because this one doesn't have a flip screen.
Why?
So I can't call it the perfect vlogging camera,
but it is a great camera.
So, to combat the fact that it doesn't have a flip screen,
I did buy a monitor.
This is the Sony monitor.
This was great for my recent vlogging series where I was
filming alone and needed to see how I looked in the shots.
But, I don't love having this monitor.
This one didn't even come with a battery in the box.
I've heard good things about SmallHD monitors,
but they are I think $500, and that's 500
McDonald's one-dollar cheeseburgers, yeah.
So a free way to see yourself is just to connect
your camera through your phone through Bluetooth.
The only problem with this is sometimes it's a little bit
laggy, so it's not as real-time as you want it.
Another way to effortlessly vlog
is to have a lens, a wide angle lens.
Getting a super wide angle lens
is something you wanna do in vlogging
because you can get a lot of that background goody.
The one I purchased is the Sony 10 to 18mm.
PS, I recommend a great lens
for half the price at the end of this video.
I love this lens so much.
It is so wide and autofocuses well.
I love the zoom in and out effects when vlogging.
The only thing that hurts about this lens is the price.
But, when I'm walking in a rush,
just need to pick up the camera to vlog, having this wide
angle lens ensures I will be in the shot no matter what.
(jazzy instrumental music)
I used to the JOBY GorillaPod a lot.
This is what it looks like.
But JOBY came out with a new line called the TelePods,
and what I love about the TelePods is that it's a tripod,
so you can see it on things, and it's also a selfie stick.
So the Asian in me is screaming, oh my gosh, oh.
(TJ laughs)
Because I'm a food vlogger,
I often have a table setup in front of me.
So I set the TelePod on a chair or a table,
and then I extend it to kind of get the best angle.
It's basically a portable setup.
It's so much lighter than carrying a tripod,
although if you're interested in the tripod I use
for proper gigs, I'll also link it in the description.
Audio.
Audio is very, very important,
and good audio is difficult to get when vlogging.
People will tolerate shaky footage and blurry footage,
but they usually will hate bad audio.
While we can't get perfect audio every time,
there's a couple of ways you can ensure
that you get better quality.
I used to use a Zoom H1 with a lavalier.
It's a great external recorder, but it was annoying,
because it doesn't clip to you, and bumping into it
means hitting this part, which broke a lot of my lavaliers.
I upgraded to this Tascam.
It comes with its own microphone with a condenser.
It's so compact and has never failed in capturing my voice,
even with loud music and chatter in the background.
This is a huge investment, though,
for people who really want that sweet nectar of audio.
You can also just get an on-camera microphone.
This is best if you're vlogging on the go.
This is the Rode VideoMicro.
It's powerful.
It plugs right into your camera, battery-free,
and it's so small.
VideoMicro is supposed to come with a poof
so that when the wind blows, you don't hear
that sound, but I lost mine.
One thing to know about this microphone that is great
is if you just use your iPhone to vlog,
which you totally can, you just need to make sure
to get a different connector.
So I'll link it all in the description,
but this one has a gray tip, and that's for the iPhone,
and this one, you can connect to the camera.
Cheaper alternative two.
Get a lavalier for your phone.
They cost around $20.
You can plug it into your phone
when you're recording with your camera.
Because the lavalier is just closer to you,
the audio will be clearer than from the audio
in-camera that's two, three feet away from you.
You just need to sync the audio in post-production,
and I have an editing tutorial coming out,
so I'll show you guys how to do that in that.
My full Transformers-looking setup
with everything looks like this.
One thing I didn't mention
because it's not necessary unless you get
everything is the small rig cage you see right here.
This allows me to attach the monitor
and have space on the side to attach a microphone.
My everyday go-to setup when I don't
need all of that looks like this.
I have super small hands, so the equipment looks really big,
but trust me when I say this is
quite the compact setup for most people.
Again, you don't need the whole thing.
Let me suggest to you guys some combinations.
If you already have a smaller vlogging camera
like Sony RX or G7 X, the biggest problem is the audio,
so you can just get the Tascam,
or you can just get a lavalier with your iPhone
for situations where you need clear audio.
If you have a nice camera but no flip screen to vlog,
get an app that connects the screen
to your phone, or a wide-angle lens.
The Sigma 60mm f/1.4 is half the price of the Sony,
and the quality is truly sickening, bruh.
There you go, you guys.
That is my vlogging setup.
I'm really saving up and hoping to get a new Sony.
I think they just came out with a new one.
But in general, for all my videos,
I love using the Sony A6500.
Even the videos where someone is filming me,
that's usually also filmed on the A6500.
I hope this gave you guys some good ideas
on what to use for your own vlogging setup.
You know, you can really get creative.
You can go cheap on some things
and just invest in something better.
You don't have to get everything high-quality.
We just gotta learn to make it work, you know?
Thank you guys so much for tuning
in to my vlogging setup for 2019.
Please be sure to give this video a big thumbs up.
Oh, one more thing before we go.
If you guys are really interested in vlogging
and starting your own YouTube channel
or growing your own YouTube channel, I do have
a travel vlogging course called Viewing to Vlogging.
It doesn't focus on cinematics, which, good thing
Skillshare is sponsoring this video, because you guys
can actually get a lot of good cinematic classes
there for like, $10 a month.
Well, it's free right now.
My class focuses a lot on the branding
and marketing aspects of it, and then
the business part of having your own YouTube channel.
If you guys are interested in learning more,
be sure to check out the description,
because it has a link to the course,
and it has a free training for you.
All right, time to go.
My stomach has been growling
this entire video. (TJ laughs)
I hope the microphone didn't catch it.
But I will see you guys next time.
Thumbs up this video.
Thank you so much again for watching, and bye-bye!
(jazzy instrumental music)