Best Camera Equipment?

Baldbiker

L Plate Member
Mar 7, 2021
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Africa Twin DCT
I think part of the reason my vids have been streaming blurry (even though Im shooting at 1080p/60) is because my camera is just too old. It was a Hero 3+, and although it worked well, I need to up my equipment if I'm going to up my game on Youtube. I see tons of other vlogging vids playing in 720p on Youtube and look far sharper and clearer than mine when I play them back, all using the same internet connection.

So, this year I've invested in some new gear, inspired by Itchyboots, although she has since upgraded from this setup. I got a Hero 7 Silver for recording facefront view and a Hero 7 Black with the Ulanzi holder and Mic Adapter. Now I can edit multiple views back and forth while editing on the one soundtrack. Something Im sure most of you already do, but hey, I'm trying to catch up here.

I also got some new camera mounts, and I use a DJI osmo pocket for walking around and talking, filming views and anything that is not while riding the bike. I've been using this in my July camping series on my channel as well for when I was at the campsites.

Hopefully these upgrades will pick up my game. Anyone has any suggestions for something else that would help, leave it in the comments, would be glad to hear from you.

20200703_133506.jpg
 
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Baldbiker

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Mar 7, 2021
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I just want to follow up on my post, sorry I am still new to the site and noticed there is an entire section for camera equipment. I'll post in the right spot next time.
 

HippoDrone

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Have moved it for you mate :)

As for cameras and kit, it is a very expensive minefield if you let it be so. I like my tech so keep up to date on the latest GoPro cameras (you don't need to, I am just an idiot :D I also love my 360 cameras, they can really add a new dimension to your footage! :)
 

Moto Mengy

Motovlogger from PA, USA
Mar 23, 2020
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I use a Hero 8 on the helmet and a Hero 7 Black on the bars looking back. I love this setup and it works flawlessly for me, I'll probably run it until one of my cameras breaks or something!

I do need to buy more batteries though. I often go out and film multiple motovlogs in a single day long ride, and my current four battery packs have limited me a few times.
 

Baldbiker

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Mar 7, 2021
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On my last year's 9 day camping/biking trip I missed a ton of opportunities to film due to batteries running out too soon. I had 4 batteries but still had issues when doing long jaunts on the road and also what I now realize to be filming too much road footage. I mean, who wants to sit and watch the road for 3-5 minutes at a time in a video? My Analytics tell me it was a mistake. Then I found myself explaining in the video how I saw something really amazing, but didn't get any video because my battery was dead. So, as an answer, Im getting a nice big power bank to bring along too. I have USB chargers on this new bike as well. I want to be charging while riding, and charging wherever I stop regardless of my power situation. The power bank I got also charges via solar cells too. Next year Im not missing out on the good stuff any more! Im stopping the bike and I'm filming!
 

Theodor

Don't wannabe
Nov 16, 2017
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You know it. Those 360 cams are over $800 CAD in my neck of the woods.
Still seems just a tad cheaper than what I paid for. But very much hoping to experiment with it soon. I have so many ideas boiling in my head already, not only my youtube channel related. Just got to keep in mind, it will probably not look as sharp as my Garmin, due to the field of view.

Something else to consider, besides hardware, is maybe check which encoding do you use, when rendering the video. The more conversions the footage gets, the lower the final quality will be. So if you see significant difference between youtube and your footage, on footage with little or no movement, you might want to check that.
 

Loki2W

Wannabie Member
Feb 19, 2021
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CB650R
Yes gopro3 is a bit old but PLEASE do NOT worry too much about gear!
Your style and content is way more important.

Most of the footage you see online is usually heavily edited in post. The gopro ads that claimed they were recorded with a gopro is indeed recorded with a gorpo, just with additional tricks (nd filter, good recorder, good music, good composition, good pace, post production: color grading, distortion, slo-mo) that make the footage much more pleasing to the eyes.

I used a beaten up gopro 6 (“borrowed” from a friend), recorded audio with my iPhone, amateur post with Premiere


Looking back at the famous motovloggers, you can always notice their “cheaper” gears but somehome still manage to convey their “style”: Schaaf early clips are recorded with pro3/4, most dont even have 360 cam until recently.

That being said tho, there are couple tips to get the best of your equipment:

1. Gopro setting
- Use schaaf method if you are not doing slo-mo
- 24 fps, 1/48 ss with nd filter for motion blur
- turn off gopro color (use flat color) so you can edit correctly in post production
- turn off gopro sharpness so you can do it later in post
- lock iso if you are using nd filter

2. Audio
- most important thing just right below your style/story

3. Rendering
- research the correct setting: bit rate, 2 pass vbr, ranges, etc...
This is really important on how your footage will look like in the end.

youtube seems to have better image quality if you upload in 4k and let their software compress down rather than using 1080 from the get go. You also need to accept that youtube quality will always be shit compared to what you rendered out.
 
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Baldbiker

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I noticed some of my favorite vloggers have been using the 360 max for only a few episodes, then just stopped. I wonder if maybe they are too much hassle.
 
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HRMV

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I noticed some of my favorite vloggers have been using the 360 max for only a few episodes, then just stopped. I wonder if maybe they are too much hassle.
I think there is still so much work to do in post shooting that it's maybe not worth it. The shots are awesome but if your having to edit a 5 second clip but it's taking you a half hour to do it it's not really making time economic sense
 

HippoDrone

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I noticed some of my favorite vloggers have been using the 360 max for only a few episodes, then just stopped. I wonder if maybe they are too much hassle.
I sold my GoPro Max as I never used it as a 360 camera, I just used it in Hero mode. I found the Insta360 cameras far far easier to work with 360 footage as the Insta360 Studio software works really well and is fast too!
 
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Baldbiker

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As a follow up, I did a little bit of footage with my new camera, then posted it online to see how it looks while streaming. There is a noticable difference. I guess this proves my theory that it was time for a new camera.
 
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HippoDrone

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YouTube compresses footage really badly at 1080, if you upscale it when editing to be 2.7k it tricks YouTube into giving a better codec
 

HippoDrone

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I also find 2.7k is the sweet spot until the channel grow to a size big enough to justify 4k haha
Facebook has much better quality tho.
I've always found FB to be far worse than YT with the short clips I've uploaded
 
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