5 Pieces of Equipment You Need to Start as a Videographer

Starting out as a freelance videographer can be a daunting, exciting and unfortunately very expensive journey! Without doubt, equipment is one of the key components needed for a successful career making videos. It’s a frustrating reality, because without the best equipment you may struggle to get the best jobs. However, there are lots of things you can do to maximise more affordable pieces of gear and ultimately build your way up to eventually attaining some of the latest equipment on the market. In this short blog, we’re going to look at five essential pieces of kit you need to start your solo videography journey.

The Camera

Probably the hardest and most expensive purchase on this list! Deciding on a camera will be dependent on what you envisage you’ll be shooting. I know in my case, I started out with Canon DSLRs, but switched to Sony several years ago for the amazing low light capabilities. This was important to me as a run and gun filmmaker as lighting isn’t always available on a shoot. However, in your case, you may be doing a lot of studio work where lighting is always consistent – perhaps a Canon or Panasonic would be for you? In terms of user friendliness, Canon cameras are always great to learn on if you’re quite literally going into this with no prior experience. As a whole though, I would advise purchasing a camera under £1,000 and possibly look into picking up something second hand to save that bit more money.

Audio

Incredibly important this one. Having sufficient audio if you’re going to be capturing interviews or speeches is what will make a video watchable or not. More often than not, viewers will turn a video off if the audio is hard to listen to. In 2021, there are so many options available now for picking up great audio on a budget. The Rode Wireless Go is a great little microphone that is easy to use, comes without the headache of wires and is available for less than £150. Perfect for sticking on talent!

Annoyingly audio can come with complications, and you may find yourself in a situation where a client is asking you to capture multiple sources of audio at once, at an event for example. In situations like this, if feasible, a boom mic or on camera microphone can work really well. An affordable option would be the Rode VideoMic Pro which comes in at just over £200 for the latest model, or around £150 for the slightly older one.

Tripod

The easiest and cheapest purchase you can make. Unless the camera you’re using is incredibly heavy, you can pick up a lightweight and durable tripod for under £100 on Amazon. For smooth pans and tilts, getting a tripod with a fluid head is a great way of adding some movement into your footage when it comes to capturing B-Roll.

Lighting

Lighting came very late down the line for me as a filmmaker. As previously mentioned, for ‘run and gun’ filmmaking, you’re not always going to have the time to setup beautiful lighting for interviews and more often than not will have to rely on what the location gives you. That said, having some lights on hand will always be of benefit to you. Neewer offer a limited range of lighting options all around the £100-300 mark which are sufficient for lighting interviews and products. You may find yourself wanting to upgrade on these rather quickly as they do come with their faults, but as an option for when you’re just starting out, they will be absolutely fine.

Lenses

Lenses almost feel like the most luxurious purchase when it comes to video, because in so many cases they can end up costing more than the actual camera itself. Chances are when you start out, you’ll be confined to using a kit lens which comes with the camera, however you will soon find yourself requiring a wide lens for interiors, a macro lens for close ups of products and a telephoto lens for capturing things in the distance that you can’t always get close to. A good mid-range focal length would be a 24-70mm which enables you to get great wide shots, but also that bit closer to your subject when required.

An amazing camera for first time videographers would be Canon’s XC15 as it already has a lens built into the body and boasts a fantastic focal range, along with 4K filming capabilities. You lose the low-light incentive that you’d get with a Sony camera, but if you’re willing to make that investment in lighting then you could actually find yourself making a sufficient saving in the short term.

So, there you have it! Five pieces of equipment you need when starting out as a videographer. My advice would always be to spend as little as possible and then gradually upgrade on your equipment when it is an affordable and right time to do so. It can be incredibly easy to get carried away when spending on new kit, so balancing your investments with the work you have coming in is absolutely key.