The Equipment Needed To Shoot Professional Videos for Your Business

So you’ve decided: Your business needs some professional videos. That’s one of the best choices you could make, considering how many potential customers rely on videos to decide whether to buy. But… how exactly are you going to do it?

 Hiring an entire team is expensive, and the costs will multiply the more videos you make. They could even reach so high that they’d eat into the profit they’re supposed to bring in.

 Filming the video yourself is a great alternative, but you’re going to need supplies.

Camera

Almost everyone owns at least one decent camera: their phone. Modern phone cameras have remarkable filming abilities, and some people have even created feature-length films with them.

Nonetheless, relying on a phone makes everything harder. For videos of the highest quality, you’ll need something better.

The best option for general purposes is a mid-range DSLR, which you might be able to find new for around £600.

DSLR stands for digital single-lens reflex camera, but you don’t need to study all the technical details to get started. Here are the features that make DSLRs a great choice: 

  • Durability
  • Versatility
  • Great image quality
  • Usable with multiple lenses
  • Fast and broad focusing abilities
  • Easy-to-adjust aperture settings
  • Good battery life
  • Compatible with a wide variety of accessories 

The following DSLRs are great for business owners who want to get the best bang for their buck:

Under £750

  • Best for Beginners—Canon M50 Mark II
  • Best Overall Performance—Panasonic G80

Under £2,000

  • Most Versatile—Sony A7III
  • Best Overall Performance—Canon EOS 90D

 £3,000+

  • Professional but Affordable—Sony A7SIII

Remember that if you pick a super-professional camera, you’ll need to spend a lot more money on lenses. It’s impossible to take advantage of the features that make such cameras so pricey in the first place without multiple high-end lenses.

Lenses

Cameras already have lenses, so you might wonder why you’d need another. Though DSLRs come with workhorse lenses that function admirably for diverse purposes, some videos require more specialised options.

These are just a few situations that might require additional lenses: 

  • Recording in low light
  • Recording fine details of fast processes
  • Recording vast expanses or distant objects
  • Recording tiny things

A video production expert can advise you on which lens best suits niche purposes. It’s obvious that a zoom lens zooms in on small stuff, but other lens types might be trickier to choose.

 If you’re on a tight budget, don’t despair: You can probably get away with sticking to the lens that comes with your DSLR. 

Tripods

Modern cameras have stabilisation features to avoid movement-related blurriness in still photos and shakiness in videos. However, there’s only so much a camera can do in the hands of a human.

Since it’s impossible to hold a camera perfectly still on your own, you’ll need a tripod.

Some filmmakers purposely go for the subtly shaky look of going without tripods, but that’s usually because they’re trying to achieve a gritty or claustrophobic feel—something like a horror movie or an intense scene in a cop drama.

That probably isn’t what you’re going for when trying to show off your business.

You can choose from several tripod styles: 

  • Handheld—This type will give you freedom of movement while preserving stability.
  • Adjustable—These tripods often have several usage modes. You can hang them up, set them on the ground, hold them, or use them in other creative ways.
  • Traditional—This style should already be familiar. It’s the three-legged tripod that rests on the ground, which many of us have seen in behind-the-scenes clips of film shoots.

 Though some tripods have exorbitant prices, you can find gems for under £150. 

Audio Equipment

If you have to cut costs somewhere, it shouldn’t involve skipping an external microphone. Otherwise, your video could wind up with a muffled, tinny, or incomprehensible sound.

Some cameras have built-in microphones that work fine for home movies, but professional shoots demand something more. 

Shotgun mics are a great option. They’re highly focused instruments that pick up the sound directly in front of them while ignoring ambient noise. You can purchase a good one for around £100.

Bring a windscreen to protect the mic for outdoor filming on windy days. They’re so inexpensive that you’ll barely notice the cost; you might even be able to find one for under £10. 

Lighting

Human eyes function much better in low-light conditions than an average camera. The difference isn’t subtle: It’s common to film in what looks like decent lighting only to discover that the video is dim and blurry.

Insufficient lighting is the most common way light can go wrong. Even if that’s not an issue, proper lighting goes beyond dark versus light.

The placement of light sources and angle of illumination also matter, as does colour temperature. Your project will probably benefit from picking warm light (yellow undertones) or cool light (blue undertones) but not both.

Bad lighting can cause all of the following:

  • Sickly-looking skin tone
  • Distorted colours
  • A blurry or grainy look
  • Inappropriate mood, such as a gloomy feel when you were going for peppy
  • Distracting shadows
  • Flat-looking visuals

Any decent DSLR should come with a light metre to tell you whether there’s sufficient illumination.

Though you might be able to cobble together proper lighting with light sources you already own, it won’t be easy.

What is a budget-conscious videographer to do? These supplies will keep your spending in check: 

  • A reflector multiplies the effect of ambient light and can alter its tone temperature.
  • A softbox softens light while preserving illumination.

If you’ve got more funds, you can choose from any number of professional lights. Some favourites of longtime experts cost about £850 new. Even if you buy fancy lights, getting a reflector and softbox is still helpful for making minor adjustments.

Sunlight is, of course, the brightest light around. Videographers relying on sunlight generally use softboxes to reduce any harshness. On grey days, clouds can function as a giant softbox. 

Conclusion

Producing your own videos is a smart way to cut costs while creating high-quality content. As tempting as it may be, don’t skip accessories in favour of getting a more expensive camera! The perfect camera is nothing without support from excellent supplies to create the proper stability, imagery, sound, and lighting.