I want to bring clarity and understanding to what I believe is the biggest issue currently facing video production growth—whether you are a solopreneur or you are growing a team— and that’s buying the wrong camera gear.
Now that’s not buying the best camera gear, but buying the wrong camera gear for your needs. So I’m going to cover the biggest mistakes I see when people are making their purchasing decisions when it comes to new gear, why that is important overall, and how I would rank your purchase priorities.
But before any of that, the number one thing that will help inform your video production gear purchases is having a very clearly defined goal for your video production output.
Be Crystal Clear About Your Video Goals
Are you creating a vlog? Are you starting a podcast? Are you creating vertical clips? Do you want just a camera that fits in your pocket so you can take pictures of your family and post them on Instagram?
You have to be crystal clear on what it is you’re looking to achieve. Otherwise, you (or your video producer) will always get stuck in this cycle of buying gear that’s not right for you, having to sell it at a loss, coming out with less money, buying more gear, and it just becomes this vicious cycle where you’re not actually gaining any ground when it comes to the quality of your videos.
Understanding your goal when posting content is crucial, especially for real estate agents. Whether creating educational videos, green screens, or ‘Just Closed‘ or ‘Sneak Peek‘ videos, having a clear plan of the category you want your video to be in will help better craft your content.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the latest gear, which is why I want to help everybody else avoid the pitfalls of buying something because you think it’s going to help you get better.
It doesn’t. You get discouraged. You don’t end up using it. You don’t create. I’m a big believer in removing all of those barriers so you can just start creating.
Rather than focusing on the gear, have a defined outcome of what you want to create— and go all in on that. The sexy new gear won’t always 10x your output. When checking out new gear, ask yourself: Is this going to help me make 10 more videos? Is this going to help me make 10 more thumbnails? Is this going to make my videos 10% more brightly lit or sound 10% better? If not, you’re wasting money.
Don’t get discouraged if you see other agents on social media put out videos with drone shots and excellent graphics. You can get great production value off your iPhone, generate a ton of leads, and grow your social media following without a professional camera.
But if you are ready to make some upgrades to your gear, keep reading so you get the best gear for your needs.
Knowledge is the number one thing you should invest in
The first thing to upgrade doesn’t actually have anything to do physically with video gear. It’s your knowledge—and it’s not going to cost you very much at all.
In fact, if you head on over to BAMx right now, we have courses on how to be a better editor, how to edit captions in your videos, what sort of gear we use, and how to place those in production situations. Or if you want a hyper-specific answer to a question, you can find the answer to pretty much anything you want on YouTube.
Educate yourself on the type of video gear for the type of video you’re looking to create. And I see this all the time when people want to create long-form podcasts, but the videos that they’re watching teach them how to use a green screen or how to color video, or how they can better animate objects in after effects. None of that helps you shoot balance audio or turn around and edit a podcast quicker. (This is why defining your video goals is so important.)
Whether that is video-based knowledge, book-based knowledge, or joining different groups or communities like the one on BAMx, knowledge is the number one thing that you should be investing in.
The Video Gear You Should Upgrade First
In terms of video gear, what is the very first upgrade you should make to your set?
Whether you are on an iPhone or a Sony a7 IV Mirrorless Camera, the very first thing that you need to upgrade on your set, regardless of what camera you’re using, is your audio.
You’ve heard this before, and the reason you’ve heard this before is because it’s true. It’s true in your consumption habits and it’s true in your creation habits. You will bounce off a video that sounds bad way quicker than you will bounce off a video that looks bad.
Audio is the number one thing you should upgrade. If you’re in a podcast setting, you don’t need a Shure SM7B. It’s $400. For the same price, get four Rode Microphones.
Making a better microphone purchase if you do voice-over videos or talk a lot in your videos will take your content-creating skills to the next level.
Audio Equipment
RODE VideoMic GO II Ultra Compact Analog/USB Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone
RODE Wireless GO II 2-Person Compact Digital Wireless Microphone System/Recorder
RODE NT-USB Mini USB Microphone
DJI Mic 2-Person Compact Digital Wireless Microphone System/Recorder for Camera & Smartphone
In short, start with upgrading your knowledge and audio gear. From there, you can start building on lighting and video equipment.
If you’re eager to upgrade more of your equipment now, I have a free ebook on BAM that goes over all of the best different gear setups for podcasting, vlogging and video creation for every budget.
Knowing the kind of equipment you need in order to create the content you want is vital. Educate yourself, and remember to always be creating.
