Camera SLR Lenses

How To Make Videos: Camera, Lighting and Microphone In the first installment of How To Make Videos I take a look at the equipment you need including camera, lighting and microphone. A good camera is essential for video making however many people would be surprised that you can get good quality video with cheaper cameras. Smartphones can work well here (for example the iPhone 4) as do ordinary point and shoot cameras and cheap camcorders. Moving on you can use an ordinary camcorder, superzoom or even a professional DSLR for your video but you should look for at least 720p video recording. Lighting is also extremely important when making videos. It can make an average video look much better and more impressive. Just like with a camera you don't necessarily need to go and buy an expensive lighting kit but it will help the quality of your videos if you turn on all the lights you can and bring in extra lamps for optimal lighting. Audio is one of the most important parts of making a video. When starting out it's often best to just use the microphone built-in to your camera, camcorder or phone. For the best audio quality though you will need a better microphone and there are several ways you can go. If your camera or camcorder has an external microphone input you can use a vastly better external mic connected to your camera such as a RØDE VideoMic, an external microphone like the Zoom H1 or a USB microphone connected to your computer like an Audio-Technica AT2020.