Guide: Purchase a good video camera for personal use
Today, there are great options for buying a good camera at a good price if you want to jump into livestreaming from home. In other words, you can get high video quality from a camera at a sensible price point, which is easily used for livestreaming by a layman. Therefore, it is our intent with this little guide – which is based in our professional livestreaming expertise – to equip you to get off to a good start at home.
If, on the other hand, you need optimal livestreaming options and a quality that presents your project or your company in the best possible way, you will benefit from our services for complete production of livestreaming and data management or profile videos, including idea generation, editing, and postproduction.
What is the best video camera for personal use?
When we talk about the best video camera for personal use, the nicest and most expensive camera may not be the best. As already mentioned, there are very decent options among cheaper solutions. Among the things we look at in the section below are these determining factors:
- Resolution
- Frame rate (FPS)
- Recording time
Choose a good video camera with specifications suitable for the purpose
One of the first things you should look at is the resolution of the digital video material. Typically, the resolution will be indicated as 1080p/Full HD, 4K, or 8K. 8K, which is the highest resolution, usually won’t be necessary. And if you are making videos for YouTube, for instance, then 1080p – which is also the platform standard – will be just fine!
Similarly, you might want to be aware of the frame rate. The frame rate is the value for how many images (frames) your video contains per second. In our part of the world, the standard is 25 frames per second, even though many cameras can record at much higher frame rates. This can be a clear advantage if you are recording videos with a lot of movement. But for livestreaming where people primarily look at your face, for instance, such high frame rates are not necessary.
One last thing you should pay attention to is whether there are limits to the length of time you can record at a time. If you record video in high resolution, most cameras will get extremely hot. This is especially true for SLR cameras or cameras that also take still pictures. Of course, it is not a significant problem if you intend to combine shorter clips before any publication of your video.
Remember the sound
A video is rarely worth much without sound. And sound is actually quite important for the perception of video quality. Most viewers are willing to accept inferior video quality to a greater extent than bad sound – and that can be an important thing to keep in mind when you go looking for your very first video camera or video setup. In fact, most people are more experienced wiyj photography, such as by using their smartphone camera, than they are with the sound aspect. And for this reason, it is a factor that is often overlooked somewhat in this context.
The best you can do – in our opinion – is to choose a good video camera with microphone input. Often, built-in camera microphones are of insufficient quality for making good video, and they will also capture all kinds of sounds that you may not want to include in the video. Therefore, having an external microphone is essential, so you can place it close to the source of the sound to be recorded.
Other features to look for in a good video camera
One technology that has been among the most revolutionary for video cameras on the consumer level recently is continuous auto-focus. Here, it is possible to get cameras that automatically try to focus on the subject without you doing anything while recording the video. Therefore, you might consider getting a camera that is good at focusing on people – this can help save you a lot of effort and hassle in your work with video and any streaming where you have the sole responsibility for the entire recording process.
Image stabilization for handheld camera
If you are going to work with a handheld camera, we also strongly recommend that you select a video camera with integrated image stabilization. It clearly conveys a greater sense of quality when your image isn’t shaky in spite of not using a tripod. If your camera doesn’t have image stabilization, you might also consider getting a so-called gimbal, which will give the production value a huge boost in the right direction when you use your handheld camera.
Regardless which camera you select, just the ability to shoot video and editing your own recordings can be a new and exciting creative adventure. There will always be new things to learn – about handling your video camera, about how to act in front of the camera, about the editing phase, and about what equipment will most benefit you or whether you should upgrade to a better solution.
Really, it is all about getting started on gaining your own experience, because learning by doing benefits you the most – and besides, there is plenty of material from people who are happy to share freely on the internet their experiences with very specific things or issues using video cameras. If you buy one of the latest models of video cameras from a well-known brand and perhaps an external microphone and some great lighting, any failures will likely not be because of your equipment.