Best Camera for YouTube Camping Videos?

This most recent trip was the first time I left all my camera gear at home and just brought my iPhone 17 Pro. Normally I would bring an action cam (DJI Osmo or GoPro Hero Cube) and a point and shoot with a lot of telephoto range (Lumix DMC-ZS70; out to 720mm). Apple finally added a bit more ‘telephoto’ (8x) in the 17 Pro and the image quality across all the lenses is pretty amazing, at least at 1080p. It seems like there is a ton of on-the-fly image processing going on with impressive stabilization and dynamic range adjustments. None of the footage from my other cameras beats it.

If you have a modern phone, just try that first. If you will be talking to camera, I would worry more about the audio.

Prudent advice is use a newer smart phone and a good bluetooth microphone-least amount of investment-get your filming and editing down. Plenty of amazing vlogs only shot on phone and a good mic. The phones also are superior in terms of image stabilization when filming on the go.

Wow Philip, that’s a beautiful lighthearted video of summertime in Alaska. Looks so pristine. Loved seeing the seals, and the deer looked at you like they’d never seen a human before. Yeah, the footage looks sharp, with good lighting and not too much contrast. The color grading is very natural – not oversaturated.

My first instinct was to look into using my iPhone. I have the 12 Pro with 500 GB so that’s plenty of space to film long videos. I’m still on my first battery which still works fine for me. But I’m hoping with a new one – I might get another 4 or 5 years on it.

Since you have the latest model of iPhone you understandably want to feel like it was worthwhile and get your money’s worth. It seems you didn’t find it lacking compared to your two pockets. An iPhone is certainly lightweight and has good water resistance and drop protection with a case. A simple phone clamp and it’s ready to mount on a tripod. Though it could get a tad frustrating if I want to check my phone while filming – nobody wants to watch a video of someone checking their phone anyway.

A new iPhone with 1TB of storage is sorta in btw the cost of a pocket camera and high quality DSLR video camera. If I decided to go the iPhone route, it would make most sense to just start with my 12 Pro and see what I can do with it. I have a lot to learn about basic video editing anyway.

I guess I can look at the other side of the camera to check what is in frame and then trust the lens is staying in focus on me while at camp while neither too zoomed in nor too wide angle. Using an iPhone as my primary camera would certainly be a good way to put the investment to use. And using my existing phone would mean I just need to buy a tripod and a couple of inexpensive add ons.

Camera tech is always a technological arms race. 20 years ago, the high quality Canon and Sony DSLR’s wouldn’t have had high quality video capability. If you invest in something now, you better learn to make good use of it because in just a few years it will be quite surpassed by newer tech.

The iPhone 12 vs 17 in terms of 4k footage quality is similar for static, decently lit shots. Lower light and shots on the move is where the newer phones shine. A good DJI microphone will make the videos much more enjoyable for the viewer as well. If you use an Apple Watch you can frame the scene with that as well.

Insta 360 Luna Ultra

Thanks Brad. Smart phone cameras started out very low res with 1-4mp’s. Then video came along which was much better than using a VCR camcorder from the 80’s. And by the late 2010’s 4K video came along. It’s rare to have a gamechanging new feature these days. Smart improvements are iterative. A 2020 iPhone 12 Pro is plenty good enough for static well lit shots in 4K.

I’ve decided to start my channel using my existing iPhone.

Checklist things I need to do are:

_Start synching my phone to my laptop instead of my 2019 macmini – since it has no graphics card.

_Backup data and delete to free up space on my 500GB iPhone 12 Pro.

_Research and buy a tripod, clamp, camera umbrella, and camera light (or use a headlamp connected to tripod).

_Research which free video editing software is good for using with iPhone and M1 Macbook Air with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD.

_Start editing existing videos I’ve made to get the hang of it.

_Start filming my camping trips.

_Start editing my camping trip videos.

_Start a youtube channel and upload edited videos.

Now that summer in the Norther Hemisphere is almost over, we will soon be getting into the long 9-month stretch where the weather is somewhere between mild to cold. This is perfect for camping trips so it’s a great time to start filming camping videos.

Do you have any background in video editing? If not (or not much), just start with iMovie which ships with every Mac. It is very bare bones, but it will cover basic audio and video manipulations as you get a feel for it. I use Black Magic’s Davinci Resolve, but it has a pretty steep learning curve as do Apple Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. I use about 1% of Davinci Resolve’s capabilities.

Thanks a lot Philip. No I have never done any video editing. I was the technically savvy member (mainly because I was the youngest) of a family that was very luddite and not technically savvy.

It’s hard to tell what software is used by a given by Youtuber. I believe Lone Wolf 902 in Nova Scotia uses free software. He also appears to use some sort of filters. But he obviously uses very high quality cameras and lenses as his videos are always very sharp.

I don’t need a bunch of fancy transitions – even though those would be nice to learn someday. The long form videos that I prefer are geared to allowing maximum immersion with minimal editing tweaks – or so they seem.

I think it’s great advice to stay away from overly complicated stuff. I bought Pro Tools software for audio recording back in the 2010’s and never got around to using it at all. It seemed overwhelming to me compared to the simplicity of my humble Tascam 4-track recorder from 1996. But even that I barely learned to use. But that is another story as my muse for music seemed to vanish in the new millennium.

Being able to record myself on a tripod with iPhone on a backpacking trip seems much simpler than having to gather a group of musicians in a practice space where we have the freedom to make lots of noise to record something that might be worthy of being called “music”.

I will simply make use of the free iMovie software with my existing short form videos and see if I can get the hang of it. That is a perfect place to start. Thanks again.

It sounds like you are approaching this with the right attitude. The good news is that modern technology is quite capable and often pretty inexpensive. I just took a short swing through Amazon and looked at modestly-priced tripods, which I have not shopped for in many years. It seems like there’s some really nice stuff on the market these days. Just as an example, this one is rated for substantial camera weight (which you do not need but it signals a stouter unit), can be extended pretty tall, comes with a nice ball head with quick release plate and a basic phone adapter. The hook on the center column is useful in that you can hang a weight (stuff sack with sand, etc.) off the bottom of the center column for extra stability. Anyway, pretty hard to go wrong.

One thing I did not see on your checklist was an audio capture device. You probably should not rely on your phone’s internal microphone if you are any distance from it. I don’t use these so I will have no guidance, but vlogging is so common these days there must be about a million good Bluetooth microphones on the market.

As with any new kit, practice with it a lot at home before you find yourself scratching your head in the field.

I agree with Philip. A good wireless mic is a must. DJI Mic Mini is inexpensive and will sound much better than the iPhone mic, especially for vocals. If you won’t be talking and just want ambient sounds Rode makes wired mics that will again, be leagues better than iPhone built in.

DaVinci Resolve is a very powerful free editing software. Lumafusion is also good. I’d cut my teeth on iMovie also. My buddy only uses iPhone, edits with iMovie and has almost 1,000 videos, 18.4K followers.

I just watched a tutorial on Lumafusion. That looks like a really great program. If I were editing on my iPad, I would definitely give it a try.

Brad W.  Your buddy is the perfect example of what my father said about golf.  “Its not the club, its the guy holding on to it.”  I have a whole wheelbarrow full of camera gear that produces mediocre media.

Or a crooked caddy.

I find the information to be most valuable. I only care that it’s in focus for the details. There’s lots of pretty pictures. I’ve taken a lot myself. Honestly, they mean nothing, unless they’re helping me plan my next trip.

One of the most popular YouTube producers sometimes profiled here shows not much more but his hands.

Arthur, my grandfather said a similar thing-‘it’s not the arrow it’s the Indian’-his last use of this is when someone he was playing golf with mocked his 70’s era persimmon wood driver golf clubs. My grandfather ended up beating the guy-who had custom $5K+ clubs-by 5 strokes I believe.

Thanks again Philip. 73″ of height seems more than I would need. I see they have a 63″ model as well.

Tripod weight is a major factor. We don’t want to be too weighed down, and an iPhone certainly doesn’t need as much support as a dedicated full frame camera. And I imagine it’s easy to hang a weighted bag from the bottom of most tripods with a carabiner or such. But a sturdier heavier tripod will save you time having to futz around with stability issues or worrying about the wind as much. A battery bank for keeping things charged can serve dual purpose as a pretty decent ballast.

A tripod weight near 3lbs often seems to be the sweet spot.

As for tripod height, I think 55″ is probably a good minimum.

I’ve been looking at this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JYLS7K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A1WNL39MBZVRG4&th=1

And yes, I certainly wasn’t going to forget about microphones. A clip on blue tooth microphone to wear on your chest seems logical. I could do stereo sound using two mics. But I think just one on my chest is good if I choose a decent quality brand. Have to look into a few models. I’ll probably get two so I can switch between them when one runs low on charge.

Another factor in starting a backpacking youtube channel is the psychological barrier of crossing the line into putting yourself out there. That’s where it pays to makes some videos for myself and watch them to see if I’m comfortable with what I’m creating. And of course I can snip away the boring parts or points I’m not happy with. With a little practice I’m sure I’ll feel comfortable with being on camera.

It’s fundamentally about entertainment. I’ve been a consumer of others content for 20 years on youtube. It’s obviously not going anywhere. It’s about time I started creating content instead of just consuming it. There’s obviously a demand for it. I’ve developed a passion for something that I think I can share and present well. It doesn’t depend on other people. I can do it entirely myself.

Lighting seems pretty simple. There are a ton of options that don’t cost much. Most models seem to have a dial for color temperature – 2500k-6500k, and a dial for lumens. I already have numerous lantern and headlamp types plus the Outask telescoping light.

As for the tripod, I do want one that could also work for a full frame mirrorless camera in the future if I decide to get one.

Eventually I may use a two camera setup but not at first.

For tight shots inside a tent I would hope I could fit most tripods. Since most of my tent are 2P or around 50″ wide – fitting a tripod at shortest height inside shouldn’t be too much of an issue. I’ll look at what the minimum foot spread distance is when a tripod is at shortest height. I would prefer to not have to bring an additional mini tripod with those bendy twisty legs as that would just add more weight and gear.