The Portable Video Studio
What video tools and equipment do I use? It's a question I've been asked so often, I decided to turn it into a resource guide for you.
Priority #1: Audio
Zoom H1n
The Zoom H1n is an excellent audio recorder, coming in a compact size and at a relatively low price. This recorder can be used to record audio directly, but in our setup, we use it to plug in the lavaliere mic (see below).
Purple Panda Lavaliere Mic
This lav mic comes delivers excellent quality at a very low price. Plus, it comes with all the accessories you'll ever need. This microphone will work for any recording scenario, indoors, outdoors, on the move, stationary... you name it.
Priority #2: Lighting
Neewer LED Softbox Lighting Kit
This is an affordable, LED based lighting kit with adjustable brightness and color temperature. In our portable studio setup, we use one of the lights with the softbox and the second one without the softbox, as the rear light.
Priority #3: Tripod & Camera
Panasonic Lumix G85
The G85 is an interchangeable lens mirrorless camera. It delivers excellent, high quality 1080p and 4K video and it comes with a slew of features optimized for video capture. In short, this is the best bang-for-your-buck video camera you can get.
ZOMEi Z669C Tripod
This is an excellent, lightweight tripod. It collapses down into a compact size for transportation and it can cover a wide range from very low to high angles. Despite the light weight, it feels solid and sturdy when set up. It also comes with a decent tripod head.
Accessories
Storage
You'll need to purchase a good SD card for the camera (I recommend this one) as well as a microSD card for the audio recorder. In addition, I recommend getting a LaCie Rugged 4TB external drive, so that the large video files don't clog up your computer's hard drive.
Battery Power
The G85 camera comes with one battery and a charger. I recommend getting 2-3 additional batteries for it. You can also (optionally) use batteries to power the lights. The model needed for the lights are the NP-F batteries.
Optional Kit Upgrades
Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 Lens
If you want to upgrade the image quality in your videos and you want more versatility to record in different settings and at lower light, this lens is my go-to recommendation. It's a jack-of-all-trades zoom lens that will serve you well.
Panasonic 20mm f1.7 Lens
If you're always going to record in the same studio setting, you don't need a zoom lens. In that case, this is the lens upgrade I recommend. The 20mm (40mm equivalent) is a good "standard" focal length and with the 1.7 aperture, you can achieve a nice "blurred background" look.
FOSOTO 75in Light Stand
If you'll be traveling a lot with your video setup, I recommend getting 2 of these light stands. They are lighter weight and more compact that the light stands that come with the Neewer kit, making your whole setup a bit more travel friendly.
elgato CamLink 4K
If you want to use the G85 for live streaming, get the elgato CamLink 4K and an Micro-HDMI to HDMI cable. With these, you can connect your camera to your computer and use it like a webcam for webinars, livestreams etc.
Recommended Software
DaVinci Resolve
If you want professional level video and sound editing capabilities at a low price there's no better solution than DaVinci Resolve. This is extremely powerful software and the free version gives you access to about 95% of the features. No need to upgrade unless you really go pro as an editor.
Camtasia Studio
This is the screen recording software I've used for many years. It's pricey, but it's a good and reliable solution for any and all screen recording you need to do. It also includes a pretty decent video editing feature set.
OBS
Excellent software for screen recording, live streaming and "switching" - setting up different scenes that you can switch between during a live presentation. OBS is free (and can be a Camtasia alternative for screen recording). It's got a bit of a learning curve, but it's well worth learning.