My tech setup for YouTube videos

Under my videos, I keep getting asked which camera and which light I use. I’ve had the channel for three years, and on Black Friday I splurged again. Here I show my complete setup. I shoot at home, without a separate studio, in the kitchen, at the dining table or on the couch. The equipment has to fit into the apartment so that we’re not just tripping over cables. You can spend a fortune on cameras, lenses and lighting. I deliberately keep it within limits and optimize selectively. I shot my first videos with my smartphone’s front camera and a €5 lavalier microphone from Amazon. All of this works without luxury, too.

Camera and lens

• Ad: Sony Alpha ZV-E10: That’s what I’m filming with right now. I got it as part of Black Friday. Its advantage is the interchangeable lens: I wanted a nicer bokeh effect, so more background blur, than with my previous camera. I used this setup for the first time in the video where I compare the Pixel with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
• Ad: Sigma 16mm f1.4: The lens provides the strong bokeh effect, and the closer I get to the lens, the stronger the blur in the background becomes.
• Ad: Sony ZV-1: My previous camera, an entry-level vlogging camera without an interchangeable lens. It’s a perfect beginner camera and runs completely on automatic. Today I use it to film my B-roll, meaning products and devices that I later lay over the main part in editing. That way I don’t have to rebuild the big camera for it.

I film everything in automatic mode. Tutorials say you should never film in automatic, but I have no desire to constantly readjust for sun, clouds or changing clothes. I don’t care, I do it anyway.

Data backup and storage

Because of the large amounts of data on the ZV-1, I gave some thought to memory cards. What you should look out for: the read speed.

Ad: I use Samsung products.

• PRO Ultimate SD card, 512 GB: 200 MB per second, for the larger amounts of data.
• PRO Plus SD card, 512 GB: 180 MB per second, in the ZV-1 for the B-roll.
• Both are protected against heat, water and drops, which is good if, like me, things like to fall out of your bag.

What I learned at IFA: On the way back, I moved all the recordings from the memory card to the laptop with Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V. In between there was a video call and a warning message that I annoyedly dismissed. Afterwards the links in the editing program were gone, and all the recordings in my folder were deleted, including old videos. Several recovery programs only brought back a patchwork. That cost days, nerves and time.

What I’ve done since:

1. Connect the memory card to the laptop and copy instead of move.
2. Put everything on the Samsung T9 (4 TB) first, with a read speed of 2,000 MB per second. That way I have enough space until a video is finished.
3. If the laptop is low on storage, work directly from the SSD in the editing program. For that, the external drive needs enough read speed, otherwise you wait at every step. A whole laptop migration is quick with it, too.
4. Finished videos and B-roll that I need later, I archive on the Samsung T7 (1 TB) at 1,050 MB per second, because I don’t work from it directly.

You should also make sure that the SSD is compatible with all systems. Until a few months ago, I didn’t work with Windows. The Samsung SSDs run with Windows and Android. My first cheap SSD was dropped three times and broke. The T7 and T9, like the cards, are protected against heat and drops.

Sound

Ad: I tried quite a few things, from a cheap lavalier microphone to a better shotgun microphone from Rode. The Rode sits on the camera. Lavalier microphones rustled when I moved, for example from hair or a blouse. I even had to re-record a video because of it. I only edit the sound minimally, I take out a bit of the reverb of the big room. My standard is that it sounds good. Pragmatic and down-to-earth is my motto.

Field monitor, teleprompter and mount

• Ad: Viltrox field monitor: A game changer. The camera’s flip-out display is too small from a distance or covered, and I often had something stuck on my face or between my teeth that I only saw after the shoot. Now I see on the touch display what the camera is recording.
• Ad: Elgato teleprompter: It has its own monitor and is connected to the laptop with a cable. I use it for scripted videos, where I write the script beforehand, which already takes a few hours for a video of 8 to 10 minutes. My videos at the table and without a script are a newer format, because I want to talk with you more. There will continue to be both.
• Ad: Tablet mount: For the field monitor, a makeshift solution because it’s a bit thicker. Everything hangs on a tripod that I’ve had for three years, and can be pushed aside that way.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and gimbal

Ad: For vlogging and Reels, I use the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 in the Creator Combo with the Mic 2 and a base stand, also a Black Friday purchase. The special thing is the rotatable 1-inch display, which shows what you’re recording in both portrait and landscape. It has an integrated gimbal, records in 4K, and the sound quality is very good. One of the best investments of the year.

Ad: For camera movements in the B-roll, I use the Feiyu Scorp Mini All in One as a gimbal, after I got many comments saying I should buy one. It’s not really mini for me. I also have a small camera dolly that moves the camera around a product by remote control.

Lighting

Ad: In winter, it gets too dark to shoot from 2 or 3 p.m. So I got a Neewer softbox with a light so that the image and color temperature are right. Because of the weight, I needed a sturdier light stand with three stable legs and a ball head. On top of that comes an LED floor lamp for the background, with a remote control for colors and lighting effects. For smartphone stories, there is a clip-on selfie light with different color temperatures.

Verdict

That was my setup, no more and no less. It has grown over the years, and I get along well with it. I try to keep it practical and down-to-earth, and I would rather start than wait for perfection. I got most of the recommendations from others. All the links are in the video description.