You Don’t Need an Expensive Camera to Shoot Video

When you think of shooting video for your business, many of you may think of a big movie camera, lights, and a big production. If you have a large budget you can afford a crew to come and make amazing videos.  If you are like me you’re on a smaller budget, but still have the need to create high quality video. What are you to do?

The answer to that question is right on your desk, your iPhone or Android phone. If you have a phone in the last two years, I can pretty much bet you have an amazing video camera in that phone. I hear some of you say “Nope I can’t make great video with a phone.” YES you can and its easy.

I have a few quick tips that will allow you to get the most out of your phone’s video capabilities.

  • Avoid holding the phone when you can. Using a tripod or gimbal will give you steady video. Holding a phone can cause “shakey video”
  • Don’t film with your back to the light. This applies either in sunlight or indoors. Having the person stand in front of a window or their back to the sun can create unflattering shadows. Not to mention will cause issues with the phone’s exposure.
  • Record video in the horizontal format. This is changing some with IGTV and a few other services. However, most people prefer horizontal video over vertical. Plus it shows more of your subject matter.
  • Without an external microphone film in a quiet space. No one likes to strain to hear what you are saying. I will cover many types of microphones in this series that will give you great sound for your budget.
  • Phones are super easy to use. Unlike DLSR or high end video cameras, you don’t need to know the settings, exposure or anything. The phone figures all that out and will give the best quality video for the conditions you are filming.

Don’t worry this is quick over view. There will be much more on all these topics. I plan on braking things down and creating videos of my own for this series.  There will be another post next week, don’t miss it. Sign up for my newsletter to be notified when it is released.

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

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