Around the second half of 2021, I decided my YouTube channel was about to change: I would start doing interviews. There was one big problem however, my webcam’s videoquality left much to be desired, so I’d have to look for something a little better. After looking around, I picked up a new camera, the Sony ZV-1. Reviews were great and Sony hasn’t let me down so far.
The image quality? Perfect. Everything looked sharp as can be and the colours were much more vivid than any camera I previously had owned. So I went about my business, doing these YouTube interviews, feeling satisfied.
Just one thing bugged me though. On the outside of the box the Sony came in, it said it was a vlogging camera. Now, I didn’t buy it originally for that purpose, but the possibility certainly had me intrigued – I remember watching one or two vlogs on YouTube, the kind where someone holds a camera by hand or with some type of extension stick, talking to the camera. And that got me thinking I could do it too, even though I had no idea what I’d want to talk about.
That changed, when I’d been invited to an event for writers. I started a few experiments with the Sony, but I soon found out this wasn’t the ideal vlogging camera. In short, either you go for a stable footage, but zoomed in to the point of your face filling the whole image; or you opt for a broader field of view, but with unstable footage.
Enter hours of searching for the right solutions. This lead me to a wide angle lens, specifically made to solve this problem. Glue an attachment piece onto the camera, screw the lens onto the attachment… and Bob’s your uncle. Especially if combined with an extendable stick, you’ll have an extra wide image, which helps with the stabilisation software cropping in so much. One tiny annoyance: the attachment piece makes the camera slighly more bulky, which means it doesn’t slide into your pockets quite as easily as it used to – which is a shame, given how portability is one of its major selling points.
So, I shot my first vlog. The event turned out amazing and I had great fun, filming my fellow writers. Looking at the footage I’d shot that night, I found the stability wasn’t quite there yet… and a couple of days later, my computer had to work overtime to stabilize the footage frame-by-frame. Not something I’d want to repeat on a daily basis.
Looking for another solution, I learned about gimbals. On the outside, it just looks like a handheld stick to place your camera onto. But inside, it has some type of internal motor, keeping your camera rocksteady at the same position – no matter how much you run or jump around, shooting your footage.
Problem is, the cheap ones often don’t seem to quite work as promised… and if you want something that’ll do the job, you’re talking about shelling out three to four hundred euros. After some consideration, I’d decided to call it quits. With those kind of prices, you might as well buy a new camera, specifically made to create stable footage no matter the circumstance. I removed the attachment piece on the Sony and after some research, I went for a GoPro for any future vlogs.
Having said all of that, I guess the moral of the story is this: it’s easy to go on a wild goose chase in pursuit of perfection.
Kind regards
Vincent J. Dancet