What equipment do you actually use Vs what do you tell beginners to buy?

[RisingAdmin]

I see this pattern where successful creators tell beginners "just use your phone" but then you look at their videos and they're clearly using like $2000 worth of gear lmao

I'm not trying to call anyone out but I'm tired of getting advice that doesn't match reality. So I want to know - what equipment are you ACTUALLY using right now, and what would you tell a complete beginner to start with?

I'll go first: I use a sony a6400 with a sigma 16mm lens, rode videomic, and two godox lights. cost me about $1400 total. But if someone asked me what to start with i'd genuinely tell them to use their phone and a $20 lav mic because that's what i used for my first 30 videos

[LenaVlogs]

I'm gonna be the honest one here - yes you CAN start with just a phone but there's a limit to how far that will take you depending on your niche

I tried the phone route for 4 months and my growth was super slow. upgraded to a canon m50 mark ii and a decent mic and my subscriber growth literally doubled. I think people subconsciously take you more seriously when your production quality is higher

my current setup: canon m50 ii ($650), rode podmic ($100 used), two cheap softbox lights ($60), and i edit on davinci resolve which is free

If you're doing talking head content or vlogs, phone is fine. if you're doing anything where visual quality matters (tech reviews, cinematography, product reviews) you probably need better gear sooner rather than later

but yeah the "just start with your phone" advice is good because it removes the barrier to starting. most people never start because they think they need thousands of dollars in gear first

[SocialBee]

I still use my iphone 14 pro and honestly the quality is good enough that nobody complains. i did buy a $35 rode smartlav mic though because phone audio is pretty terrible

I spent money on lighting instead of camera gear and I think that was the right call. got two $40 newer lights from amazon and the difference was huge. good lighting makes phone footage look way more professional

The only thing I want to upgrade eventually is getting a real microphone for voiceovers because I do a lot of editing and the phone mic picks up too much background noise. but for filming myself talking the setup i have works fine

total investment so far: $115 and i'm at 3k subscribers with videos that look decent