Decent Quality Video Recording / Reccomendations

[WnDTech.Tips]

Myself and my son are venturing into the big bad world of content  creation, we have a rough idea of how we want our channel to be, and where we are going, but were not sure how to get there, that aside, one of my biggest issues currently is recording quality, i'm currently using a Nikon L840 Bridge Camera that i gave to my wife as a present, the quality is "ok" but doesn't seem as clean and clear as i would like, i realise you can post edit some cleanliness into it, but I would like to minimize editing time by having the quality there already.

How much realistically do i need to spend on a better than "ok" camera..

 

I really have no clue nor experience with cameras, i just know i need something better.

[TheGreatSora]

I'm not really into cameras and such but i checked a quick review of that camera and the quality seems fine, Honestly id recommend you start with that or a phone camera if its better and if you really enjoy video creation later on you can upgrade that camera 

[Ianchu]

Before you venture into buying a new camera have you made sure you are shooting the best way? By that I mean checking focus, exposure, white balance, etc.. If you can dial in the settings you can get decent quality out of almost any camera.

 

If you got a couple of bucks I recommend this book. It is a really easy to read guide to video creation.

 

Good luck on the content! I hope to do the same with my son when he gets older.

[extraCrispy]

22 hours ago, Ianchu said:

Before you venture into buying a new camera have you made sure you are shooting the best way? By that I mean checking focus, exposure, white balance, etc.. If you can dial in the settings you can get decent quality out of almost any camera.

I agree with lanchu on this one.  Is it going to be the sharpest thing that you've ever seen? No, and there are definitely cameras that create sharper videos, but that doesn't mean you can't squeeze the best out of the one you have right now.  The best camera is the one you have with you right now!

 

And that being said, I'm sure there are people here who would be willing to look at what you have and help squeeze the best out of your camera.  I know I would be willing!

 

And what are you thinking about making?  Sounds like some good fun for you and your son!

[WnDTech.Tips]

Thanks for all your thoughts on this, i think i will stick with the camera i have, and just invest in some LED lighting. the camera model is listed in the original post, If you want to see some of the things we have done so far then have a look at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFUiaRZdSBAhwfcJ3fakww  some of our work is not great but, with time we will get better !

 

let me know what you think and how we could improve the quality.

 

but yeah it is good fun, we both enjoy doing it which is the main reason as my son had been asking for months, i gave in, and i'm glad i did actually it's great fun, we are learning lots along the way which is great !

[cc143]

To answer your question, a good to great camera setup for this sort of thing, provided you only shoot at 1080p, would cost you around 1000-1500$ including lenses, microphones and some lighting equipment, but it really depends on what you are shooting. 

 

If you are in control of lighting, you could probably really improve upon tge quality of the content you create since bridge cameras tend to have smaller sensors that perform mucb worse if loghting isnt ideal. Another thing to consider before looking into a new camera system would be sound and stabilisation if theese are necessary. A good microphone helps to distinguish good content from bad content and so would a rudimentary tripod or something like that if your camera is stationary during shooting. 

[WnDTech.Tips]

ok so at those prices i won't be rushing out to buy a new one, not yet anyways  

 

Yeah i have a Mic to use, but no stand for it at the moment, so i'll try getting some extra lights and record the audio separately, currently the audio for some of the videos are done using the camera MIC, which is not great. and i end up having to remove excess  background noise even if the room is completely silent.

[Black Ops]

In terms of getting the max quality for your YouTube videos, its mainly keeping a high video bitrate from recording to exporting to the final file before upload. The high bitrate will keep the quality high enough which is important as YouTube wrecks the quality thanks to their sub optimal video encoder settings. Although this isn't surprising considering how many videos are being processed by YouTube. 

 

Another suggestion to increase the video quality is to upscale the video to 1440p as youtube then encodes the video using the vp9 codec instead of x264 which retains more video clarity

 

just my 2 cent

[WnDTech.Tips]

5 minutes ago, Black Ops said:

In terms of getting the max quality for your YouTube videos, its mainly keeping a high video bitrate from recording to exporting to the final file before upload. The high bitrate will keep the quality high enough which is important as YouTube wrecks the quality thanks to their sub optimal video encoder settings. Although this isn't surprising considering how many videos are being processed by YouTube. 

 

Another suggestion to increase the video quality is to upscale the video to 1440p as youtube then encodes the video using the vp9 codec instead of x264 which retains more video clarity

 

just my 2 cent

 

Great Suggestion i will try that for my next video.. 

Although if there is anywhere better to put them instead of youtube I will

 

[Black Ops]

1 minute ago, Will.N.Dad said:

 

Great Suggestion i will try that for my next video.. 

Although if there is anywhere better to put them instead of youtube I will

 

YouTube is probably the best for the large audience. 

[WnDTech.Tips]

2 minutes ago, Black Ops said:

YouTube is probably the best for the large audience. 

Cheers Black Ops. and thanks to the rest of you. however any more suggestions in general would be appreciated.

 

 

[Rootzy]

Most of the comments above covered most things but as you mentioned, definitely investing in some lighting would help! Good lighting can definitely improve any camera's quality!