4 Tips for Getting Better Results With Your Small YouTube Camera

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4 Tips for Getting Better Results With Your Small YouTube Camera image

Whatever you’re interested in, or whatever type of business you’re running, being on YouTube can be a huge boost to that interest. Creating a YouTube channel is simple. Creating content and getting subscribers will require some effort.

Part of that effort is getting the best out of whatever small YouTube camera you use. Whether you have a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, a cinema camera, or a small YouTube camera, the same basics apply to all of them.

Read on for some helpful tips on getting better results with your small YouTube camera!

Choosing a Small YouTube Camera

Choosing a Small YouTube Camera image

One of the best aspects of deciding what kind of small YouTube camera to get is that the cameras you’re using right now will probably work just fine. Just about any digital camera from the last 5 to 8 years or so will likely have a very sophisticated video mode already included in its features.

Some of the newest cameras from the major manufacturers are specifically designed to take YouTube-style videos. A couple of examples are the interchangeable lens mirrorless APS-C format Sony ZV-E10, the APS-C format mirrorless interchangeable lens Canon EOS R50, and the interchangeable lens mirrorless APS-C format Nikon Z30 cameras.

There are also point-and-shoot and bridge cameras with advanced 1”-Type sensors that will also work. The main features to look for in a small YouTube camera are a fully articulated viewscreen to frame self-shot videos correctly, an auxiliary mic input for better audio recording, and high-resolution video recording, either 4K or 1080p.

The common digital formats of MFT, APS-C, and Full Frame, along with the 1”-Type used in many dedicated video cameras and better point-and-shoot cameras, will all provide excellent quality videos.

Steady Your Small YouTube Camera

Steady Your Small YouTube Camera image

Two things you want to get tight when capturing video with a small YouTube camera are correct focus and a steady view. If a video is blurry or shaky, people will tire of it real soon, costing you views and possible subscriptions.

Autofocus is a great tool, but sometimes it’s a good idea to turn it off or adjust the focus points used. If shooting a selfie-style video, you don’t want your small YouTube camera focusing on the background instead of yourself. Manually focusing is a simple task; just use the viewscreen. You can magnify the view if needing more accuracy.

Camera shake will also take a person out of their viewing comfort zone rather quickly, too. Thankfully, it's also a simple task to steady a small YouTube camera. One of our favorite tools for stabilizing a camera at PhotographyTalk is the Octopad camera and accessory mount by Octopus Camera.

Steady Your Small YouTube Camera 2 image

Octopad is an ingenious device. It’s a little like a bean bag disk but much more rigid. The material is packed tight, making the OctoPad more stiff than supple, but with just enough give to allow it to conform to a slightly uneven surface. It has a ¼”-20 screw on top on which a ball head or extension arm fits.

The non-slip pad on the bottom side of the mount makes OctoPad truly special and so useful for a small YouTube camera. This non-slip pad lets you place your camera or another item on a surface angled up to 45 degrees! It securely holds nearly 18 pounds of camera gear.

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Use Lights with Your Small YouTube Camera

Use Lights with Your Small YouTube Camera image

Making videos with a small YouTube camera is fun and can be accomplished with minimal equipment. You will want to have at least one really good light, though. A ring light is an excellent choice as a single light, or you may opt for a versatile LED panel light such as the IVISII G2 Pocket RGB Camera Light.

Using a controlled light source allows you to adjust for various ambient lighting conditions, blending the existing light with the added light. These small LED lights are able to vary power levels as well as color temperature.

Use more than one light with your small YouTube camera for cinematic lighting configurations. They aren’t very pricey, so you can keep adding extra lights as you wish. Mount them to small light stands or use a couple of OctoPads to hold them.

Get Good Audio from Your Small YouTube Camera

Get Good Audio from Your Small YouTube Camera image

Poor audio is the third issue that can cause viewers to stop viewing your video. In fact, we’ve noticed that poor visuals are sometimes easier for viewers to deal with than bad audio. The solution is another simple one, add an auxiliary microphone.

The most common mics for small YouTube cameras are lavalier mics that attach to a person’s clothing and the shotgun-style mic that can be attached directly to the camera or remotely on a camera mount like the OctoPad.

Edit Your Small YouTube Camera Footage

Edit Your Small YouTube Camera Footage image

Let’s get this out of the way: editing your video will result in a much better viewer experience than them watching us start and stop scenes in unedited videos. Straight out of the camera is unprofessional and adds too much extraneous and unnecessary footage.

Easy-to-operate and low-cost video editing software is available and has a shallow learning curve. Even the higher capacity, full-featured editing software can be mastered with practice and free video tutorials.

Other Small YouTube Camera Tips

Small YouTube Camera Tips image

With these four tips, you will get better results with your small YouTube camera, but there are so many other small things to do to make the most of your talent, ideas, and equipment.

Choosing higher capacity and faster transfer rate memory cards helps ensure capturing the video footage you want. A simple windsock can improve audio when using a shotgun mic. Learning how to add B-Roll footage to the final video in editing improves the appeal of the video to your viewers.

Have fun learning how to improve your videos with your small YouTube camera!