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Social Media Content Creation Gear

What I use to create content online

November 08, 2024

Gear I use

I’ll go over all the pieces of gear I use when creating content no matter how small they may seem. Everything in my kit plays a pretty important role and has taken me a little while to find what works for me.

Table of Contents

Camera & Lens - Sony Alpha 1 + Sony 24-70 F/2.8 GM

I’m pretty lucky to have this camera, this thing is 50MP and shoots 8k, definitely overkill for social. But, when you want one camera that isn’t just a hybrid camera, but genuinely excels in both photo and video, unfortunately it comes with a decent price tag ($8,000 price tag 💀)

What I will say about it though is, coming from a Sony a7siii that it handles low light just as good, up to it’s second native ISO of 4,000 but gives me higher resolution and WAY better photos.

The lens I’ve had for about 5 years now and has been paired with my Sony a7iii, Sony a7siii and now my a1. It’s the only lens I’ve ever had when I moved to Sony and I haven’t found a need to upgrade it.

Gimbal - DJI Ronin RS3 Pro

I purchased an RS3 Pro more out of necessity than convenience. I previously had a DJI Ronin MX and it was big, bulky and definitely not travel friendly. I was getting ready to do an interstate job and needed a gimbal but the big pelican case I kept the MX in, was not it. So in comes the RS3 Pro, much easier to set up, lighter and strangely more rugged than I felt the MX was.

Audio - Zoom H5 & RodeLink Filmmaker Kit x 2

For recording audio I use a Zoom H5 and 2 x RodeLink Filmmaker Kits. I like the Zoom H5 because it gives me independent gain control and has the ability to record loud noises without audio levels clipping and cutting out. It can record both internally to an SD card or with a 3.5mm cable into my cameras mic jack.

I use the RodeLink Filmmaker Kits primarily because the Rode Wireless GO mics weren’t even a thing when I bought these. MY brother had one kit and I already knew how to use it so I purchased 2. They’ve been super reliable.

Tripod - SmallRig Heavy-Duty Fluid Head Tripod

This was another necessity purchase for an upcoming job. I was contracted to film a series of social event videos for Hyundai Australia and all I had was a shitty, flimsy tripod i paid $37 for 9 years ago. Thoughts of showing up to this job with that tripod gave me nightmares so I had to upgrade to not only something that “looked” more professional but was actually way more sturdy and video-work friendly.

Suction Mount - SmallRig 3565 All-in-One 4-Arm Suction Cup Camera Mount Kit for Vehicle Shooting SC-15K

This thing is genuinely so sick. It lets me mount my camera (and sometimes gimbal) to any surface that allows suctions cups (not just cars). I’ve shot cars for more than 5 years and would have loved to have this bit of gear way earlier. 100% worth the peace of mind.

Miscellaneous Accessories

On top of everything listed above I also have a SmallRig camera cage to allow me to attach the camera vertically on the tripod and gimbal but it also makes the grip bigger, which means the camera is easier to hold for longer periods of time and 2 x SmallRig magic arms to help me attach my camera to whatever I want.

Software & Platforms

In terms of software that I use, I’m tied into the Adobe suite pretty heavily (unfortunately).

  • Video Editing - Premiere Pro

  • Photo Editing - Lightroom Classic

In addition to the editing software I also use the below pretty heavily:

  • Notion - A digital notebook where I can categorise all my content ideas and sort them by content type, where they are in the process (not started, shooting, editing, finished or posted)

  • Google Drive - I store all my content on a Google Drive so I can access it from my phone when needed.

  • Digivizer - For all my social media analytics.