Must-have Accessories for Shooting Video
Many of our readers are expressing their interest in advancing deeper into videography / filmmaking world these days. Not that every person with a camera in their hand all of a sudden decided to become a film maker, but at minimum they want to be able to record memories with their family and friends, or shoot videos good enough to submit to the video based social media platforms such as Youtube and TikTok.
Simple Video Setup with Video Tripod Head and Field Monitor
Most cameras that are sold today are technically capable of recording high quality videos so that part of the problem is relatively easy to solve however we all know videography is not as simple as photography from equipment perspective and requires special gear that they don't have in their arsenal. So one common question we receive quite often is what accessories they need for a good start. Instead of replying all these questions individually, I decided to create a comprehensive list of accessories that are essential for creative and effficient videography.
Table of Contents
- Fluid Video Tripod Heads
- Video Tripods
- External Microphones
- VariaField Monitors and Recorders
- Video Capture Cards
- Gimbal Stabilizers
- Video Lights
- Camera Cages
- Follow Focus Systems
- Matte Boxes
- Video Editing Software
Must-Have Filmmaking / Video Accessories
How essential: HIGH
Even though it is possible to use ball head tripod heads for video, Video tripod heads will deliver far smoother pans and tilts which is essential for scenes that are not static but moving. Furthermore, features such as locking the axises independently, the long handle and tension control enables finer adjustments whihc are not possible with ball heads.
Fluid Video Head
What to consider before buying
- Max payload limit must be higher than the total weight of your rig. If it is very close, choose the higher one to ensure smoother motion.
- Check Quick plate compatibility (Arca Swiss vs Bogen / Manfrotto) if you are already using one of these types.
Recommended Products:
- Under $100: Avella V501 Video Camera Tripod Fluid Head: Amazon
- Under $200: Manfrotto MVH500AH Fluid Video Head: Amazon, B&H Photo
- Video Tripod + Fluid Head Combo Under $100: Magnus VT-300 Video Tripod with Fluid Head: Amazon, B&H Photo
How essential: LOW
You don't have to invest in an expensive video tripod and utilize the one that you already have but things that you have to consider in a good video tripod are:
What to consider before buying
- Make sure your tripod is compatible with Video Tripod Head (Some cheaper tripods come with a built-in ball heads that are not removable)
- Sturdier the better as the instabilities caused by the tripods are more pronounced in the videos compared to still photos.
- Check your Max Height requirements
- If you will be traveling with the tripod a lot and mobility / weight is important, check the carbon fiber models which are significantly lighter (and more expensive) than the comparable aluminum tripods.
Read also: SmallRig AD-01 Heavy-Duty Tripod with Fluid Head Review
How essential: HIGH
Shotgun Microphone
Sound is as important as the visual part of the video in most cases which means you can significantly increase the quality of your videos with properly recorded sounds. Built-in microphones on the cameras have very limited use in videography so the use of an external microphone is crucial. Types of microphones are:
- Shotgun type
- Lavalier Type
- Wireless type
- External recorders/microphones
You will also need microphone booms to place the mic as close to the source as possible
DJI Wireless Microphone System
What to consider before buying
- Decide if you are going to use the mic on camera or off camera
- If off camera, is wired connection good or will you need a wireless connection
- How many mics are you going to record simultaneously (such as using two mics in an interview)
- Polar pattern of the microphone (Check this article for further details)
Recommended Products:
Shotgun Mics:
Deity V-Mic D4 Mini Video Mic: Amazon
RODE VideoMicro II: B&H Photo, Amazon
RODE VideoMic NTG: B&H Photo, Amazon
Sennheiser MKE 600: B&H Photo, Amazon
Lavalier Mics: RODE Lavalier GO Omnidirectional Lavalier Mic: B&H Photo,
Wireless Mic System: DJI Mic 2-Person Compact Digital Wireless Microphone System: Amazon, B&H Photo, RODE Wireless GO II 2-Person Wireless Mic System: B&H System, Amazon
Portable Recorder Mic: Zoom H1n Portable Handy Recorder with Mic: Amazon,
Portable Recorder Mic
How essential: MEDIUM
In order to get a natural-looking motion in videos, videographers set their shutter speed to '1/( 2 x frame rate)' as a general rule. As an example if you are shooting in 4K 30p format, you set your shutter speed to 1/60sec. This may be problematic when you are shooting with fast aperture lenses such as f1.4, f2 or even f2.8 under day light because low shutter speeds will cause overexposing of the scene, even if you choose the lowest ISO value that your camera lets you. This is where the Variable-ND filters come into play by reducing the amount of the light falling on the sensor so that the user can achieve the perfect exposure at the desired shutter speed.
Variable ND Filter
What things to consider before buying
- Filter thread size of your lens. One approach is to buy the largest filter you can to make it compatible with potential lenses you plan to buy in the future. You will need step up rings to use with smaller lenses though.
- Get a high quality filter if you have the budget in order to minimize the reduction in image quality (not as critical as in photo shooting though as the video resolutions are generally lower anyway)
- Consider using a matte box (will be mentioned below)
Recommended Products:
- Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density Filter: Amazon
- Tiffen 82mm Variable ND Filter: Amazon
How essential: MEDIUM
The screen on even the best mirrorless cameras are pretty small when it comes to shooting videos. Viewfinders are not very usable most times in videography and it is difficult to adjust the angle and position of the built-in screens, even the fully articulated ones. An external larger screen comes very handy in the field to judge the critical focus besides the extra assist features they offer. In addition you will have a lot of flexibilty on how and where to place them.
Field Monitor on Camera
Other option is to use a Recorder Monitor such as the Atomos Ninja V or Ninja V+ which lets you save your file on a harddisk besides monitoring.
What to consider before buying
- Screen size: Bigger is generally better but reduces the mobility, increase the price and weight at the same time
- Some monitors can remote control the camera settings wireless or wired, decide if you need this feature
- Do you need or prefer to have the recording functionality?
- Max screen brightness if you are planning to use outdoors under strong sun light, higher the better
Recommended Products:
Atomos Ninja V Recorder Monitor
How essential: LOW
If you are shooting indoors with access to your laptop or PC, you can save your video directly to your PC via these video capture cards and view on a bigger screen instantly.
Video Capture Card
What to consider before buying
- Look for a model that supports 4K video recording. Some models claim '4K compatible' but it means it you can send 4K video but can only save Full HD.
Recommended Products:
- Elgato Cam Link 4K (4K 30p Limit): Amazon
- Elgato HD60 S+(4K 60p Limit): Amazon
Gimbal for Handheld Videos
How essential: MEDIUM
Stabilization is crucial to have a pleasant looking handheld videos but even the most advanced built in stabilization systems on our cameras are not quite good enough to have a perfectly stabilized recording in many cases. Moreover, some cameras and lenses don't even have any type of stabilization. Handheld Gimbal stabilizers are specifically designed to overcome this issue.
Gimbal Stabilizer
What to consider before buying
- Max payload limit of the gimbal: Don't get a model if the limit is too close to your rigs total weight, it will be dificutl to calibrate and gimbal will not be very effective.
Recommended Products:
- DJI Ronin-SC Gimbal Stabilizer: B&H Photo, Amazon
- DJI RS 3 Pro Gimbal Stabilizer:(for larger payloads) B&H Photo, Amazon
How essential: HIGH
Unless you strictly have to shoot your videos under natural light, you have to control the light for an artistic looking and pleasant video. Video lights are continuous lights that are critically placed, adjusted and modified to give the desired visual effects in your videos. The video lights and modifiers have to be puschased purposefully depending on your shooting scenarios but the most common types that we recommend are:
- Video COB (Chip on Board)LED lights
- LED Video Lights
- Battery powered compact LED lights
- On camera lights
- LED Tubes
Recommended Products:
COB LED Lights
Aputure Amaran 60D COB Daylight: Amazon
SmallRig RC 120B 120W: Amazon (Read our SmallRig RC120B Bi-Color COB Video Light Review)
Godox UL150 Silent LED Video Light (No fan so totally silent): Amazon
Battery Powered LED Lights
Aputure Amaran On Camera Video Light: Amazon
Pixel Liber RGB Video Light: Amazon (Read our review of this light here)
Most lights are not used with a light modifier attached, common type of modifiers are;
- Softboxes
- Reflectors
- Barndoors and snoots
COB Video LED Light
Recommended Products:
Aputure Light Dome II: Amazon,
SmallRig RA-L65 Lantern Softbox: Amazon
What to consider before buying
- How many lights will you need? You can start as simple as one LED light as key light and one reflector as fill light, or create a more complicated setup with separate lights to act as key light, fill light, hair light, rim light, background, point lights, etc.
- Do you need color temperature adjustment? You can either buy a light with color adjustment, or use color filters.
- How much power will you need?
- You will also have to invest in sturdy light stands.
How essential: MEDIUM
You will realize that number of acessories that are attached to your camera increase rapidly as you are transitioning from photography to videography. A Camera cage is a housing for your camera that provides multiple mounting points for video accessories in addition to offering more ergonomic handling and pretection for your camera. One thing you have to mnd is that the camera cages are custom built for a camera model so in most cases they can't be used with a different camera. Common cage types are Full cages and Half cages.
Camera Cage
Another useful part that can be used with the cages is the Top Handles which gives you alternate way to hold your rig and extra mounting points. Top handles are not camera model specific so can be swapped between different setups.
What to consider before buying
- Size, weight, specific connection types if needed: NATO rail, quick release, shoe mounts,etc.
Recommended products: Check Camera Cages at Amazon that is compatible with your camera
How essential: LOW
Videographers knows the importance of precise autofocusing however no matter how good the video autofocusing performance got in recent hybrid cameras, they are not fool proof and can't exactly read your minds! Besides cine lenses are very common in photography and they are generally full manual so no autofocus. Follow focus systems have been used by professional video crews and they became more affordable and accessible to amateur shooters in recent years. With a follow focus such as the SmallRig MagicFIZ that we have recently reviewed, you can precisely adjust the focus ( and aperture/zoom) to achieve the focusing effects that you desire.
What to consider before buying
- Read this article to have more idea about how the system works and what you needto look for.
Check Follow Focus Systems at Amazon
How essential: LOW
Matte Box holds your filters, blocks the unwanted lights thus reducing flare, protects your lens and make you look more professional! on the down side, it adds a lot of bulk to your rig.
Matte Box
What to consider when buying one
- Check if it can house the lens with the maximum filter thread size that you are planning to use with
- Compatibility with the types of filter you will be using: rectangular, circular
Recommended Products: SMALLRIG Mini Matte Box: Amazon
How essential: HIGH
Post processing and editing is as important as the actual shooting and almost inevitable in videography. depending on the complexity of the projects you want to work on, and the platform you will be editing, you will need a capable and compatible video editing software.
DaVinci Resolve Video Editing Software
What to consider before buying
- Find a software that is compatible with the operating system of the main computer/tablet that you will use for editing: Windows, MacOS, etc.. Some paid software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVInci Resolve works both with Windows and MacOS but FinalCut Pro works only on MacOS platforms.
- Check if your main PC/tablet is powerful enough to run these software efficiently. Complex filters and rendering of long videos put a lot of pressure on the CPU, GPU and RAM use.
Recommended Products:
- DaVinci Resolve: Free! (There is a $295 Studio version with some extra capabilities)
- Adobe Premiere Pro: Monthly Subscription Starting around $21
- FInal Cut Pro: One-time payment of $300, compatible only with MacOS
What other accessories are essential for your system? Please share with us in the comments section below.