Perry Mack
As a travel, automotive, and outdoor adventure journalist, there are some traits common to all my gear. It has to be lightweight, ultra-portable, super tough, with a long battery life, and relatively easy to use. Shooting outdoors means days can be excruciatingly long and often in adverse conditions - hands frozen in the woods, brain baked in the desert, eyes squinting in the dark, and body aching from standing for hours. My gear gets tossed on and off planes, in and out of 4x4's, set-up in the dark, rain, fog, and sweltering heat. A lot of gear hasn't made the cut or been destroyed on my travels. Here's what I'm using now and have been for roughly a year. It's the gear that has survived.
Action Camera
Video is a key element to showing how a truck, tire, suspension etc works, and nothing gets as good an angle as an action camera. You might be thinking every professional uses GoPro, but we don't. The AKASO Brave 4K is a third of the price and gets 'good enough' shots. We realize that our footage isn't going to be on IMAX - so why spend the dough? At a third of the price, we can own three, and get three different angles at the same time.
Check for current lowest pricing here:
CAD - Amazon.ca - AKASO Brave 4K
DLSR Camera
Our Canon 80D was chosen after months of research. This is not a full-frame camera, the kind portrait photographs and many professionals use. But it is a solid choice for video and still photography. I chose it because it has a plastic body - not as durable as metal but much lighter - if you have ever carried a camera with accessories attached for 8 hours, you'll understand why low weight is very important.
Fast, silent autofocus makes it great for shooting video of moving trucks and people; touchscreen let's you do many things fast without spinning dials and navigating menus; a flip out screen makes it easy to see yourself for talking head videos, and seeing what you are shooting when you want to hold the camera close to the ground or way over your head. We love the mic and headphone inputs, long battery life, tough durable housing - and that's just the beginning. It doesn't shoot 4K video but camera's that do often require a sacrifice I'm not willing to make.
Current Canadian pricing - https://amzn.to/2JhNdnt
I grabbed the 18-55 kit lens with the camera (they were only going to save us $50 if I didn't) but I needed a wide angle lens to shoot interiors of trucks and RV's. A wide angle lens is also key for shooting exteriors of trucks and RV's at trade shows where you can't back up to get everything into the frame, or if you can back up, there's always someone walking through your shot.
You can blow a lot of dough on lenses, and I mean a lot of dough, and they will take better pictures (more accurate colour, work in lower light, suffer less distortion) but they won't necessarily tell your story better - and that is the goal. I want to provide my audience with exciting, informative and entertaining stories and videos. If I can save $1000 on a lens that gets the job done well, it's money I can spend on gear that helps tell the story even better.
I threw the Canon EFS 10-18 in to the shopping cart. I like the versatility of a short zoom (perfect for framing a close shot), lightweight construction, and although it's not cheap, it is affordable and does a great job. You (total audience) have watched over ten million minutes of video shot with this lens and camera combination.
Canon EFS 10-18
Canadian - https://amzn.to/2F6c6jT
Rode VideoMic Pro
The Canon 80D has a built in mic but often you don't want to be too close to the action - like when the buggy is charging up hill towards you, or rolling back down at you. I use a Rode VideoMic Pro shotgun mic to get great sound from a safe distance. It has a shock mount so your sound is clean following a 4x4 up the trail or elbowing your way through a crowd.
Canadian - https://amzn.to/2qRQWAP
Rode smartLav+
However I discovered that the Rode VideoMic Pro failed miserably under trade show conditions as it picked up too much ambient noise - making most interviews, and talking head shots inaudible regardless of how hard I tried to clean things up in post-production. I turned to the Rode smartLav+. A lav (or lavalier) mic is that little black ball you see attached to a lapel or shirt. It provides clean audible sound without echo in all conditions. This particular unit is very affordable and works with your mobile phone or tablet - so no wires run back to the camera. While the Rode app for your phone is a little irritating to use, I can't argue with the results.
Canadian - https://amzn.to/2HkaHfz
Manfrotto BeFree Live TriPod
I use the tripod a lot. Almost all the talking head videos and interviews are done using the tripod, as is all panning and tilting video and often the high over head video (I use the tripod like a handheld boom). I started with a cheap one and broke it - oops - and was two days from any place that sold another. My criteria for a new tripod included strong, sturdy, lightweight, affordable, compact, tall, with a head that could be adjusted to shoot buttery smooth video. I researched and tested about two dozen tripods between $100 - $700, it was painful. But I finally discovered the Manfrotto BeFree Live - Manfrotto MVKBFR-LIVEUS. It weighs just 3.97 lb, holds payloads of 8.82 lb, extends from 16.93 - 59.45", collapses to 15.75", has a fluid head for buttery smooth video and comes with a smart looking case. A huge plus is the video plate is a 501PL - the same one used in our Ikan gimbal. This means that with one plate mounted on the camera, I can quickly switch from the tripod to the gimbal.
Canadian - https://amzn.to/2HkbAop
Ikan Beholder EC-1 Camera Gimbal
The gimbal allows a cameraman to follow presenters around and through RV's, boats, and trucks; run up a trail following a 4x4, elbow through crowds, hike up mountains, all while shooting smooth, stable, great quality video using our Canon 80D DLSR (the gimbal works with many different models of DLSR). You can use it on the move with one hand, while the built-in computer stabilizes the camera using 3 electric motors. It has a ton of features, long battery life (we shoot all day on one charge), and comes with a secure padded carry-case.
Canadian - hhttps://amzn.to/2qQRs1O
Ikan Beholder EC-1 Dual Grip Handle
I also picked up the dual grip handle. Shooting with one hand gets tiring after an hour, two hands make life better. It also gives you a number of different shooting options - right side up, upside down or carrying it like a brief case, which is an especially effective method when walking, running or climbing. The dual grip handle also provides a built-in stand for setting up the gimbal, and setting it down on the ground when you need to take a break.
Canadian - https://amzn.to/2qRl0fL
Protactic 450 AW
All this gear has to travel from A to Z, with every letter of the alphabet another stop along the way. The gear is expensive, and often can't be replaced when I get to my final destination, so it needs to be packed safely, but still be organized and accessible, so I can pull it out at a moments notice. It needs to qualify as a carry-on for airlines, be comfortable to hike with for hours (all day through a trade show or hiking around the wilderness). On top of all my camera gear, it has carry my laptop. Once again, finding a pack to do all of this seemed to be an impossible task. I own more than two dozen backpacks and bags - none of them could do it all. I finally found and bought the Protactic 450 AW.
It is full and gets heavy, especially with the MacBook Pro loaded, but everything to shoot and record images and video in urban and off-road environments is safe and easily accessible.
Canadian - https://amzn.to/2HQB1e2
Smart Phone Accessories
Zhiyun Smooth Q 3-axis Gimbal