Shop our Gear

This is a list of the vlogging and video production gear we use for both our personal vlog and Myke’s video production work at Focus Video. Feel free to browse and pick up a few things for yourself. It helps support us!

Cameras

We rock two Canon APS-C cameras, the Canon M50 and the Canon SL2. Their compact size, good image quality, tilty flippy screen, and Canon’s Dual Pixel Auto Focus, make these outstanding volgging cameras, and Myke even uses them for paid gigs with Focus Video.

The M50 uses an EF-M mount and while there isn’t a lot of lens options, there are several adapters that will allow you to mount any EF or EF-S lens to the camera. They are also great for photos as well!

To be honest, the SL2 is usually our B-Camera and we are looking to trade that out for a second M50 in the near future.

Both cameras feature 1080p @ 24fps & 60fps with Canon’s Dual Pixel Auto Focus, a built in time lapse function, and a mic input jack. The M50 is also capable of recording 4K at 24fps (with a heavy crop, and no auto focus, but I can make it work!) and can be connected to an external monitor, (not a clean HDMI output however).

In addition, we just added a GoPro Hero 7 Black to our camera line up for our trip to Pismo Beach and we have loved it! The stabilization, fram rate and resolution features, and the image quality are awesome!

Lenses

Lenses are one of the most important parts of any vlogging or production kit. These are the lenses we currently use on a daily basis.

The Canon 10-18 is a perfect “walk and talk” lens, it has image stabilization, and on the crop sensor body has an equivalent focal length of 16mm-28mm, which allows you to hold the camera out at arms length and still get some of the background in the frame.

The 22mm paired with the Canon M50 makes for the perfect pocket-able little rig, and at f/2 it excels in low light conditions.

I really love the 18-135mm as it provides a pretty wide focal distance, and is great for capturing images from a distance.

The 50mm is our primary B-Roll and interview lens. It’s f/1.8 aperture gives a nice bokeh effect behind an interview subject and performs well in low light.

Audio

Capturing good audio might be the most important part of video production. You can hide or fix bad footage, but if the audio is bad, your whole video will be. Here is the gear we use to capture audio, both for our vlogs and Myke’s professional work.

Lighting

Good lighting is so important to help you get high-quality images, and so we invested in a set of decently priced, good quality lights. So here is what we use on set.

Stabilization

Whether you’re walking around, or shooting in a static location, good stabilization is vital for your footage, especially if you don’t have it built into the camera, like us. Here are the various camera stabilizers we use on a regular basis.

*Quick note about the gimbal, we only use this with one camera/lens combo. The M50 with the 22mm EF-M lens. That’s because just about anything bigger won’t balance, we will probably be upgrading this in the near future.

The Drone

We picked up a used DJI Mavic Pro Fly More Combo on Craigslist and have loved every second of flight time! It features, 3 batteries, for a total of about 1 hour of flying time, and several extra propellers. If you’re going to be flying during the day, I highly recommend the Polar Pro ND 32 filter for the Mavic Pro.

Camera Accessories

While not 100% necessary for a usable vlogging rig, here are some recommend accessories that make our video production life so much easier!

Small Rig Cage for M50

Myke has big hands, and the grip on the M50 isn’t deep enough to hold the camera with all 4 fingers on it, so the addition of the cage from Small Rig allows a steady grip on the camera and enables us to attach other accessories to the camera. It lives on the camera full time.

External Monitor for Canon M50

The M50’s 4K mode turns off Dual Pixel Auto Focus, so we use manual focus when recording in 4K. To help pull focus better we got an external monitor to help us see when we are in focus. The Best thing about this Feelworld monitor is it takes Sony NP batteries, so we picked up two big ones and we can shoot for a whole day!

Camera Bag

Oh, the quest for the perfect camera backpack is never-ending! Myke needed a bag that wouldn’t break the bank but could carry both camera bodies, a few lenses, and the drone for adventure filming. It also needed to work for Sunday mornings and professional shoots, which meant it needed space for a 15″ laptop. This bag has all of that and so far we love it!

Straps

A good camera strap is such a wonderful thing to have, especially if you are juggling two cameras, this system from PeakDesign is fantastic and allows Myke to shoot on two cameras without having to leave one on the ground, or a shelf, or in the bag. Plus the strap comes off and on easy for switching from handheld to a tripod.