Getting over my gear snobbery

It's all thanks to one tiny little camera

If you’re part of my Patreon crew (I’m genuinely not sure how else to describe that wonderful bunch of people - plus, using the word ‘crew’ makes me feel young again) you’ll be aware that I occasionally send you vlogs.

These are day-in-the-life videos which give people a chance to see what really happens behind the scenes at Mark Ellis Reviews HQ. From dropping my iPhone 13 mini while attempting to film myself cycling, to rambling incoherently into the camera after beers at an unfathomable Sony event, I’ve shared as much as I dare.

I love creating those vlogs. The process, filmmaking techniques and sheer freedom that comes from simply wandering around with a camera and not worrying about perfect lighting have resulted - ironically - in some of my best work. It has also inspired the main channel content; it’s why you’ll see me walking around the studio and, basically, no longer chained to that desk waffling on about tech.

There has been just one issue with this approach - the gear I’m using to film the vlogs. It consists of my Sony FX3 camera, a chunky Sigma wide-angle lens, and a Rode VideoMic Pro+. Basically, it’s the camera gear I use to shoot my regular YouTube videos in the studio.

The FX3 is an admirably small camera for what it delivers. I bloody love that thing. But since I’ve started making the aforementioned vlogs, I’ve realised something; production speed is everything.

With the FX3, shooting a coffee montage (where I attempt to create a Peter McKinnon- inspired morning brewing session) takes forever. I have to manually focus, ensure I’m choosing the right ISO for the best exposure, and situate the camera to get the best angle. It’s an utter faff.

So, this week, I bought a Sony ZV-1. It’s a tiny little 4K camera with a built-in, non-interchangeable lens and it’s about as point-and-shoot as they come. It has terrible battery life, overheats if you shoot for too long in 4K, and the 24mm maximum focal length is questionable for vlogging (although that can be fixed with a third-party wide-angle lens).

But, you know what? It is perfect for vlogging. The ZV-1 has immediately fixed all of the issues I had with using the FX3 for that task. Now, I just pick up, point, and literally shoot. I’ve even abandoned the idea of shooting in LOG format for the best dynamic range and tweakability when it comes to colour grading.

Because no one cares.

This imperfect but super-convenient little camera has taught me a lot. I’ve always been a bit of a snob about gear; I’ve devoured every review before purchasing, sweated every deficiency, and spent too long tweaking things that people will never notice. The ZV-1, by comparison, just lets me focus on telling the story and getting the damn thing out.

It’s a similar story with this weekend’s YouTube video, which is a full-on hiking test for the Apple Watch Ultra. Most of the video is shot with my iPhone 14 Pro Max. I genuinely debated whether or not to take the FX3 with me for the trip to the Lake District. That would have been immeasurably stupid - the weather we experienced up there would have made it unusable, and it would have been an utter pain to carry around.

I’m proud of the video that has emerged from that expedition. The footage is far from perfect, but it was so simple to shoot, and the edit was devoid of any faffing about with colour grades.

My gear snobbery may not have completely evaporated, but it’s been an enlightening couple of weeks.

Why do we so often let this stuff slow us down?