The Camera That Inspires You The Most Isn't The Best Spec Camera

Here's the thing, I've used ARRI, Varicams, Fujis, Nikons, Reds, Blackmagics, and a whole bunch of Sonys, and what I've learned is that the camera with the best specs still may not be the best camera for you. I own a Sony FX3, and spec-wise, on paper, this camera is amazing, and I actually really love my Sony FX3. However, it is not the camera that inspires me to create the most. But before I tell you all what camera does inspire me, I reached out to some of my favorite creatives to gain some insight on what camera inspires them to create the most, and why. What's good, y'all? I'm YC Imogen. If y'all don't know me, I make music videos, but the camera that I'm currently using right now that is inspiring me the most is the Canon C70. And the reason why I love the C70 is it's just easy. Makes the process of making stuff really fast. The built-in ND filters make it so I don't have to bring ND filters with me. The built-in XLR inputs make it so I can get high-quality audio if I want it. I can just throw a really good boom microphone on the camera and it takes SD cards. It's like a win-win in pretty much every category. The Kodak is easy to edit, has really nice dynamic range. It's nothing bad about this camera. I like it. It makes the process fast. That's the one that I've been using. And it's been inspiring me the most, man. I like the process to be easy, and this is the camera that does that. Terry, what camera truly inspires you? That actually is a good question. I actually have a bunch of different cameras, and as a solo content creator, I primarily use Sony because, you know, when it's just us, Sony's very, very reliable. Autofocus is great, battery life is great, great image quality and all that stuff, but I think the only camera that I've tested in the last two to three years that probably has made me want to go create, to be honest, is the Lumix S5 Mark II X. Now, I'm not saying that this thing is perfect. It's got its set of flaws also, but for somebody who's into video and photography, for the price point, especially with this all black murdered out look, man, it's such a complete camera, even with its flaws. And every time I pick it up, I just want to go create something. And I think that's what's important, a camera that makes you want to go create. So for me, that choice, Lumix S5 Mark II X. Hi, my name is Lila. I am also known as Lila from YouTube. And I would say that the camera that currently inspires me the most and challenges me the most is this one. Now, this is a film camera that I got as a gift from a friend. It is the Pentax Zoom 90 WR. No idea if it's a good one, but it definitely inspires and challenges me because it is a film camera. So I'm not able to review the photos that I take. I have to very patiently wait and develop the role once it's done. And it inspires me because I've always wanted to capture my summer on film. And this year I finally decided to do so. I think it's just super fun. You just press the shutter. It's literally everything that I normally don't do. Normally it's manual this, it's never auto anything. And this is just press the button and you're done. And in a month or whenever I'm going to develop a film and I hope it's going to look good. The camera that absolutely inspires me the most has to be the RED Komodo X. It has become my favorite go-to camera at this point. Even though I do technically own the bigger RED V Raptor, which is full frame, shoots at 8K and at higher frame rates. There's something about the size of the Komodo X that allows me to be a bit more nimble with it. And I can travel with it and really just take it out to get more shots. And of course I love the global shutter. So even though it doesn't really make sense why I would choose that one over the Raptor, I just find myself gravitating back to the KX almost every time. Out of all the cameras that I've owned and I've owned quite a few, but I can remember the Sony FX6 being the most inspiring to shoot with. And I think I give that up to it being just so versatile. It made me feel like I can do it all as a one man band. You know, no AC, no sound guy. Everything about it felt like Sony was putting the power back into the solo creator's hands. And I can say I created some really great projects that I'm proud of, very, very proud of to this day. With the Sony FX6, I was just really inspired to go shoot those run and gun videos and get it done. Then I feel like that inspiration started to die a little bit when my goals as a filmmaker started to shift. I started shifting away from the run and gun, get it done mentality. And I started putting more focus into slowing down and putting a lot more attention on experimentation with different cameras and Kodaks and image quality. Because as you grow as a filmmaker, learning different Kodaks and technical differences between cameras is a really great asset to have as a filmmaker. So yeah, I was aware that the Sony FX6 was this hype camera and everyone was looking at me crazy that I was selling it for the red Komodo. But I wasn't thinking it was a crazy move because moving towards what was inspiring to me was my main goal. And I think that's a priority for me as a creative. You always wanna stay inspired. I will always encourage you to go towards what's inspiring to you. And if that's a camera that came out 10 years ago, five years ago, so be it. That inspiration of using the camera and the gear that works for you, use that. Don't let anyone influence you to go out and buy these latest cameras and the most hyped camera because everyone says so. So yeah, this might've been a long-winded answer, but thank you, Brittany, for having me on your channel and carry on. Hey, Brittany, thanks for having me on this video. Kitty here with Atola. And in the world of all these cool digital cameras, of course we're nerds and we're gonna like the newest thing. But my favorite challenging and inspiring camera is this 2005 camcorder. It's a Sony Handycam. I don't remember the model, DCR something, something, 42. But I love it because this is like what got me into videography in the first place was shooting on a camcorder. And after going through years and years of new technology, sometimes coming back to a simple camera like this where you don't have to worry about settings, ISO, all those crazy new features that you maybe never use, using a little Handycam is just so much fun and nostalgic and brings me back to how and why I started this in the first place. Get yourself a Candycam. You'll thank me later. Oh, I also have an accessory I added is also this little wide lens attachment that just screws on right here. It's just so tiny and compact. It's a fixed lens, but you can make it wide also. It's got internal recording, touchscreen, and the files are small. You can just carry it like this. I literally stuff it in this tiny design bag. Look at that. When was the last time you could put your camera in something this tiny and just walk around? So that's my camera. So out of all of the cameras that I've tested and played around with, and I've used quite a lot of them, the one that I actually like the most is going to be the brand new Komodo X that I just purchased. Now, I have used other bigger cameras like the Sony Venice, and what I like about those is the image and all the IO that comes with it. But for me, as somebody that works in small crew productions, or sometimes as just a solo operator, it's a little bit too much camera for me. However, I still want to use things like the raw codec and have amazing dynamic range and color out of the box and still use PL lenses to make my image look that much better. The Komodo X offers a lot of those things, but in a much smaller package, that's more versatile. If I want to put this on a one-handed gimbal, I absolutely can. If I want to get it on sticks, but I don't have to buy an extra heavy-duty tripod, I absolutely can. And also, I can operate this thing handheld without having to need an easy rig every single time. One thing that I also really like about the RED Komodo X is I don't know a ton about the RED system in general. I did have the RED Komodo original, which I was able to use that for about six weeks. And I don't think that's long enough to actually have a definitive opinion about a camera, but I did get to use it and get used to it. But picking up the Komodo X, I feel like I'm learning something every time. And that kind of keeps me going and challenging myself in terms of how I want to shoot things, how I want to expose, how I want to compose my images. And somebody that's going to be a DP, like having that challenge is going to keep you going. It's going to make things interesting. And for me personally, that challenge and that learning something every day is what keeps me picking this camera up for any project that's going to come my way. Yo, thanks Brittany for having me on and answering this question. I really like this question that you're asking about what camera really just inspires me to use it as much as I can. So the cameras that I've always been drawn to are the cameras that allow me to have the most creative flexibility when it comes to the image, when it comes to resolution options, frame rates, how can I rig it? Are the ports proper enough for a small crew or large crew? All those things are really important to me. And I've got my hands on a lot of different cameras over the years. This is the Kinefinity Mavo S35 Mark II. And so I've been very happy with it. It's a super 35 camera, like I just said before, and it allows me to do all the things I want to do creatively. So it has open gate. If you don't know what open gate is, it allows me to have the full height and width of the sensor. So that allows me to be very flexible when I need to be in terms of deliverables, or I can just shoot open gate and have that look as well. As you can see, it is sort of like a perfect one man band type of camera, very much resembles the RED systems back in the day. It has the proper IO ports for Genlock, SDI, all those things that you need. And that's what inspires me most, cameras that give me flexibility. I am not limited to what the manufacturer wants to put in here. This is what this camera does for me. I've had some cameras in the past that have crafted some type of inspiration, like this one, this one, and even this one. But the one camera that inspires me the most has to be my Sony ZV-1. Despite my main A camera, which is a Sony A7S III, this compact beast pushes me to certain levels of creativity. I know the size of the camera could fool a lot of people, but personally, I just like to embrace minimalism. And despite the specs and all that stuff, it encourages and inspires me to focus on the essence of the scene rather than over-complicating it for myself with the settings, the composition, the lighting. The camera is so compact and I can put it in my bag and then pull it out anytime inspiration strikes and just have fun with it. I think that's my overall thing is just to have fun when creating, especially because we do it on a full-time basis. I'm wanting to always create room for me to explore my ideas, my inspirations, and my imagination, like just letting it run wild. And honestly, I've always been the type of person to believe that it's how I use the camera to capture my perspective and tell the stories, and not necessarily about the camera. To answer your question about what camera inspires me the most, I think if you look at my Instagram or my Twitter, you would know it is my Fuji X100F. It's not the V. I feel like it's about 90% of what the V is, and it gives me everything that I need in a camera. And I take this camera literally everywhere I go. There's not a moment that I don't have this camera, and that's what motivates me the most. It is mainly to document my life, and I feel that that is an area that a lot of photographers miss out on. This, to me, is the ultimate dad cam. I follow my daughters around with this camera. I follow my wife around with this camera. It takes me back to those times when my dad used to follow us around with a big handy cam and everything, and it was corny, but he was so excited about it, and now I get why he was so excited. There's just something about having a camera and capturing those moments, and the Fuji does that for me. And there's just something magical about what this camera does, and that's what inspires me to always take this camera everywhere that I go. Thanks, peace. So I began my filming career on YouTube like many others did, but really early YouTube, and I used a flip camera. Since then, I've used several Canons from the 550 way into their Cine range, and loads of Sonys and drones and action cameras, and honestly, the camera that inspires me most is the one that's in my hand that I'm just available to use and do. I've used iPhones for big projects recently. I've used FS6s, FX7s, really older ones those ones are, and honestly, it's just the one that gets the job done and inspires you creatively to make the thing, and sometimes having a limit on a camera will inspire you to do something a bit different than you were thinking of doing. I think the things that make your shot better anyway are things like lighting, set design, things like that. You can make some pretty awful cameras. I filmed an entire thing for television, Irish television on my Canon 550D, but because it was lit well enough and it was graded well enough, people didn't know and it went up for broadcast, so whatever you've got. Yo B, it was good. Now my perspective is gonna be coming from someone that shoots primarily documentary and corporate video work, and I do brand content for small businesses as well, but my bread and butter is documentary and corporate. So yeah, it's no secret that the Canon C70 has been my workhorse camera, it's been my bread and butter camera, and if you would've asked me this question last year, I would've said the Canon C70, and I don't really see it talked about in the other forms that I'm in, and that is the Fuji X-H2S. Now let me tell you why. The camera is compact, it has internal ProRes, which is great when it comes to editing. It has 6.2K, it doesn't cost over $2,500, so the Fuji X-H2S allows me to dial in a look internally in camera that I don't think I would have the time to do in post. Now I know, different strokes for different folks. I pray that after watching this video that you are inspired with the camera system that you have, or that you're inspired to go buy the camera system that really speaks to you. But hey, that's my rant. B, I appreciate you doing this. Thanks for having me. Peace. So the camera that does inspire me to create the most was my Blackmagic 6K. Everything about that camera just screamed creativity to me. I didn't have to focus on the tech aspect of the camera, all of the specs and all of the settings, and to me, that's what inspires me to create with cameras. Cameras where I don't feel like I have to have this crazy workflow to get something beautiful out of the camera. The minute you turn that Blackmagic on, the sensor created beautiful imagery. You turn it on, you instantly felt like, I need to shoot something with this camera. And I even felt like there was a level of growth in my career when I had the Blackmagic. And not even just that, I think it inspired me to create. It pushed me to grow, and it challenged me. And I think when we look at cameras, that's what should be the focal point of buying a camera. So all in all, this whole video was to just show you all that it's not always about the camera that is most popular. It's not always about the camera that looks good on paper and has the best specs. It's really about how you feel the minute you pick up that camera, or the minute you turn that camera on, does it push you to wanna create? Does it push you, does it challenge you to wanna be a better filmmaker? It could be the FX3, or it could be a camcorder, or it could be your iPhone. It does not matter. Do not get so caught up on the camera itself, and more so the creativity, the story, the love that you have for filmmaking and creating. That is always going to be more important than the camera, and these people just showed you that. So don't take my word for it, take their word for it. So thank y'all so much for watching. Shout out to everybody who was a part of this video. I truly appreciate it. Like y'all just being down for the cause, like that meant so much to me. I truly do appreciate it, and I love that. I love that we can all come together as filmmakers and YouTubers, and like help each other. Like y'all don't understand how inspired I was just by that. So thank you to everybody that was a part. Thank y'all so much for watching this video. I love you all, and I pray that you have a great day. See you in the next video.