Our MotoVlogging & Camera Setup at FortNine.ca
Gear setup :
- Zoom H4N Sound Recorder
- Sony EMS-44B Lavalier Mic
- GoPro HERO5 Black
- GoPro HERO Session
- Canon 5D Mark III
- Canon L-Series 16-35mm f/2.8 , 24-105mm f/4 , 70-200mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.2
- Sony FS5
- DJI Phantom 3 Professional
Hey, I’m Johnny from TeamF9 and I’m going to finally answer a question that we’ve received countless times, our camera production set-up.
Zoom H4N Sound Recorder
First, let’s talk about sound! Everyone has asked us how Ryan gets such clean audio both in the reviews and in his motovlogs. Well, we use this, it’s a Zoom H4N sound recorder. It’s a really great recorder, super portable – it’ll fit in most pant pockets - and runs on two AA-batteries. Battery life is pretty great on these things, about 4 hours of continuous recording in Normal Mode and if you flick this little switch, it’ll go into Stamina Mode and record continuously for up to 11 hours.
It can record in two audio formats, MP3 and WAV. We record in WAV because it’s a higher quality file than the popular MP3. You can record in MP3 if you’d like, it isn’t that big of a deal if the video is going up online, and the file size is smaller. It has two built-in microphones and two XLR inputs for external microphones.
Sony EMS-44B
Speaking of microphones, we use Sony EMS-44B lavalier mics. It plugs right into the XLR imput on the Zoom and it’s just a simple, good-quality microphone. It runs on one AA-battery and Sony says the battery will power the microphone for 5000 hours. And they’re right. We record multiple reviews and motovlogs a week and we haven’t changed the battery yet.
For gear and moto reviews, we clip in onto Ryan’s collar and for motovlogs, Ryan tapes onto the inside of the chin bar of his helmet.
And to sync up audio, we just clap before each take and match up the audio waves in post. Super simple.
Next up, cameras!
GoPro Hero 5 Black
For our motovlog camera set-up, we use two GoPros. Well, I should say that’s what we used to do. Before one of them fell off of the bike while Ryan was reviews the Harley Low-Rider S. No matter, we’ve since replaced it.
The primary camera for the motovlogs is a GoPro Hero 5 Black. GoPro just released it and it’s pretty safe to say that it’s their best camera to date. That is, until they release a new one next year like all tech companies love to do.
The Hero 5 has a few settings we don’t really care about like the touch-sensitive display and the ability to record stereo audio because like I said earlier, we record all of our audio separately anyways. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to have, but we just won’t use it.
However, there are some really awesome features, its waterproof without having to buy a housing for it separately which is awesome, but it does leave the camera open to rocks and sticks that can hit it and crack the glass.
And, if image quality is as important to you, as it is to us, it’s worth knowing that it can record in 4K. Although we output all of videos in 1080p, having the ability to crop and reframe is really great.
GoPro HERO Session
Our second motovlog camera is the GoPro Hero Session.
We bought this little guy because we wanted a B-camera and it works great as exactly that. We wouldn’t really use it as our primary because the image quality isn’t exactly where we’d like it, but its great at what it does.
It’s small and super light. You can mount it to your helmet and you’ll barely notice it’s there.
Canon 5D Mark III
For our gear reviews - the camera we’re shooting on right now actually - we use a Canon 5D Mark III.
If you know anything about DSLR filmmaking, you’ll know that the 5D pretty much started the revolution. It’s shot countless low-budget videos as well as some second-unit on bigger productions like Breaking Bad.
And anything that’s good enough for Walter White, is good enough for us. Except meth.
It’s a great full frame photographic camera with all the capabilities we need to make these gear review videos. It actually has so much potential than what you’re seeing here. If you’ve watched our Explore videos, you can see just a glimpse of what the 5D Mark III is capable of doing.
Canon L-Series Prime & Zoom Lenses
As for our lenses, we have a great set of Canon L-Series primes and zooms ranging from wide to telephoto. We’ve got a 16-35mm f/2.8, 24-105mm f/4, 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.2.
If you’ve got the money to buy a kit, we’d always recommend buying prime lenses because they’re just usually better quality. However, good quality zoom lenses are out there. We’ve got all focal distances covered from 16-200mm and we’ve never needed anything more.
SONY FS5
Now for the big boy! The newest addition to the FortNine video arsenal, the Sony FS5.
This is an incredible little camera. It has countless features that you can research if you’re really looking into buying one, but I’ll just give a really quick rundown of the features we mostly use. Built-in ND filter, removable top handle, super slow motion. Like super slow. 120fps slow. Oh, and that’s 120fps in full HD. The image quality is gorgeous on the FS5, but I mean with a Super 35mm CMOS sensor, that’s to be expected.
The hand grip is super ergonomic and positioned perfectly for the camera’s centre of gravity. With this Sony BP-U90 battery and a heavy lens, the camera feels perfectly balanced. This isn’t the stock battery though, we bought this extra because this BP-U30 didn’t have quite enough juice for us.
We use all of our Canon glass on this guy with an adapter. It changes the crop factor on the sensor which is kind of annoying, but we can live with that.
One word of caution if you’re looking to buy the FS5, make sure your computer is up to snuff because shooting and editing in 4K is not a job for the fainthearted.
DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter
And finally, if you’re looking for that extra bump to your production value, get yourself one of these. It’s the DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadcopter.
Our first time using this guy was while shooting all over Quebec during our Explore series and it added just that extra little bit of flavor we needed. The first flight for the episode we did was actually in the Gaspe. We flew it out over Perce Rock and it was really windy. Our cameraman was so nervous that the wind would blow the camera right into the water that he didn’t breathe for the whole flight. It’s not a cheap piece of kit to lose to the big blue.
It’s best if you can practice using your drone before attempting any big flights. We did and had some crashes, but otherwise we were more than ready going into production. For those of you who played fighter jet or airplane video games growing up, you’ll love flying these. You can also get a second remote so that you can have one person operating the drone and the other controlling the camera.
The Phantom 3 Professional records in 4K and you can also shoot slow motion with it as well. If you’re interested in getting the Phantom 3, make sure you download the DJI GO app. It allows to control your drone through an awesome program DJI has called Lightbridge. You can control exposure, frame rate, white balance, everything. Plus, it lets you watch what’s going on in the camera in 720p HD.
So now you know what gear we’re using. The illusion is shattered.