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My Equipment, Where Can I Improve.

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TFT YouTube

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Hello, I am looking for advice for YouTube as I record all my new videos on an A53 device and use an S10e for alternate angles when possible, is there any settings anyone would recommend to make colours stick out more, and having better photo & video quality without taking up too much storage, all help is appreciated.
 
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ac6000cw

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Having had look at some of your videos, honestly what you really need to do is spend time learning/practicing how to shoot decent video. You zoom in and out a lot, sometimes the camera is not very level, there's stuff cluttering the foreground so you can't see the main subject clearly etc.

Think about where to stand, where the light is coming from, what might be a good camera angle - and if you plan to swing round to follow a train as it goes past, do you have a decent view in both directions?

Be self-critical afterwards - is it good footage, and if it isn't, ask yourself what's wrong with it and what could I do better next time?

If some of the footage isn't good, leave it out of the finished YouTube video. To get a final video that looks reasonably polished, you've got to make hard choices when you edit it about what's good enough and interesting enough to be in there (and if you're not sure, leave it out). The parts that are 'on the cutting room floor' are a sign that you're doing a decent edit.

As for camera settings - maybe a little bit more colour saturation might help, and avoid zooming in too much - the digital zoom on your phone (I used to own an A52 myself) looks very blurry/pixelated at high zoom levels.

(I know my comments might sound harsh, but I'm actually trying to help. Even though I've been shooting video, as an amateur, for nearly 30 years I still mess it up sometimes and wince at my silly mistakes - usually because I'm not concentrating hard enough on what I'm doing with the camera).
 

TFT YouTube

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Joined
2 Feb 2025
Messages
193
Location
Salisbury
Having had look at some of your videos, honestly what you really need to do is spend time learning/practicing how to shoot decent video. You zoom in and out a lot, sometimes the camera is not very level, there's stuff cluttering the foreground so you can't see the main subject clearly etc.

Think about where to stand, where the light is coming from, what might be a good camera angle - and if you plan to swing round to follow a train as it goes past, do you have a decent view in both directions?

Be self-critical afterwards - is it good footage, and if it isn't, ask yourself what's wrong with it and what could I do better next time?

If some of the footage isn't good, leave it out of the finished YouTube video. To get a final video that looks reasonably polished, you've got to make hard choices when you edit it about what's good enough and interesting enough to be in there (and if you're not sure, leave it out). The parts that are 'on the cutting room floor' are a sign that you're doing a decent edit.

As for camera settings - maybe a little bit more colour saturation might help, and avoid zooming in too much - the digital zoom on your phone (I used to own an A52 myself) looks very blurry/pixelated at high zoom levels.

(I know my comments might sound harsh, but I'm actually trying to help. Even though I've been shooting video, as an amateur, for nearly 30 years I still mess it up sometimes and wince at my silly mistakes - usually because I'm not concentrating hard enough on what I'm doing with the camera).
Yeah like you say when it comes to angles it's really where I can get and where is most optimal, I do at times leave some footage if I'm not happy with it, which was happened for me in a good amount of circumstances, however the zooming I do as if I think it may sort of be helpful especially if there's a lot else in frame I can get it out, I do understand the quality though but I do it if I'm somewhere where you can see far into the distance in both ways (Eastleigh, Dean, Whitby, etc) it's better doing that then having it go far into the distance and it doing more tones which has happened a good amount of times in the past and the actual train is like 5 pixels on the screen, so for that there isn't much I can really do about it, I do like saturating the thumbnails on some videos so it's a bit more noticeable and catches more people's attention, but I've never done it with recordings before. But another thing I want to do is phase out of doing pan shots, again I know that does remove the point of what I was saying about zooming and all of that, but tbh sometimes I get the timing wrong and it kind of messes it up, I was thinking of recording from one angle than panning once the units passed, then just record it going away, and cut that together. I do agree with stuff obstructing the foreground of the shot, but at the same time I don't obviously want to accidentally break any laws or anything which is why in some shots I have stuff in the way, like if I'm not at a station or something. So I just kinda wanna focus on keeping in line cuz at the end of the day I would rather get a slightly worse shot than accidentally break any rules or laws. Though as for lighting in some cases I've got no choice as if the sun is setting or it's the middle of the day where I go in Salisbury, the sun can ruin the shots and as I've only been using this camera for 2 months, the lighting acts weird compared to the s10e which I now use for alt angles, the lighting I notice is now more reacting to stuff around it which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and it's the same with the focusing.
 

Iskra

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West Riding
I class myself as an amateur, as I’m very much still learning myself and relatively new to filming. However, two things that I have found useful as my own YouTube channel grows are:

- a cheap collapsible tripod, available from Amazon. This really helps with keeping your camera steady and also for panning smoothly (I still don’t get that right every time but it definitely increases my success).
- location research. Use Google Maps/OS maps app to find locations where you’re going to get a better shot.
 

TFT YouTube

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Joined
2 Feb 2025
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193
Location
Salisbury
I class myself as an amateur, as I’m very much still learning myself and relatively new to filming. However, two things that I have found useful as my own YouTube channel grows are:

- a cheap collapsible tripod, available from Amazon. This really helps with keeping your camera steady and also for panning smoothly (I still don’t get that right every time but it definitely increases my success).
- location research. Use Google Maps/OS maps app to find locations where you’re going to get a better shot.
Yeah I had 2 tripods a big one and a small one the small one broke and got amazon delivering a new one tommorow, although as previously mentioned I do want to phase out panning. Although tbh I know the station's I go to well enough so I can always get a nice spot if it isn't busy but if I haven't before been there I will spend a few days researching the most optimal spot.
 

ac6000cw

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Monopods can be useful, especially in busy places like station platforms where a tripod is best avoided or not allowed - much quicker to set up/collapse/carry around and minimal extra floor space when in use. For a phone, a long telescopic selfie stick could be used as a monopod - lighter and cheaper. Even when collapsed, they can help stabilise/hold steady a handheld camera/phone.

Though as for lighting in some cases I've got no choice as if the sun is setting or it's the middle of the day where I go in Salisbury, the sun can ruin the shots and as I've only been using this camera for 2 months, the lighting acts weird compared to the s10e which I now use for alt angles, the lighting I notice is now more reacting to stuff around it which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and it's the same with the focusing.
Have you tried using a camera app which might give you more control over exposure, focusing, colour etc.? I used to use 'Open Camera' (free) on my Samsung phone but there are many others around.

(and yes, making best use of/putting up with the available lighting conditions is part of the fun of doing this ;) - sometimes getting a even a vaguely usable shot is really difficult)
 

TFT YouTube

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Joined
2 Feb 2025
Messages
193
Location
Salisbury
Monopods can be useful, especially in busy places like station platforms where a tripod is best avoided or not allowed - much quicker to set up/collapse/carry around and minimal extra floor space when in use. For a phone, a long telescopic selfie stick could be used as a monopod - lighter and cheaper. Even when collapsed, they can help stabilise/hold steady a handheld camera/phone.


Have you tried using a camera app which might give you more control over exposure, focusing, colour etc.? I used to use 'Open Camera' (free) on my Samsung phone but there are many others around.

(and yes, making best use of/putting up with the available lighting conditions is part of the fun of doing this ;) - sometimes getting a even a vaguely usable shot is really difficult)
I haven't heard of open camera, up to now I've been using Samsung studio for editing, and photo editor pro (free) for thumbnails, I will look into a monopod but as said I've got something very similar arriving today.
 

Sun Chariot

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Videoing composition and equipment ideas are also on this recent thread:
 
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