Thread: Smart phone and Go Pro "must haves"

I've just bought a smart phone (Samsung S20 Ultra) and Go Pro 8 for filming a few hunts but mostly for interviews/mobile stories etc for a YT channel I'm starting. I've been a fulltime freelance photographer/writer (mags) for 15-years; but don't know a great deal about the "must have" indispensable gizmos for the phone and go pro . I've just bought a DJI handheld gimbal for the phone but was wondering what other things are worth having.

As a photographer I know there are some brands etc that punch well above their weight. For example I use Chinese Mieke flashes now. They are really good quality and much cheaper than "name brand" flashes. So I was thinking it's probably the same with smartphone/go pro gear; AliExpress wonders etc

Thanks in advance!

the mrs has a decent dslr, what would you recommend as a flash ? its a 21mp sony

The main things with GoPros is mounts and batteries. The factory batteries always seem to suck and it's always good to have mounts on hand to do what you want to do.

Audio Audio Audio,

People often forget that the visual is only half the deal, almost more important than the visual is the audio quality. You can put up with average visual quality if the audio is good, but it doesnt matter how good the visual footage is, if the audio is crap or ruined by wind noise, then the whole job is rubbish.

I use my phone to record a fair bit of video footage, for both work and play, as well as a Canon SX60, built in mics on both are average really, especially in the wind.

I use a Rode VideoMicro microphone, and with two different cables i can connect it to both my smartphone and also the Canon SX60. The rode mic comes with a deadcat which cuts the wind noise completely. http://https://www.rode.com/microphones/videomicro

To run the Rode Videomicro with my Phone, i fit my phone into a phone holder/clamp that has a cold show fitting built in and the mic mounts to that. Theres lots of different phone mount/clamp things available to hold your phone or mount to a tripod etc, heres one example https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

This is the phone holder i use https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32814603620.html

This Rode mic may also connect into your gopro too, which id recommend doing if able.

Rode also do a phone specific mic that are even smaller (if you only want to use it on your phone) or dual lapel setups for interviews etc. Have a look at the mobile range of mic's here https://www.rode.com/microphones/mobile

A decent double battery charger as you will no doubt have a good few batteries to charge.
Lighting for the gopro, a good LED panel works wonders. I use Nitecores SCL10 on a media mod as it has a built in battery and can power the gopro.
Plenty of mounts as has already been mentioned, along with tethers if you're going to be moving while filming.

@gonetropo I use Meike and Yongnuo flashes, I don't use particularly powerful flashes as I mostly use them for fill flash

https://meikeglobal.com/collections/flash

https://www.yongnuo.eu/catalog.html?...category_id=13

It’s such a rabbit hole. Do you want to produce the best high quality videos with hunting as a bonus or do you want to hunt with the videoing as a bonus. For me personally, videoing my hunts is a bonus. I am there to hunt primarily. This is likely reflected in the quality of my videos but it doesn’t bother me as I hate carrying the extra camera gear as it is and even at that i’m minimalist. All I carry is my SX60 with small light tripod, go-pro on a hand held thing of wish that just opens up three legs enough to throw it on the ground upright and every now and then i carry the headstrap mount for it too. Then on other more close quarter hunts I now have a handheld sony cam which can go in my pocket so I can leave the big Canon SX60 behind. On extended trips I carry a spare battery or two for my Canon and a power bank for the go-pro which also doubles up for my phone and headlamp. Have gone for a week like this before. Like I said though, I am basic and minimalist and don’t have much time for carrying the extra fancy stuff.

@stagstalker Actually the hunting will only be a small part of it. A great deal of it will be the growing etc on my property and also interviews. Thanks for the input! :-)

yea so i reckon the addition of a external mic on my gopro was a good upgrade, looks silly though. its made me far less annoyed with some of my footage