Recommended Equipment
Your phone is the main piece of equipment that you'll need however a few affordable items can really help you get the most out of it.
Below are some items that we use all of the time with explanations about why we use each one and links to purchase them on Amazon UK*.
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If you’re near Cork, Ireland then I would highly recommend that you visit Barker Photographic. If you’re near Dublin, then try Conns Cameras. Both stores stock amazing mobile video equipment and will be able to give you invaluable advice to make sure you’re getting the right gear for your own needs.
The Must-Have Kit
71" All-in-One Phone Tripod & Selfie Stick
A sturdy, lightweight phone stand that packs easily for travel and outdoor filming. Fits any phone, rotates 360°, includes a wireless remote, and has a screw mount for small lights.
Pro tip: I recommend having three - one for your phone, one for a second phone with a teleprompter app so you can use the back camera on your recording phone, and one for a side-mounted light for flattering angles.
The BOYA Wireless Lavalier Microphone
A brilliant, affordable alternative to the €250 Rode Wireless Go II. This compact wireless lav mic is easy to use, sounds clean, and includes a built-in noise-cancellation button for quick improvements in busy environments. Ideal when you want good audio without a complicated setup.
Important: choose the correct version for your device
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Most Android phones → USB-C
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iPhone 16 and newer → USB-C
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iPhone 15 and older → Lightning
ZHIYUN FIVERAY M40 Portable Video Light (40W)
A powerful yet compact LED light that’s easy to carry and works brilliantly with a portable battery pack. You can screw it directly onto a stand, go handheld with your phone, or flip it—mount the phone and handhold the light instead. It delivers strong, clean light with excellent colour accuracy and is ideal for YouTube, TikTok, and livestreaming on the move.
Pro tip: always adjust the colour temperature while looking through your phone’s viewer, hold the light slightly above the presenter, and angle it downwards for the most flattering result.
Audio Accessories
If you plan to interview people on camera, this is a super piece of kit for around €30. The INTERVIEWGO It is just a casing so you’ll need to already have a wireless microphones in your kit.
But with this handheld Adapter, you can place a wireless transmitter into the casing and cover it with the wind protector and voila, you have a professional sounding and looking wireless handheld mic… just like TV.
If you don’t like the look of the Rode logo on the wind protector, you can use a black Sharpie to colour it out. You could also buy a mic flag and stick your logo to it to make a branded microphone.
STOBOK Microphone Flag (2-Pack)
A simple but effective way to instantly elevate your videos with a branded, professional look. These square mic flags slide neatly onto your microphone and are perfect for adding a logo sticker or vinyl, making them ideal for interviews, events, and on-camera pieces where branding matters. Lightweight, durable, and available in black or white to suit your brand aesthetic.
The RØDE Mini-Boompole is a lightweight, high grade professional boom pole. With this you can mount certain microphone securely to the top of it and then hold it out of frame over the person speaking’s head. You can then point it in the direction of your sound source and move with the person speaking.
You may need an extra set of hands to hold and move the boom pole, keeping it out of shot during filming, but this is a great way to record multiple speakers with just one microphone as you can move it between them.
Studio Audio
When you speak or sing into a dynamic microphone, your voice causes a small part inside the mic to move back and forth. This motion creates an electrical signal that can be turned into sound on speakers or saved on a computer. This type of microphone is robust and capable of handling loud sounds, making it ideal for live performances and studio recording.
This FIFINE USB Gaming Microphone has been likened to an affordable version of the Shure SM7B, a microphone that typically costs over €500. With a Tap-to-Mute Button and a Cardioid pickup pattern, it's designed for clear sound capture. Additionally, it features a headphone jack for streaming purposes.
Having a mic arm means that you can place your mic just out of shot yet still close to your mouth. This will give you excellent audio quality as well as a clean shot.
Next Level Lighting
This 19-inch Neewer Ring Light ensures even light distribution with no face shadows and that lovely round glow in the eyes. It comes with plenty of control options and includes accessories that will make using cameras and mobile phones simple.
The Colour Rendition Index (CR)) is approx. 95. You can adjust the colour temperature from 3200K-5800K freely, and adjust the brightness range from 0%-100%.
The stand height reaches 64 inches or 162cm or 5ft3 without the ring light, making it perfect for standing up and speaking to the camera. It is mains powered but you can also purchase separate batteries if required.
For years, we used cheaper lights and they did the job well. But once we bought a couple of Aputure AL-MX Mini LED Video Lights, there was no going back.
These are powerful enough for so many different situations, they’re robust, reliable and have never let us down.
We adore the Aputure AL-MC so much that we had to make a blog post and video about it.
Check it out here.
Other Handy Items
The LaCie Rugged Mini 2 TB External Hard Drive is portable, hardy and compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0.
It is Drop Shock Dust and Rain Resistant. It will work on Mac and PC when formatted correctly.
We store all of our video projects and footage on hard drive. We usually buy two at the same time and use one as the 'main' hard drive and the other as a 'back up' hard drive. Just remember to schedule regular back ups. Software like Carbon Copy Cloner can be helpful for this.
The DECARETA Correction Gel Light Filters includes 14 Overlays with 7 Colors including yellow, pink, purple, orange, blue, red, and green.
If you're looking to add more color to your backgrounds, you can cover a regular light with these gels and create instantly cool looking effects.
If you’re using Zoom then you may have already tried out the virtual backgrounds and found that the look just isn’t what you’re going for.
In order to get virtual backgrounds to look great, you’ll need a great webcam (try using your phone camera with the Reincubate Camo software), excellent lighting (make sure to face a window and benefit from all of that natural light) and a green screen.
This green screen is excellent as it’s large enough to fill the background, you can fold it up and store it away and it also doubles up to give you a nice plain grey background also.
The large FUDESY Backdrop Stand is 10x10Ft / 3x3m and has adjustable height and length.
You can use this to hand cloth or paper roll backgrounds. And it's always good to have extra stands around to support your phone clamp or even your lighting.
This is a super affordable solution and comes with a carry bag as well as clamps.