This is the actual camera, audio, lighting, and editing setup behind my videos: the gear on my desk and what I reach for when I am out filming. The channel is faceless. You see my hands, the thing I am demoing or reviewing, and my desk. You never see my face. If you are building a channel like that, steal whatever helps.
Main setup
Sony a6700
APS-C mirrorless body. Great autofocus for tabletop shots of hands and products, and it holds focus when things move in and out of frame. View on Amazon
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8
Constant-aperture zoom that covers desk setups and most b-roll without swapping glass. Wide enough for the whole desk, tight enough for a close-up of what is in your hands. View on Amazon
Sony ECM-B10 Compact Digital Shotgun Microphone
Mounted on the camera to pick up handling sounds: clicks, snaps, taps, the sound of a box opening or a part sliding into place. View on Amazon
Shure MV7+
Dedicated voice mic for narration. Cleaner and more consistent than anything on the camera. View on Amazon
Orangemonkie Foldio4
Portable light box. Even, soft light on products without hot spots or mirror glare on glossy surfaces. View on Amazon
Ulanzi Zero Y Lightweight Travel Tripod with Arca-Swiss Ball Head 3028
Light enough to move between the desk and wherever else I am filming, sturdy enough for close-up tabletop shots.
iPhone
For filming away from the desk. Draws less attention than a full rig, so people stay relaxed and the footage feels natural. View on Amazon
Turntable setup
Orangemonkie Foldio2 Plus + 360 Studio Set
15” photo light box with a 10” Bluetooth 360 turntable included. Covers the lighting and the Bluetooth-controlled rotation for smooth spinning product shots. View on Amazon
Rotating Display Turntable, 8” (Black)
Simple black 8” rotating display stand. Set a product on it for continuous slow-spin b-roll without any pairing or setup. View on Amazon
Two microphones, two jobs
I split audio into two separate mics because voice and handling sounds need different things.
For handling sounds, a lid coming off, a switch clicking, a part sliding into place, I mount the Sony ECM-B10 directly on the camera. It sits close to the action and picks up the small physical sounds that sell a video as real rather than staged.
For narration, I record separately on the Shure MV7+. It is a dedicated voice mic, and it gives cleaner, more consistent dialogue than anything mounted on the camera could. Keeping these two jobs on two different mics means I am not compromising one for the other.
Getting color right in camera
I dial in white balance and exposure in camera so the product’s actual color, not a warmed-up or cooled-down version of it, is what gets recorded. That means I am not color grading in Final Cut Pro afterward. Getting it right on set instead of fixing it in the edit saves time and, more importantly, keeps the thing looking like what it actually looks like in hand.
Editing and thumbnails
I edit every video myself in Final Cut Pro. I also design every thumbnail myself. Nothing here is outsourced.
The b-roll is real
All of the b-roll on the channel is shot by me: my hands, my voice, my desk. None of it is AI generated. If you see something getting unboxed, handled, or put through its paces on screen, that happened in front of a camera I was running.
Filming away from the desk
Out in the world, I switch to my iPhone instead of the full camera rig. It is a lower-quality trade-off, but a phone in hand draws a lot less attention than a mirrorless camera on a tripod. People get noticeably less nervous when I am not pointing a big rig at them, and that makes for better access and more honest footage in the moment.