Budget Camera for Drum Videos?

Hello all! I want to try and start recording drum covers for YouTube, I have mics and an interface that I can record with, and now I’m looking into a camera to record video. I don’t need it for anything other than drumming videos, so it doesn’t have to be waterproof or have any other features that doesn’t pertain to taking stationary 5-6 minute long videos. Any suggestions on a camera would be appreciated, thank you!

An easy option would be to find a used GoPro on Facebook Markeplace or Craigslist. I just checked my local FB Marketplace and there are a TON of them for as cheap as $50 to $100.

They record at 60 fps, and can record at a wide angle, which is what you want to fit the entire kit into the frame.

How's the camera on your phone? Everything I've done recently has been using iPhones and iPads

I've used an iPhone, a Canon 70D, and a Canon 5D. All audio recordings were made with a Presonus Studio 192, which replaced the camera's audio.

The phone camera is easy, but I prefer a dedicated device. The 70D is used with custom "picture styles" for a certain color effect. The 5D was used with raw capture and required LUT use in post. Too much work for fun stuff, so I use the 70D.

Most of my videos were shot with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S21) and a Razer Kiyo webcam (for the overhead shots). I recorded audio on an interface and paired it up in editing. Smartphone video is getting so good, major studio movies are being shot on iPhones now (seriously).

alparrott said:

Most of my videos were shot with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S21) and a Razer Kiyo webcam (for the overhead shots). I recorded audio on an interface and paired it up in editing. Smartphone video is getting so good, major studio movies are being shot on iPhones now (seriously).

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This short film was directed by Ridley Scott to promote a new Samsung phone. Looks great! (plus a bit of drumming in there, too).

I use a Zoom Q2n - 4k : video quality is average but the sound is great, and it's handy.

It depends on how you are going to edit the video.
Since I use Final Cut Pro on a MacBook Air M1, the best, easiest and cheapest option was my iPhone 11 Pro.
I compared it to various video cameras and the Zoom Q2n-4k, but to get the same video quality, you have to spend a lot more money on a very good video camera, or you need really good lighting for the zoom, which is terrible in low light.
With the iPhone, I can just load the video into Final Cut on my computer and it automatically syncs with the audio, which I'm recording with either a Sony PCM D100 or a multitrack.
If I bring multiple iPhones, I can easily set up a multi-camera setup without having to worry about getting the different video codecs to work well together.
It's the easiest and most effective way for me.

Most people tend to gravitate towards the camera gear starting out but the key here isn't the camera- it's the light. Thoughtful placement and control of lighting can make all the difference. You can get the nicest cameras and lenses that money can buy and end up with massively disappointing footage of the lighting was junk.

Not sure what your actual budget is but a light like the Amaran 100d S ($159) will crank out some serious light and can easily be aimed at a large white wall or ceiling to "bounce" it and diffuse to a larger, softer light source. With this much light output, you'll be able to avoid the less appealing artifacts that would be produced in low-light.

BenOBrienSmith said:

Not sure what your actual budget is but a light like the Amaran 100d S ($159) will crank out some serious light and can easily be aimed at a large white wall or ceiling to "bounce" it and diffuse to a larger, softer light source. With this much light output, you'll be able to avoid the less appealing artifacts that would be produced in low-light.

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See, this is why I don't think I'll ever get serious into making drum videos outside of iPhone recordings of me playing live. I have no idea what any of this means.

Tamaefx said:

I use a Zoom Q2n - 4k : video quality is average but the sound is great, and it's handy.

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The video will be much more acceptable if there is better lighting as mentioned earlier, plus you can get a feed from the console/mixer straight into the mic in on the Q2n and have even better sound.

I do that with my old GoPro. I use edrums to record so I place the original audio source in the drum module's Aux in then send the mixed audio (the original track from my laptop/tablet/phone plus my drums) to a 2 way headphone splitter. One end goes to the mic in and the other to my headphones. Since I just got a Q2n, I will add that, in order to sync the video and audio from both cameras (and save lots of editing time), I add a powered headphone splitter like the Behringer HA400 which should give a decent enough signal for all outputs (my headphones plus the 2 cameras). In the end, only one audio track needs to be used, but both are needed to line both video tracks.
I suggest using a powered headphone amp because the non powered splitters lose a lot of quality once you split the signal more than 2 ways. Also my drum module has the ability to record the drums and the aux track. I still use the audio going to the cameras to line things up,, but end up deleting those audio tracks and using the one that was recorded by the drum module which ends up being of better quality. Now for much better quality, I can add my laptop, a DAW such as Reaper, and record both the drum audio and the drum midi data, add the music I play along to in another track, use a vst such as Superior Drummer and mix everything and use that as the final audio track for the video. Unlimited possibilities,

The same can be accomplished with an acoustic kit and a mixer as long as the mixer has more than one audio out for monitoring.

If you’re looking for a budget camera for drum videos, the Sony ZV-1 is a fantastic choice. It’s compact, affordable, and delivers excellent video quality with great autofocus—perfect for capturing fast-moving drumming action. Another solid option is the Canon EOS M50, which offers versatility with interchangeable lenses and great low-light performance for darker practice spaces. If you’re after something even more budget-friendly, the GoPro Hero 11 is awesome for wide-angle shots and can handle the intensity of drumming without missing a beat.

I had the same struggle trying to find something simple and cheap without it looking like garbage. This article helped me out a lot: https://www.insta360.com/blog/tips/best-youtube-cameras.html — breaks down solid options depending on what you’re after, even low-budget stuff. Some of the smaller cams surprised me, especially with how good the audio can be if you place them right or sync in post.

Both my iphone and bought used Rayban Stories work very nice.

I might get a Insta360 X5 and One in the near future.