Our media gear in 2020

Photo and video equipment we used in 2020 and our feedback about it

Most of our work gadgets in 2020

In 2020 we managed to expand our inventory of photo, audio and video devices to use for our productions. For most reviews we rely on a mirrorless camera and high-end mobile device. 

For outdoor recordings we include a drone and action camera. External mic and voice recorder are added for better and more professional audio.

Here is the list of our main (not all) media gear used in 2020

Panasonic Lumix GX9 - that is our main photography tool this year. This is an excellent small mirrorless MFT camera with amazing 20 MP sensor. It is nicely stabilized thanks to its state of the art in-body stabilization system combined with stabilized lens. 

The GX9 also records 4k video which comes out pretty nice after post edit. External mic or voice recorder is a must here if you intend to make quality production.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 - what an amazing smartphone that is. Yes, it is quite heavy and not the latest generation Note smartphone but it is still a beast in 2020. We use it for video recordings and some photography tasks. Its built-in microphone records quality sound without external mic. And the display... it is just awesome. We also use the Note 9 as a remote control for our drone.

DJI Mavic Air 2 - and once mentioning drones we have to pay some respect to the drone that we bought earlier this year. The Mavic Air 2 became a true best-seller and probably the most popular drone in the world.

And this all is for a not one but many reasons - it takes amazing 4k (optically stabilized), 48 MP photos and has enhanced reach of up to 10 km thanks to OcuSync 2.0. 

Olympus LS-P4 - that is one compact, high-quality voice recorder that has 3 mics. It is quite easy to record with this one in different modes and it also fits in smaller pockets. The LS-P4 also has 8GB of internal storage and charges from the built-in USB which is also used for file transfer. Another extra is the Bluetooth connection which is used for pairing with your phone and remote operation of couple of functions like Record/Stop. 

Olympus LS-P4 recently got a firmware update for 2020 which fixed some minor glitches.

BOYA BY-M1 - one of the cheapest quality lavalier microphones you can buy in 2020. The BY-M1 has an extremely long cable and has its own power supply (battery used).

We used this lav mic for couple interviews in 2020 and it did a very good job. We are quite pleased with the sound quality, especially for the price of under $30. 

DJI Osmo Action - in our opinion this is still the best value for money action camera that you can buy this year. Even after the launch of the GoPro Hero Black 8 and 9 we still think the Osmo Action has the edge in the overall score thanks to its super-competitive pricing. 

We tested the Osmo Action extensively this summer and it did well under water, on the bike or just running. 

Seagate One Touch 500 GB SSD - and for storing many of our media files we used this portable SSD quite often. It is really compact (fits in the pocket) and quite fast as well. We liked the design but performance and price are also adequate.

We tested all of this gear in 2020 and we liked most of it. Of course we didn't buy it randomly but after in-depth researches and many hours on YouTube.

 

I would recommend you to check the full product reviews linked above in order to get better idea for each product. 

DJI Mavic Air 2 still worth buying in 2021?

Please share with us what is your best equipment for 2020 that you would recommend and why?