Back to podcast
Episode 2
The Gear Show
September 24, 2015 · Mike Murphy
Ep02: The Gear Show What is in my studio toolkit? What gear do you need to start creating online content? Episode Summary: All of the gear & tools I use for Mike Murphy Co. Learn. Create. Move Forward
Episode Summary: What’s in the studio toolkit, and what gear a new content creator actually needs — cameras and lenses, lighting, and audio, broken down by category with real recommendations.
What You’ll Learn
- The full studio toolkit across microphones, cameras, lenses, and lighting
- The 3 gear categories every content creator’s kit falls into
- Real pros/cons calls on dynamic vs. condenser mics and USB vs. XLR gear
- Budget-friendly lighting picks, including the $30 “china ball” favorite
3 Categories of Gear
Camera and lenses, lighting, audio and accessories.
Microphones & Audio
- Rode NTG3 shotgun mic — simply the best.
- Shure SM7B dynamic microphone — the best mic used to date.
- Triton FetHead — a must-have with the SM7B to boost gain (a Cloudlifter is an alternative).
- The Rode NT1-Kit condenser microphone — amazing sounding.
- Rode VideoMic Pro — a decent shotgun mic, since replaced by the NTG3.
- Shure SM58 vocal mic — the workhorse of dynamic mics.
- Blue Yeti USB microphone — a genuine favorite.
- Audio-Technica AT899 lavalier mic — a good lav option.
- Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 USB audio interface.
- DBX 286S microphone preamp — the secret weapon in audio; check out Caleb Wojcik’s review.
- Zoom H6 six-track portable recorder — way better than the H4N.
- M-Audio BX5 D2 speakers — great studio monitors.
- Rode PSA1 swivel-mount boom arm — genuinely loved.
- Rode boom pole.
- Sony MDR-7506 headphones — great studio cans.
Cameras & Lenses
- Canon T5i — the main camera for still photography and video, genuinely loved.
- Logitech C920 webcam — 1080p HD, amazing quality for the price.
- Canon G11 — an oldie but goodie.
- GoPro Hero 4 Black — can’t say enough good things.
- Canon 24-105mm lens — the best lens by far.
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens — cheap and great for shallow depth of field.
- Canon 18-55mm kit lens.
- Canon 10-18mm lens — wide-angle goodness.
- Canon 50mm lens — like the “nifty fifty,” only better.
Lighting
- Fotodiox Pro LED-312DS — small, portable LEDs; not super bright, but well-liked (3 in rotation).
- Ikan IFD576-S daylight LED light — bright, cool-running, and good value.
- Kupo China Ball Light— Made to create an omnidirectional spread of soft, diffused light.
Resources
- The full, current gear list lives on the Mike Murphy Amazon Shop
- Music: “Life of Riley” & “Wallpaper” (Incompetech.com).