Vlogging is often fraught with peril. Whether that's overcoming your own shyness, or overcoming people on the street uncomfortable with someone overcoming their shyness in a vlog, there are techniques and gear to help minimize issues.
In a new video from YouTuber Tim MacLachlan from 4-T Tech, he takes a look at some of the techniques and also the tools he uses to overcome the shyness aspect of filming in public. While he's mostly focusing on how to be discreet, that's also useful advice for anyone not wanting to draw the attention of security guards, police officers, or even the general public.
For instance, one of his cameras of choice is the $229 Feiyu Pocket 3, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the $519 DJI Osmo Pocket 3. While it gives up a screen for that price (and probably some of the DJI's better image quality, with its much larger 1" sensor and all), it does have the neat party trick of having a magnetic base that MacLachlan mounts onto all sorts of lamp posts around town. There's also AI face tracking and a remote control included in the package. While it won't be possible to get very shallow depth of field with a 1/2.5" sensor, in good light with careful framing, things look OK, as they do in his video.
That calls to mind another camera that does the same trick of a magnetic base, albeit without he swiveling and tracking ability. MacLachlan also uses an Insta360 Go 3 camera to mount onto magnetic surfaces in the wild. I've been a fan of the Go series ever since its first incarnation, and I own a Go 2. The series is known for its big image quality in a small package, and Insta360 is a fairly well-known quantity at this point.
Either way, with cameras this tiny, no one in public's going to notice you, and if they do, they'll probably just think you're talking to yourself.
This also brings up the question of audio and how to best capture it. MacLachlan has a lot of discreet tools he uses to get good audio, and he goes into quite a bit of detail on the many methods to do that while not attracting attention in the video above.
Check it out and if you have your own stealth vlogging tips, share them in the comments below.
Honestly this is a big part of what keeps me from vlogging consistently. I feel really self-conscious when I'm vlogging in public. Plus my ADHD means I get distracted by other people quite a bit and forget what I was saying.