Platyball

The best vloggig rig – its quite unorthodox

Nov 27, 2021 by David Williams Add Comment

I’ve only recently gotten into vlogging with my new YouTube channel, and I’m far more used to being in front of someone else’s camera for videos so this is a new world for me. I’ve played around and done a lot of research to figure out the ideal vlogging rig, and I think I’ve managed to create it.

Let’s start by defining what makes the ideal vlogging rig. It’s important to have a capable camera with a preview screen that can face the content creator (that would be me). Perhaps more important than the camera is the audio – we will watch bad video, but we won’t listen to bad audio! Next up, lighting. In low light conditions, we need to add our own light, and we should be able to match the colour temperature of the ambient light. Finally, a good, sturdy base for when we put the camera down and something ergonomic to hold onto. So, here’s my solution: –

Platypod’s Platyball is an inverted tripod ball head with built-in electronic level

Jan 17, 2020 by John Aldred 20 Comments

If you haven’t heard of Platypod before, they’re the company that makes that little flat kind-of-tripod of the same name to provide you with a stable platform on which to place your camera on rough terrain. You can stick just about any kind of tripod head on top of it you like, but regular tripod heads for photography generally have one big problem. You can’t easily pan them and keep your scene level.

This is where Platypod’s new Platyball steps in. It’s essentially an upside-down ball head. There are two versions of it, the Ergo and the Elite, the latter of which comes with a built-in gyro and LCD display for easy levelling. The project is being launched through Kickstarter, and they’ve already hit their funding goal 10 times over.

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

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