Uh oh, I have GAS

Okay, this post is about video and audio equipment and it's going to get geeky and I apologise for that.

Years ago, if you wanted to record yourself on video, you could either use your phone or a camera, but neither one is perfect. If you moved at all, the footage would be shaky unless you put your phone/camera on a gimbal, but then that whole contraption would be heavy and bulky and attract way too much attention. Then someone figured out that you could just use an action camera, particularly the GoPro Hero 7 Black. It was tiny, waterproof camera with great electronic stabilization that could record in 4K. But it overheated easily, so you mostly shot in lower resolutions and even then, it would sometimes freeze up for no reason and you would lose your recorded footage. If only there was an action cam that was more reliable. And then there was. DJI came up with the Action 1, which was reliable but didn't have a wide enough lens. Then they made the Action 2, which was wide and had a great image but overheated easily. Then they gave us the Action 3, which shot wide enough, didn't overheat but trouble focusing shorter than 1 meter. So close yet so far! Then the next year, they gave us the Action 4 - bigger sensor, 10-bit colour, D-log profile, no overheating in 4K for several minutes, great stabilization, the best camera mounting system in the world, Bluetooth connectivity to DJI's wireless mics, tough as nails, reliable as you can get... but it's still not the best choice in a low-light situation.

In low light, you needed a bigger camera with a bigger sensor. The Sony ZV-E10 was a top contender - small (for an interchangeable lens camera), great autofocus, shoots 4K, no overheating and records gyro data for Sony Catalyst Browse software (for video stabilization in post). But you still needed a wide angle lens to go with it. The closest thing until about a year and a half ago was the Samyang 12mm F2.0 for Sony E-mount. It was good, but if the room was dark enough, its autofocus would stop working. Then Sony came up with an 11mm F1.8 and it was perfect - light enough, wide enough, sharp enough, great autofocus even in very low light, records gyro data perfectly. If you had this camera and lens combination, you had the best setup for recording yourself handheld in 2022.

But now it's 2024. The latest and greatest is the DJI Pocket 3. It's tiny, has a good sensor size, works well in low-light, shoots a beautiful stabilized image without messing around in post, can pan on a tripod and follow a subject around. Everyone wants one. I almost got one. The lens could be wider and the screen isn't the most durable thing in the world, and you can't whip it out as quickly as an action cam, and it isn't weather proof, but it's as close to 2024-perfect as you can get. In a year or two, something else will come along that will be closer to perfect.

I have the GoPro Hero 7 Black and the DJI Action 4 and the Sony ZV-E10 and the 11mm F1.8 lens I mentioned. I also have Rode Wireless Go 2 mics, a Sennheiser MKE600 shotgun mic, and a Sigma FP camera, a DJI Mini 2 drone, an Elgato Streamdeck XL, a Focusrite Scarlett and a Shure SM58 and a good computer (B550, AMD 5900x, 3060Ti), and Davinci Resolve Studio. Everything that I wanted two years ago, I have now. They are all imperfect but perfect in their own ways. The Sigma FP is a great camera and a low light beast as long you put it on a tripod and focus manually. The GoPro Hero 7 has a blown out screen but still works great as a webcam. The Action 4 is small and reliable, as long as there is enough light. The ZV-E10 works well when I need to rely on autofocus or when I need a low light handheld video camera as long as I don't mind the size. The Rode Wireless Go 2 works well as long as I leave the PAD on (which I do) and I'm not too loud (which I never am). If I record louder people, I'll need a better system that records in 32-bit. The Sennheister MKE-600 is pretty much perfect as long as I remember to bring an AA battery for it.

If money was not a concern, I'd replace the Sigma FP with a Lumix S5ii and the Rode Wireless Go 2 with the new Rode Wireless Pro and the Focusrite Scarlett with a Mackie DLZ, and the Mini 2 with a Mini 4 Pro. But if I'm being honest with myself, I wouldn't be using my gear more if I had better gear, so I think I'll skip being 2024-perfect.

2022-perfect is pretty perfect already.