Creator's Gear List

Ryan — The Creator's Chair

Creator's
Gear List

Everything I use to film, record, and run my business — organized by category and budget.

🚀 = My top pick in that category for that price range 💡 Pro tip: I bought most of my first kit secondhand. Don't overlook used gear.

📷

Camera

Low Budget

🚀

Sony ZV-E10 (Mirrorless) crop sensor Best entry-level camera for creators. Excellent value and image quality.

Canon EOS M50 Mark II crop sensor

Sony a6400 (Mirrorless) crop sensor

Medium Budget

🚀

Sony a7CII full frame A more compact version of the renowned "a series" — worth it.

Sony a7III full frame

High Budget

🚀

Sony a7IV full frame Next level quality and bluetooth connectivity. Exceptional in low light.

Sony Alpha FX3 full frame The gold standard for cinematic video.

🔍

Lens

Top Picks

🚀

Sony 35mm f/1.8 prime My go-to for talking-head shots. Beautiful background separation.

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 wide · crop sensor

Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM zoom · high budget

💡

Lighting

Low Budget

🚀

Elgato Key Light Simple plug-and-play. App-controlled. Great for studio setups.

Neewer RGB LED Video Panel Light Budget-friendly and surprisingly powerful for the price. Comes as a 2-pack.

High Budget

🚀

Nanlite FS-300B Bi-Color LED Professional quality. If you're serious about lighting, this is it.

Godox FW 47" Octagon Softbox w/ Honeycomb Grid 👆 Pair this with the Nanlite above. Diffuses and focuses the light beautifully — makes a huge difference in the quality of your shots.

🎤

Microphone

Low Budget

🚀

DJI Mic Mini Clips magnetically. Massive audio upgrade for the price.

Medium Budget

🚀

Shure MV7 Perfect for podcasting and voiceover. USB + XLR. Sounds incredible.

DJI Mic 3 Upgraded wireless lav system — a game changer for on-location filming.

High Budget

🚀

Shure SM7B The podcast mic. Used in every professional studio on the planet.

🎬

Tripods & Stands

Top Picks

🚀

Joby GorillaPod 5K Flexible, packable, works anywhere. My everyday tripod.

Manfrotto 190X Solid full-size tripod for studio setups.

Peak Compact Travel Tripod (Light-weight) Affordable and sturdy for mounting lights.

🖥️

Optional Gear

Nice to Have

Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 Automate scenes, shortcuts, and workflows while recording.

Elgato Teleprompter Read scripts while looking directly into the lens.

DJI Pocket 3 For on-the-go b-roll and vlogging. Tiny but stunning quality.

⚡

Digital Tools

Website & Course Platform

🏗️

Kajabi 🚀

All-in-one platform for courses, memberships, email, and your website. What I run my entire business on.

🌐

Wix

Easy drag-and-drop website builder for creatives. Great if you want a stunning portfolio or business site without any tech headaches.

Video Editing

🎞️

CapCut

Free, fast, and surprisingly powerful. Great for Reels and YouTube Shorts.

🎬

Blackmagic Da Vinci Resolve 🚀

Industry-standard video editing for long-form YouTube content.

Design & Thumbnails

🎨

Canva Pro 🚀

My go-to for thumbnails, social graphics, and branded content. Fast and easy.

Podcast & Audio

🎙️

Riverside.fm 🚀

Records remote podcast interviews in studio-quality audio and video. Huge upgrade from Zoom.

🔊

Buzzsprout

Simple podcast hosting that distributes to every major platform.

Email Marketing

📧

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) 🚀

My go-to for building and growing an email list. Built specifically for creators — sequences, automations, and landing pages all in one place.

AI & Productivity

🤖

Claude (Anthropic) 🚀

My primary AI tool for writing, scripting, strategy, and content ideation.

✂️

Descript

Edit video by editing the transcript. Removes filler words automatically.

🥇 Your First Kit

Start Here

Don't overthink your first setup. Here's exactly what I'd recommend if I was starting from zero today.

Camera Sony ZV-E10 Mirrorless 🚀

Lens Sigma 16mm f/1.4

Lighting Elgato Key Light 🚀

Microphone DJI Mic Mini 🚀

Tripod Joby GorillaPod 5K

Editing CapCut (free)

Platform Kajabi 🚀

Camera

Lens

Lighting

Microphone

Tripods & Stands

Optional Gear

Digital Tools

Start Here

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