How I Film HoppyGeek: My Filming Gear

Making the beer is the main part of HoppyGeek, but filming it has gradually become a hobby of its own.

My filming gear has changed quite a bit over the years. I started out using a GoPro for most brew days because it was small, simple and easy to move around while I was actually brewing. More recently, I’ve started using a Sony a6700 for the talking-head videos, and that will probably become a bigger part of the brew-day setup as well.

This isn’t meant to be a list of filming gear you need to make brewing videos. It’s simply the gear I use, why I use it, and how the setup has evolved.

My brew-day filming gear

Most of my brew-day videos so far have been filmed with a GoPro HERO9 Black.

For this kind of filming, the GoPro has several advantages. It’s small, quick to reposition and doesn’t get in the way too much when I’m trying to brew at the same time.

That matters more than image quality alone.

A brew day already involves enough things happening at once without turning every shot into a camera production.

GoPro HERO9 with Media Mod

I use the HERO9 together with the GoPro Media Mod.

The Media Mod makes the camera a little more practical for this kind of work, particularly when I want to connect external audio equipment.

The GoPro has been the main camera for the brew-day videos currently on HoppyGeek, and I still think it does a perfectly respectable job when the priority is documenting the process without making filming take over the entire day.

Hollyland Lark M2

For voice audio during brew days I use a Hollyland Lark M2 wireless microphone system.

A wireless microphone makes a lot of sense when I’m moving between the brewing system, sink, fermenters and the rest of the room.

I can keep talking while working instead of having to stay close to the camera.

For this kind of video, reliable and understandable audio is more important to me than making every shot look cinematic.

Moving toward the Sony a6700

The Sony a6700 is the newest major addition to my filming gear.

I haven’t filmed a full HoppyGeek brew day with it yet, so I’m not going to pretend this is already my established brew-day setup.

But that’s where I’m heading.

The plan is to use the Sony together with the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 and the Hollyland Lark M2 for more of the brewing content.

The larger sensor and fast Sigma lens should give me considerably more control over the image than the GoPro, particularly indoors where lighting isn’t always ideal.

There is a trade-off, though.

The Sony is larger, needs more attention and is less forgiving when I’m busy doing something else. The GoPro can be placed somewhere, switched on and largely forgotten about.

So the goal isn’t necessarily to replace every GoPro shot with the Sony.

It’s to use the better camera where the better image actually matters.

Talking-head videos

For the talking-head videos, my filming gear is built around the Sony a6700 together with the Sigma 16mm f1.4 and Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 is already my main camera setup.

This setup is quite different from filming an actual brew day. I’m sitting in one position, the camera doesn’t need to move, and I can control the lighting and framing much more carefully.

That means I can take advantage of what the Sony does well instead of prioritising convenience.

RØDE VideoMic NTG

For audio on the talking-head setup I use a RØDE VideoMic NTG.

It stays close enough to me to get a clean voice recording while remaining outside the frame.

I prefer keeping this setup relatively simple. Good audio matters enormously in a video where someone is sitting and talking for several minutes, so I’d rather get the recording right at the camera than build an unnecessarily complicated audio workflow afterwards.

Lighting

Lighting is one of the areas where the brew-day setup and talking-head setup differ the most.

Brew days

For brew days I use an Elgato Ring Light as the main additional light.

The rest comes from the normal lighting in the kitchen.

I’m not trying to completely relight the room for every brew day. The goal is mainly to make sure my face is properly lit and that the important parts of the brewing process can actually be seen.

Again, brewing still has to be practical.

Talking head

For the talking-head setup, the Elgato Ring Light is my key light.

I also use a SmallRig P96 as a hair light behind me.

That second light is small, but it helps separate me from the background and gives the image more depth than using the key light alone.

This is still a fairly modest lighting setup. I’m not trying to turn the room into a studio full of lights and stands.

I just want enough control to make the picture look intentional.

Editing in DaVinci Resolve

I edit HoppyGeek in DaVinci Resolve.

It handles everything I need for the channel: cutting the video, working with audio, colour adjustments, titles and the other small bits of post-production that go into a finished video.

I try not to overproduce HoppyGeek.

If a graphic, cut or effect helps explain something, I’ll use it. If it’s only there because YouTube videos are supposedly meant to have something happening every few seconds, I’d rather leave it out.

The brewing should remain the interesting part.

Visuals in Canva

I use Canva for much of the visual work around HoppyGeek.

That includes making YouTube thumbnails, working with still images from the videos, and editing and preparing photos for hoppygeek.com.

For thumbnails, it gives me a quick way to crop images for YouTube and add the small amount of text I normally want. For the website, I use it to get images into the right format and make the adjustments they need before publishing.

Like the videos and the website itself, I prefer the visuals to be clear rather than complicated. The goal is to support the subject, not bury it under design elements.

My filming gear will keep changing

None of this is a permanent studio specification.

The GoPro has worked well for years of brew-day filming. The Sony a6700 has already changed how I make the talking-head videos, and I expect it to take a larger role in future brew days too.

Some equipment will stay. Some will be replaced.

And some will probably turn out to be things I thought I needed but didn’t.

That’s fairly normal around here.

If you’re more interested in the equipment that makes the beer rather than the videos, you can find that on My Homebrewing Gear.