• Gary, known to subscribers as "The Everyday Dad," is a YouTube creator who makes tech gadget videos.
  • To make high-quality video, the YouTube creator has invested thousands in equipment.
  • Insider spoke with Gary about how he started his tech gadget channel and what equipment he uses.

For a tech YouTuber like Gary, known to subscribers by the online pseudonym "The Everyday Dad," having high-end equipment to capture video and sound is an absolute "must."

The prolific Maryland-based creator, who works as a program manager at a software company, has spent over four years shooting and uploading more than 780 videos discussing tech gear, from the newest iPhone and digital camera to computer accessories like wireless keyboards, phone cases, external battery packs, and chargers.

"YouTube gives me the opportunity to talk about all of the gear that I'm just obsessed over without necessarily needing to bore my wife with it all the time," said Gary, who asked that he be identified only by his first name to protect his privacy. "It's an outlet for that."

Gary started off simply using his iPhone 7 to shoot footage before moving on to his wife's Nikon D5000, a 12.3 megapixel DSLR camera released in 2009.  

"If you saw a lot of the beginning, beginning videos, which I've made private on YouTube, they're pretty rough, but if I go back and watch them every now and again, they're often pretty crooked," Gary said. "The white balance is terrible. Some of them are not even in focus, because I didn't know that cameras would not continuously focus on you if you didn't set them in one spot."

Gary has more than 434,000 YouTube subscribers today, with his videos typically fetching well over 30,000 views each. (A video from late December, revisiting the Apple Watch Series 7 two months after release, earned more than 160,000 views.) And his shooting set-up is a far cry from those days when he captured video on his iPhone 7.

In the years since, Gary has upgraded his filming set-up with money from sponsorships and income from his day job.  

Gary now employs two cameras — Panasonic's Lumix S5 and Lumix GH5 — paired with a Sennheiser MKH 416 microphone. Meanwhile, a Viltrox lighting panel set-up keeps the scene evenly lit.  

Once the YouTuber is satisfied he's captured the footage for a particular clip, he edits video using Apple Final Cut Pro, although he is transitioning over to DaVinci Resolve Studio, because he feels the software offers more powerful color grading and audio editing tools.

Here is the equipment Gary uses to film his YouTube content — and how much it all costs (based on current web listings)

Gary "Everyday Dad" tech equipment setup
Gary's at-home set-up for filming YouTube videos
Gary

Equipment pictured in Gary's at-home filming set-up:

Panasonic Lumix S5: $1,999

Panasonic Lumix GH5: $1,897 

Sennheiser MKH 416: $1,000

Glide Gear teleprompter: $199

Tripod: $47

Vizio 24-inch TV: $169

Here are a few other tools Gary uses:

16-inch MacBook Pro: $2,499

DMW XLR1 (microphone adapter): $398

Viltrox light panel: $45

Godox SL150: $339

Apurture Light Storm LS C120D: $545

Light dome for Apurture: $219

Apple Final Cut Pro: $300

DaVinci Resolve Studio: $300  

But despite Gary's high-end set-up, he recommends aspiring YouTubers worry less about getting the perfect gear and simply start shooting.

"Just do it," Gary said. "Your first pieces of content are going to be awful unless you've got previous experience in video production … So if you're like me, coming from zero, you've just got to get started, because eventually, as you make the content, you'll figure out your own processes and how to do it."

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