Top 5 Best YouTube Starter Kits in 2023

Best YouTube Starter Kits 2023

To start on YouTube, not only do you need a killer camera, but you’ll also need a lens or two, a mic, an SD card, and maybe a few extras.

Luckily, a few companies now make YouTube starter kits. These kits come with tons of essentials all bundled together for content creation.

But, if you’re someone who wants to get started ​vlogging, put your reading glasses on. Let’s find you a killer YouTube starter kit.

​These all have great vlogging cameras, help save you money, and come with vlogging essentials.

Let’s dive in!

Why Buy a YouTube Starter Kit?

Great question! Why not just go out and buy each piece individually? After all, you can mix-and-match pieces and get exactly what you want if you buy them individually, right?

Well, yes. But, there are definitely some benefits to picking a start kit over individual pieces.

Let’s go over a few.

1. Starter kits are cheaper. Since you’re buying everything bundled together, it’s almost always cheaper to buy a starter kit. For a quick view of this, check the end of one of the reviews below where we tally up the cost comparison.
2. Starter kits usually have exactly what you need. If you’re trying to vlog, you don’t need 400 filters and a bunch of crazy photography gadgets. You need the right filter, the right camera, and a killer mic. Tons of camera companies have bundles, but they’re usually for photographers. Vlogging starter kits give you the right tools for a vlogging.
3. Stater kits cut down research time. Don’t feel like reading 500 blog posts about each piece of equipment? No problem! This one post will give you pretty much everything you need to know to get started vlogging — simple and easy.

Things to Think About Before You Buy a Starter Kit

There are a few things to think about when it comes to choosing a starter kit.

1. Do you need all of the equipment?
2. Do you like the camera (it’s the most important part!)
3. Is the starter kit for vloggers or photographers?
4. Does it actually save you money?

​Alternatively, with a little bit more research time, you can get ​only what you really need to start vlogging. That way you will get more freedom of choice.​

1) Sony ZV-1 Bundle

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Sony has become the number one developer of vlogging cameras in the last couple of years. It used to be Canon, but Sony has definitely surpassed them with the recent ZV-1 and ZV-E10 cameras.

This kit includes:

• Sony ZV-1 Compact Digital Camera
• 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 lens
• Tripod
• and another bundle of accessories

Sony ZV-1

The first camera in this list is a 4k camera bundle that includes what is probably the best camera for vlogging this year: the Sony ZV-1.

If you’re planning on grabbing a lightweight kit, this may be the camera for you.

It can record 4K video at 30p and 24p, and it can shoot slow-motion in 1080p and has a time-lapse mode.

The stabilization is great for a compact. But, to top it all off, it has excellent autofocus with a product showcase mode for when you’re doing product reviews.

It comes with a vertical video, which makes it easy to record videos for social media and upload them to your smartphone without hassle.

Besides this, it has a blur background button for a more intense Bokeh effect, the built-in microphone is really good, and has a red light at the front that tells you if the camera is recording. This latter thing seems like a silly thing, but many content creators need to make sure the camera is recording at all times while bein in the front.

F1.8 – F2.8 Zeiss 24-70mm Lens

This is 100% a vlogging lens. It has great stabilization and it’s really fast with its f1.8 maximum aperture. This makes it great for low light (for a compact camera) and helps achieve a more blurred background

The Rest of the Bundle

The bundle on this kit includes:

• Battery NP-BX1
• Micro USB Cable
• Wind Screen
• Wind Screen Adaptor
• Deco Gear Point and Shoot Field Bag Camera Case
• Lexar Professional 633x 64GB UHS-1 Class 10 SDXC Memory Card
• Corel Paint Shop Pro Software
• Corel VideoStudio SE Software
• 12″ Compact Tripod Grip Camera Photo Video Support
• Deco Photo Photography Accessory Kit: Carry Case, Lens Blower, Lens/Sensor Brush, Lens Tissue Paper, Microfiber Cloth

That’s all the hardware and video editing software you would ever need for vlogging.

The Good

• ​4K compact camera
• ​Great image quality
• ​Great lens

The ​Bad

• Non-interchangeable lens
• Not as good in low light as mirrorless cameras

2) Canon EOS M50 Mark II Video Creator Kit

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This Canon EOS M50 Mark II Video Creator Kit was definitely made with vloggers in mind. Not only does it come with one of the best mirrorless cameras on the market — The Canon EOS M50 Mark II — but it has a great lens, a mic, and an SD card for storage. That definitely earns it a spot on my best YouTube starter kits list.

This Canon EOS M50 Mark II Video Creator Kit includes:

• Canon EOS M50 Mark II Mirrorless camera
• EF-M15-45mm Lens
• Shotgun Microphone
• Tripod with Bluetooth shutter

Canon EOS M50 Mark II

The Canon EOS M50 Mark II is, without a doubt, one of the best mid-tier mirrorless cameras on the market. It’s incredibly intuitive, easy-to-use, and sports an immense number of features.

It can record in 4kp30, although with a crop (smaller frame). I’d recommend you use it for 1080p almost exclusively, but it can still be used in 4k if you record with a really wide-angle lens.

Canon has one of the best autofocus systems with its Dual-Pixel mode, which makes their cameras great for recording people moving around a lot. This make the autofocus reliable when you’re recording yourself talking to the camera.

The small disadvantage about it is the lack of stabilization, but the tripod and the lens included in the kit will help with that. The good thing is that Canon has a good offer of lenses with optical stabilization, so it’s not too much of a trouble.

This Mark II version comes with vertical video mode, which makes it easy to create videos to upload to social media. Beyond that, and the ability to stream directly to YouTUbe, there aren’t that many improvements over the Mark I.

EF-M15-45mm Lens

One of the main problems with the ESO M50 is that it doesn’t have as many lenses as some of its competitors (e.g., Sony.) But, this lens is pretty much the perfect vlogging lens.

The EF-M15-45mm has superb image stabilization and low-light capabilities. Plus, it’s light-weight, small, and has a great zoom for its size.

Really, this is the best vlogging lens for the EOS M50. So, it makes sense that it’s in this Starter Kit. I recommend using it at f/6.3 for vlogging. It will give you a nice aesthetic and keep you in-focus and clear-as-crystal.

The Good

• ​4k and has decent stabilization
• ​The Rode VIDEOMIC GO is plug-and-play​
• ​EF-M15-45mm Lens is lightweight and pretty much built for video shooting

The ​Bad

• ​A little pricey​
• ​​Doesn’t come with a memory card

3) Canon EOS M50 Video Creator Kit

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This is similar to the previous creator kit we featured. However, it comes with the previous version of the Canon EOS M50, and instead of a tripod, it comes with a memory card.

This Canon EOS M50 Video Creator Kit includes.

• Canon EOS M50 Mirrorless camera
• EF-M15-45mm Lens
• Rode VIDEOMIC GO
• and a 32GB Sandisk Memory Card

Canon EOS M50 Mirrorless Camera

Even though there’s a newer version of this camera available, the improvements are not a lot, so if you want to save a bit of money, the Mark I is still a good option.

It sports a 24.1-MP APS-C-sized image sensor, which gives you beautiful, crystal-clear images, and it can shoot in 4k, which seems to be the direction that YouTube is headed — at least, most popular vloggers are already shooting in 4k.

The main issue with the EOS M50 is its kit lens, which only has an f/3.5-6.3 aperture. This can make shooting in low-light a pain. As always, I recommend that vloggers use a light kit, but if you aren’t, the base EOS M50 lens may not be for you (Don’t worry! the Video Creator Kit comes with another lens that I’ll review in a sec.)

On top of the killer video quality, the EOS M50 has Lens IS + digital stabilization, which means that you can use it for those run-and-shoot sessions without all of that annoying shaking.

It also has a touchscreen (like most modern camera offerings,) and it has a decent battery life (235 shots.) That being said, it suffers from an all-too-common problem. It has no USB charging. Which, let’s be honest, can be a pain. But, most vloggers are going to keep it stationary for most sessions, so this shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

Just remember, it may be a pain to charge on-the-go.

Rode VIDEOMIC GO

The Rode VIDEOMIC GO has been a popular vlogging mic for a while. It’s a small shoe-mounted shotgun mic that you attach to the top of your camera via a Rycote Lyre shock mount. It covers 100Hz – 16kHz frequency, which is definitely optimal for vlogging. Most vloggers cut everything under 100Hz in post anyway.

The best thing about this particular mic is that it’s INSANELY easy-to-use. You don’t have to plug it in, and you don’t have to mess with any on-mic controls. The second it’s plugged into your camera, it’s recording. It’s really that simple.

Rode VIDEOMIC GO isn’t my first choice. It just narrowly missed my Best Vlogging Mics list. But, it’s definitely a quality mic, and it can handle almost any vlogging setup.

And, when we’re talking about the best YouTube starter kits, it’s certainly a great choice. If we were talking about the best YouTube mics, it would probably miss the top 5.

32 GB Sandisk Memory Card

Not much to review here. This card can handle HD recording and it’s big enough for daily use. It’s, well, it’s a video card.

The Good

• ​4k and has decent stabilization
• ​The Rode VIDEOMIC GO is plug-and-play​
• ​EF-M15-45mm Lens is lightweight and pretty much built for video shooting

The ​Bad

• ​A little pricey​
• ​Rode VIDEOMIC GO is great, but it doesn’t have some of the external controls you may want
• ​​Doesn’t come with a tripod

​4) Canon PowerShot G7X Mark III Video Creator Kit

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The Canon PowerShot Video Creator Kit is another canon video creator kit. I put three of them up on this best YouTube starter kits list. Canon is doing a great job so far of providing video creator-specific kits.

This kit includes:

• Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
• Bluetooth tripod
• SanDisk 32GB SD Card

Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III

The second G7 — the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III — is one of the better portable cameras on the market. It’s definitely an upgrade from the first iteration of the G7, though it still needs some battery work.

G7 is basically built for vlogging, although it needs a few upgrades to compare to the Sony ZV-1. It has the vlogging necessities (shot quality, portability, ease-of-use, good low-light, etc.) And, best of all, it has a flip-up screen.

I’ve talked about this before, but having a flip-up screen is huge for vlogging. It lets you easily see yourself without taking your eyes off the camera focal point.

The camera has a 1.0-inch CMOS sensor at 20 MP (same as the first G7 X.) So, it may seem like it would have the same quality as the G7 X. But, it has a new processor, which is what ends up converting the image. So, it definitely has noticeably improved quality over the G7.

I was actually surprised the first time I picked this one up. It has REALLY good image quality for the price. Little-to-no noise, really sharp, and it has good focus and low-light capabilities for a compact camera.

Overall, the camera is a huge win. It’s not a mirrorless camera, so its smaller sensor is the only main disadvantage. But it is the favorite compact vlogging camera for many vloggers.

Manfrotto PIXI MINI Tripod

Not much to say here. The tripod is lightweight, has click-to-lock, and just works.

The Good

• ​​Easy-to-use
• ​Comes with a tripod

The ​Bad

• ​Low battery life
• ​Compact cameras are bad in low light

​5) Canon EOS 90D DSLR Video Creator Kit

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Ok, so, the two I reviewed above come with a few extras. This kit is basically an avalanche of extras.

And, these extras make it a feature on my best YouTube starter kits for vlogging list for two reasons.

It has everything you need.

And, the value here is really good for the price.

Let’s list them off.

• Canon EOS 90D DSLR
• EF-S 18-55mm / f3.5-f5.6 IS STM Lens
• Canon DM-E100 shotgun mic
• 32G SD Card

Canon EOS 90D DSLR

I like to call this camera “the Youtube Builder.” There are so many vloggers that use the Canon EOS 90D DSLR (or the Canon 80D and 70D DSLR) that it’s ridiculous. From big names like Zoella and Bethany Mota to thousands of smaller channels, the Canon 90D DSLR is basically the king of YouTube. And, like most kings, it’s a little expensive.

I’ve already talked about my love for DSLR cameras before.

This DSLR was made for video recording, so you can expect everything that you’d need for this job. The issue, though, is that it’s not meant for vlogging.

So, it is a good camera for YouTube to record on a tripod, but it’s a difficult camera to move around compared to a smaller mirrorless.

I’m talking about a 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor with dual pixel autofocus. Its 4kp30 recording capacity is pretty good, and it can record at 120fps in 1080p.

It comes with a flip-out screen, and a lot of battery life (6 hours while recording), which is the big advantage of DSLR cameras.

EF-S 18-55mm / f3.5-f5.6 IS STM Lens

It’s not the fastest lens for low light, but if you use it as a camera for recording from home, you should get a good lighting kit to work with.

Thankfully, it comes with image stabilization and silent autofocus. The stabilization is a must with this camera, since the body, like almost every other Canon, lacks in-body stabilization.

The Good

• ​The Canon 90D is a great camera for video
• ​​Superb stabilization​
• ​​Good low-light ​recording

The ​Bad

• ​DSLRs are heavy and bulky
• No in-body stabilization

​Final Thoughts & TLDR

There are tons of camera kits on the market. But, not all of them are made for vloggers. These are my top choices for best YouTube starter kits for vlogging. They’re priced well, come with incredible cameras, and have some nifty accessories that you can use to boost your Vlogging game.

TLDR:

• ​If you want to do vlogging you should pick a camera kit for vloggers
• The Sony ZV-1 is probably the best vlogging camera on this list, but it’s expensive.
• The Canon G7X PowerShot Video Creator Kit camera is good value for the price, despite its low-light capabilities
• The Canon EOS M50 cameras are nice mirrorless cameras for travel.
• The Canon 90D camera is the most famous vlogging camera, but it’s a bulky DSLR.
• Choose the best one for your own content creation needs!