Quick take: Five inexpensive tools I use all the time for video: wheels for stands and tripods, a hot shoe bubble level, compact rolling light stands, Cable Creation USB-C PD cables with a wattage readout, and the Boling P1 light with its modifier kit. The bubble level is the best value of the bunch.
Not every video can be about camera gear that costs more than a car. These five products are practical, cheap and useful for anyone who shoots video for a living or makes a lot of content.
1. Wheels for C-Stands, Light Stands and Tripods
Constantly repositioning gear on set is incredibly annoying. Once you put wheels on something, you'll want wheels on everything you own. As a bonus, they make lighting a moving subject much easier, and moving an off-camera flash or LED setup around is far less inconvenient.
2. Hot Shoe Bubble Level
If you do any overhead camera work, get these. Keep one in your bag, one in your car and a couple in your studio. You've probably had this happen: lights set up perfectly, overhead looks great, and then in the editor you see it was ever so slightly off. With a wide lens it's even worse, because the distortion is no longer centered.
Before I knew these existed, I carried a full-size level. It worked, but it's nowhere near as easy as popping one into the hot shoe. Of everything here, this has the highest value: it solves an unbelievably annoying problem for next to nothing.
3. Compact Rolling Light Stands
C-stands with wheels aren't always an option or necessary. That's where small rolling stands come in. There's a taller version from another company, but its center rod isn't stable. The model I recommend goes up to about 2.4 feet.
You can use them to backlight a wall behind a person, but I mostly use them with inexpensive RGB tube lights. The setup works almost too well, and it's a practical way to mount tube lights vertically.
4. USB-C PD Cables With a Readout
I like Cable Creation's USB-C PD cables for two reasons. First, they're clearly marked as PD cables, so you won't accidentally grab a slow cable or one that should have been thrown out long ago. Second, there's a small readout that shows how many watts the device is drawing. You can't do much with that number, but it confirms the cable is connected and working. Nobody likes finding out later that a cable wasn't pushed in all the way or was bent one too many times.
5. Boling P1 Light and Modifier Kit
This light isn't as flashy as a lot of newer ones, but I've used a pair for about four years without issue and still haven't found a true replacement. Boling needs to market itself better, because they make some unique lighting solutions that nobody seems to hear about.
There's no app, and it isn't magnetic, but it's larger and significantly more powerful than others in its class. What really sets it apart is its modifier system:
Included: a mounting frame the light slides into, plus four magnetic modifiers to soften or direct the light
Add-on kit: a diffuser, a second diffuser they call a softbox, 30- and 60-degree honeycomb grids, and barn doors
The premium is worth it to me because the size and weight make it easy to bring to locations and mount on portable stands where other lights would be impractical. For video it's an obvious key light. For photographers it's a decent fill, or it can light a subject on its own in the dark, where even a strobe's lowest setting is usually too powerful.
Final Thoughts
These are practical recommendations I use regularly, and none of them will break the bank.
Keep Reading
5 Accessories for Video and Content Creators That Are Actually Good
Is the SmallRig Production Cart Worth It? Asking at the BILD Expo
Gear in This Video
Tools in this video
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Buying through these links costs you nothing extra and helps support the channel.
