Go pro or other ?

[Roboticarm]

My eldest is getting into his gaming and has started a YouTube channel, I'm under no illusion that he's gonna become the next Mr beast but I do want to encourage his creative side.
He's after a camera to record what he's doing and the ability to edit the videos

A brief scan suggests a go pro coms with a £30 a year editing suite, and would meet his needs.

However, I don't know much about this sort of thing so wanted to see the views of experts and see what other options are out there

Would appreciate your views please

[cobra kid]

I'll keep an eye on this as my son (14) is well into his dirt jump biking and is looking at entry level Go Pros to film his stuff.

[Timberwolf]

No idea what the current state of the art in cameras is, but on the software side Blackmagic Design offer a version of DaVinci Resolve for free that's pretty much everything someone would need for amateur YouTube purposes (and probably quite a bit more, given it comes with the full effects editor and colour grading tools for all but high bit depth video). It's also used in industry so they'd be gaining practical skills while messing around.

The only thing which would put me off GoPro is they tend to be a bit "get your wallet out" when it comes to extending beyond the built-in microphone and the like - fine if all you care about is the footage (I've been perfectly happy with my now-ancient Hero 5 Black) but some of the other ecosystems are a bit friendlier when it comes to supporting standard 3.5mm jacks and the like.

[MesoForm]

What's he filming? If it's gaming indoors he might want to spend part of the budget on lighting and a decent mic, much more so than if he was filming himself on a dirt bike

[GuigiaroBertone]

Dirt Bike- Go pro 12 (or wait a couple of months for the 13). The wide angle lens 2.0 mod is worth it too. Also consider the Insta 360 x4 which comes with great software.

If you're looking for something cheaper- just get an earlier version of the above second hand- much better value than a cheap clone.

Gaming- nothing wrong with a decent cameraphone, good lighting and mic as suggested.

[malks222]

I have a gopro 11, and use it for making little videos of my daughter (4.5yrs old)/ skiing/ swimming/ kayaking etc…… I love the simplicity of the gopro- switch it on and start filming. ok that’s not great for certain lighting/ situations, but it works pretty well for me. loads of settings to adjust etc…. but i use it as a kind of set and forget.

something also to think about is the ‘photos’ you can grab from the videos too. instead of trying to get the perfect shot, you pick the frame you want from the video and you can get a decent picture from a 4k (or 5k video)

I also just use the gopro ‘quik’ app for editing videos. i’m sure there are better/ easier/ cheaper ways to do it, but there’s plenty tutorials out there for the app, and it also does a good job of making highlight reels/ videos without you even doing anything.

for super in depth reviews have a look at ‘dc rainmaker’ on youtube/ socials, he’s a tech/ sports tech reviewer that does great reviews of products.