“When they say, 'What did you shoot it on?' It is the greatest insult you could ever say to someone,” says Casey Neistat – and I think he's got a point

Yesterday I wrote an article on what cameras YouTubers use, after watching the WVFRM Podcast’s excellent video: 'Your Favorite Creators' Favorite Cameras!'

Near the end of the video (embedded below), YouTube legend Casey Neistat is asked if “gear still matters,” and his reply stuck in my mind: “I reject the supposition that it’s important to understand gear and have gear. I reject it wholly.”

He even goes so far as to call himself an “anti-gear purist,” which I think is a really neat way of putting it. It evidently means a lot to Casey when somebody compliments his work, but he clearly doesn’t enjoy it when people go straight to the gear.

“When they say, 'What did you shoot it on?' It is the greatest insult you could ever say to someone. It’s insulting. And, I take it personally.”

Okay, so he talks about all this with tongue firmly in cheek, but I completely get where he’s coming from. Casey’s point is that focusing on gear too much diverts from storytelling. Here's my two cents…

Your Favorite Creators' Favorite Cameras! - YouTube

Watch On

ABOVE: Watch the WVFRM Podcast episode

The reason I agree wholeheartedly with Casey's first point is that asking a creator, filmmaker or photographer about gear, especially before you say anything else, diminishes their work.

Sure, in the words of Oscar Wilde, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but gear talk completely bypasses the creator’s content. This suggests that you deem the gear the most important part of the creative process, not the creator.

And therein lies a big problem with the gear narrative – so many of us think it's the gear (or lack thereof) that's preventing us from creating great content.

I think this is a particularly easy trap to fall into. Both photography and video can be a complicated, technical business – especially video. You can quickly convince yourself that you absolutely have to have a camera that can shoot 4K 60p 10-bit 4:2:2, enclosed in a cage so you can mount your external monitor, shotgun mic and various handles.

Oh, and don’t forget the ND filters, cine lenses, fluid head, gimbal, and so on. That’s not to say you shouldn’t put together a rig, but if you’re starting out in the world of video for the very first time, that’s a considerable outlay and a setup so complicated that you may well end up throwing in the towel and moving on to something else.

There’s a reason that most content creators start simple, and Casey Neistat is a great example of that. He’s one of the most famous content creators on the planet, and he’s achieved that status using achievable setups.

He’s best known for his daily vlogs, and what strikes me most about his videos is how little his style has changed over the years – even though he’s upgraded his equipment. And I mean that as a compliment.

Compare one of his early videos with one of his later offerings and you’ll find that his distinctive editing style hasn’t changed much. It’s a little more pronounced nowadays, the edit moves at a faster pace, and the production values have risen slightly with the inclusion of drone footage, timelapses and the like.

But Casey’s talent for crafting an engaging story has always been there, and his earlier work is just as moreish as his latest and greatest. The fact is, if you gave Neistat one of those old 1080p Sony Handycams, he’d go do something cool and create an engaging story with it. So don’t let gear get in the way of your content.

You can always upgrade in the future, but you’ll never get to go back and record the experience you had today.

You might also like...

If you're interested in vlogging, check out the best cameras for vlogging. Here's why the iPhone 15 just makes vlogging cameras unnecessary. And if you're new to video, here's video jargon explained.