Thee Sam D

Tech

Gear verdicts from real production use: cameras, audio, and EVs. Not sponsored, bought with my own money.

Video Tech

What the Luna Ultra 2 Needs to Beat the Pocket 4P

In sports they say your best ability is availability. Most reviews call the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P the better camera...but the Insta360 Luna Ultra's biggest spec is that you can actually buy it.

Most reviews call the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P the better camera. It also isn't sold here, and importing runs three to four hundred over. For a solo creator that's an academic argument. So the real question is what a Luna Ultra 2 has to do.

Three fixes to the remote, one storage ask, and one argument I actually care about: stop chasing DJI. An inferior copy is worse than no copy at all.

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Video Tech

The Rodecaster Duo Is Three Years Old and Still Hard To Beat

Everything in my studio got more expensive. This got cheaper. Three years on, the Rodecaster Duo is still hard to beat.

Almost twenty years in radio, TV, podcasting and live streaming, and this is the box everything runs through. The presets are the whole argument...think of them as a LUT for audio. You hit record, and when you stop, your audio is already processed and normalized. The only editing left is cutting out your mistakes.

I also get into my DJI mic 2 workaround, 76dB of gain with no cloud lifter, and the two things I'd still change about it.

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Video Tech

The Holy Trinity of Prime Lenses

The standard "holy trinity" of zoom lenses — 16-35, 24-70, 70-200 — covered entirely with prime lenses instead. Thanks to Sony's Clear Image Zoom, which lets primes zoom up to 2x their focal length, three primes cover 18mm to 170mm.

This video walks through how to match each zoom in the trinity with a prime, and what you gain and give up by doing it.

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Video Tech

Why U.S. Creators Have a Pocket Camera Problem

The Luna Ultra isn't a bad camera. In fact, I really like it. The removable screen is one of the best innovations I've seen on a pocket camera. But after living with it for a few weeks, I realized the real decision isn't about image quality...it's about value.

Once you factor in batteries, bundles, accessories, and what we actually have access to here in the United States, buying a pocket camera becomes a much bigger financial decision than it looks on paper. Before you buy one, don't just compare cameras, compare the entire ecosystem you're buying into.

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Video Tech

There's an Issue With My Insta360 Luna Ultra — Even After the Latest Update

The new firmware update for the Insta360 Luna Ultra fixed a lot of issues — but on my specific unit, a couple of things still need fixing. This is the follow-up report from actually living with the camera, not the launch-week coverage.

Let's talk about it.

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Video Tech

My First Impressions of the Insta360 Luna Ultra

48 hours with the Insta360 Luna Ultra was enough to drive me to make this video. It made me rethink what actually matters when it comes to cameras — fun, technology, and engineering, not spec sheets.

Less about specs, more about fun and rethinking what a camera is for.

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Video Tech

Customizing Overlays And Graphics On The Yolobox

I got my hands on the Yolobox Extreme and after a few months I must admit that I'm impressed. This video will start a series of videos that act as a ongoing IRL review of the yolobox.

This video focuses on the Overlay capabilities which is very important to my workflow and is one of the main reasons why I returned the Rodecaster Video.

*There's some audio dips in the video thanks to the DJI mic mini smh*

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Video Tech

The Last Sony & Zeiss AF Lens: Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2 CF

Sony and Zeiss no longer make autofocusing lenses so I want to visit the last lens they produced - The 40mm f/2 lens with CF (close focus), Its a great lens and still valuable in 2026.

(check the used section...)

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Video Tech

Shooting in 4k is OVERRATED AF

The most widely watched events in the world every year are broadcast in 1080p at 60 fps. So why does your IRL vlog, client work or livestream have to be in 4k, 6k, 8k or open gate?

If it's good enough for the Super Bowl, it's more than good enough for you.

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Video Tech

Ranking The Most Overused Terms In Camera Tech

There are certain words that are often used in camera videos, some make sense...others are overused.

Lets rank some of the first ones that come to my head.

If you have suggestions for words/phrases for part two leave them in the comments.

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Video Tech

A Forgotten Feature Of The Sony ZV-E1

The Sony ZV-E1 has AI processing that is widely clowned as a gimmick. In this video I'll talk about one of the AI features that I think is slept on...Auto-Framing.

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Video Tech

The One Thing That Makes Me Keep Using The DJI Mic 2

The two year old DJI Mic 2 is still a viable option in 2026. It has 3.5mm input port that allows me use it to convert my usb c boom mic to be wireless.

In this video I break down that workflow and talk about how this was actually a game changing product at that time.

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Video Tech

Now Is The Time To Buy The Sony ZV-E1

The perfect camera does exist. The Sony ZV-E1 does everything I could of asked for and I left Canon and it's vaunted color science for it.

In this video I'll explain all the reasons why I love the ZV-E1.

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Video Tech

Why You Should Buy Used INSTEAD Of New

As prices for tech gear continue to rise, it's time for a reality check - there's tons of high quality gear by failed content creators that are available for the low.

Take advantage.

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