We've talked a lot about adding a microphone to your camera, but which one? We like the Sennheiser MKE 200, a small add-on mic that sells for around $100 and is built just for on-camera use. It mounts in a shoe, connects via a standard 3.5mm jack, and ups your audio game significantly.

You may also want to think about a clip-on lavalier mic, either wired or wireless, for use in noisy environments where even the tight coverage of a shotgun mic picks up too much background noise.

The DJI Osmo Action is, as the name implies, a small action camera. It competes directly against the GoPro Hero8 Black in the market, and while we named the GoPro as our top pick for action cams in general, the Osmo is a fine alternative for vloggers.

Its built-in front LCD lets you keep an eye on your shot when pointing the lens in your direction, and the Osmo supports external mics (via an adapter) and lens filters.

Video quality is strong, in 4K with digital stabilization and HDR, to handle tricky lighting situations.

Putting a drone in your bag will spice things up. Aerial shots are great for B-roll and establishing shots, and if you get one with a quality camera, like the DJI Mavic Air 2, you'll be able to cut it together with video shot with terrestrial shots from your mirrorless camera and have it match.

For $800 you get more than a half hour of flying time on a fully charged battery, 12 or 48MP still images, 4K footage at up to 60fps, HDR video at up to 30fps, and slow-motion at 1080p. Obstacle detection and GPS stabilization make it a snap to fly, even for a beginner, and while we just started working on a review, it's shaping up to be the best drone in its price class.

There are times you want to hold the camera, and times you want something to hold the camera for you. Depending on your video style you can add a tripod, a monopod, or a selfie stick.

Tripods are great for rock-solid video, especially if you want to be able to move around the frame—look for one with a fluid pan head and carbon fiber materials.

Monopods are one-legged, but you can get one with feet that extend from the bottom in order to keep it standing up on its own—they're the better choice if you like to stay mobile and don't want to deal with setting up and breaking down a tripod.

Finally, get a selfie stick if you want the high-angle look, and don't mind having the stick itself show up in the video frame. Some, like the GoPro Shorty, will double as a tabletop tripod, so you can go from handheld to rock stable without a cut.

As far as full-frame cameras go, the Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 is just about the perfect model for vloggers. It sports a forward-facing LCD, records superb 4K video at 10-bit quality, and supports an external mic so you can get pro-grade audio to go with your video. You can buy it as a body only for around $2,000, but we absolutely recommend vlogger gets the kit with the Lumix S 20-60mm zoom lens for $2,300—it's a perfect lens for vlogging.

The Fujifilm X-T4 is packed to the gills with imaging features, but it's also the best video camera the company has ever made. It supports 4K capture at 10-bit quality, offers a flat profile for color grading, and five-axis image stabilization for smoother handheld footage.

Support for external microphones is there, and you can connect headphones via USB-C for monitoring (a 3.5mm dongle is included in the box). If you don't want to grade your own video, in-camera profiles are vast, and offer looks ranging from Bleach Bypass to black-and-white.

In-body and in-lens stabilization do a good job of smoothing out jumps and jitter, but if you want more, consider adding a handheld gimbal. These devices use brushless motors to silently keep your camera level and your video jitter-free at all times. For SLRs and mirrorless cameras, think about the DJI Ronin-S, which sells for about $700. If you vlog with your smartphone, the DJI OM 4 is the way to go, and it costs just $149.

The big updated to this year's flagship GoPro, the Hero9 Black, is a full-color front screen, a must-have for vloggers. You can put the small camera on a selfie stick, or mount it practically anywhere, and net excellent 4K or 5K video with superlative digital stabilization. Add-on Media Mods, including an improved microphone and the ultra-wide Max lens, are available to extend its functionality. The Hero9 Black is priced at $349.98, which includes the cost of a one-year subscription to the GoPro cloud service, but costs $100 more if you buy it without the subscription—we recommend you get the bundle.

You don't have to get go the action cam route if you want to vlog without the bulk of an interchangeable lens camera. Enter the Sony ZV-1, a pocket camera with a premium lens—and price. It records in 4K, supports an external microphone connection, and offers hybrid stabilization to net better results than optical or digital correction can on its own, and its screen flips forward so you can frame your shot when recording a selfie video. Additional features include Face Priority Metering, beneficial for walk-and-talk vlogs, and a Product Showcase setting that snaps focus to close-up objects for product review videos.

Today's cameras record superb video directly to an SDXC memory card, but quality is limited by your camera's processor. For footage that's a bit more flexible to edit, think about adding an external recorder. The Atomos Ninja V records footage from your camera's HDMI port and saves it in one of a variety of high-quality codecs, including ProRes 422. It also doubles as an external monitor, and supports Raw video with select cameras, including the Nikon Z 6.

We've highlighted some of our favorite cameras here, but there are other good mirrorless cameras out there, many with full-frame sensors—you might find one of them is a better fit for your vlog. 

We also suggest aspiring YouTubers check out our guide for getting better audio in podcasts—if you're working on a studio show, the same principles apply.

The Panasonic Lumix DC-G100 is one of the more affordable mirrorless cameras targeted at vloggers, coming in at $750 with a lens, and at $800 if you also want to add a video grip—a tabletop tripod that folds into a pistol grip, for better ergonomics when recording handheld. It supports the Micro Four Thirds lens system, records video at 4K, and includes in-camera stabilization. External microphones are supported, but Panasonic promises the camera's Nokia OZO microphone array is good enough to use without one.

The Sony a7C is one of the smallest full-frame cameras you can buy, and it manages the impressive feat of including 5-axis image stabilization in its small frame. That's a necessary feature for handheld video, and it delivers strong 4K footage at 8-bit quality, and is compatible with a huge library of Sony E-mount lenses. It's available for $1,800 on its own, or for $2,100 with a lens.

If you don't want to spend a ton on a drone, but want to add some aerial shots to your vlogs, the DJI Mini 2 is the best entry-level camera drone on the market. It's light and small, so it's easy enough to use for travel and you won't have to fuss about with government registration, and it captures 4K video and 12MP Raw or JPG stills. Its price has jumped $50 from the first-gen model to $450, but more powerful motors and a stronger connection to the remote control make it an overall better, safer drone.

The Atomos Connect is a $79 USB stick that works with pretty much any modern computer (Mac and Windows) to stream HDMI video to the web. It's a necessary accessory for studio vloggers who want to use a quality full-frame camera for broadcast. It works with software like OBS, and will also let you use any camera with clean HDMI output for Zoom, Google Meet, and other web conference software.