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The Gear We Use For Recipe Videos in 2026

Published on October 1, 2026

When it comes to filming recipe videos, you really don’t need a complicated setup. These days, an iPhone, a tripod, and good lighting can get you surprisingly far, and that’s actually what a lot of food creators are using to create their content.

Our very own Lindsay from Pinch of Yum has nearly 2 million followers on Instagram, and much of her video content is filmed on just her iPhone!

Of course, there are plenty of reasons you might want to use a dedicated camera, and we’ll always be fans of good photography and video gear. But if you’re mainly creating content for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, or other social platforms, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a camera setup to get started.

So, what do we actually use to film recipe videos? Below, we’re sharing the gear that makes up our setup, from the phone we film with to the tripods, mounts, and lighting we use to make the process easier.

And once you have a simple setup you love, you can start getting a lot more out of every shoot. By the way, that’s exactly what we’re digging into in an upcoming Food Blogger Pro course, so stay tuned! For now, let’s start with the gear.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Which iPhone to use (and the settings that matter)
• Stands, tripods, and overhead rigs
• Microphones and audio
• Lighting
• Helpful extras, like monitoring, storage, and editing apps

This post contains affiliate links for products we love. Food Blogger Pro earns a small commission on these links at no cost to you, and the links will always be marked with an asterisk.

The camera: your iPhone

Any iPhone from the last few years can shoot great recipe videos. A Pro model mainly adds flexibility: more zoom options, higher frame rates for slow motion, and pro formats like ProRes and Log for color grading.

iPhone Options

• The iPhone you already have ($0): Seriously. Any iPhone that shoots 4K will do. Put the money toward a stand, a mic, and a light first.
• ​iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max (from $1,199): The first iPhone with a variable aperture (ƒ/1.48 to ƒ/4), plus manual shutter, white balance, and aperture controls in the Camera app. It’s great for background blur on detail shots!
• ​iPhone 17 ($799): Shoots 4K at 60 fps with Dolby Vision. Everything most bloggers need for Reels, TikTok, and Shorts.

Settings that make the biggest difference

• Shoot 4K at 30 fps (or 24 fps for a more cinematic feel). Save 60 or 120 fps for slow-motion moments like pours, sizzles, and cheese pulls.
• Lock focus and exposure. Tap and hold on the food until you see AE/AF Lock, so the image doesn’t pulse every time your hands move through the frame.
• Stick with the 1x main camera for most shots. It has the best sensor. Use 2x or the telephoto for close-ups, and avoid the ultra-wide for overhead shots because it distorts plates and bowls.
• Think about your crop. Shooting overhead in 4K horizontal gives you room to crop a vertical 9:16 Reel and a horizontal YouTube or blog video from the same clip.
• Turn on Airplane mode or a Focus mode so a text doesn’t interrupt a 20-minute take.
• Wipe the lens. Kitchen fingerprints and steam are a very common cause of hazy iPhone footage.

Camera apps worth trying

• ​Blackmagic Camera (free): Pro-style controls, plus the ability to monitor and control your iPhone remotely from an iPad or a second iPhone.
• Built-in Camera app: Fast and reliable. On iPhone 18 Pro it now includes manual pro controls and a histogram.
• ​Final Cut Camera (free): Manual control over focus, exposure, and white balance. It also connects up to four iPhones or iPads to Final Cut Pro for iPad with Live Multicam, so you can capture overhead and side angles at the same time.

Stands, tripods, and overhead rigs

A stable stand is the single biggest upgrade you can make to iPhone recipe videos. For most recipe content, you’ll want two setups: an overhead rig that looks straight down at your cutting board or pan, and a side-angle stand at counter height for pours, sizzles, and the final bite.

The key for overhead shots is a horizontal arm that keeps tripod legs out of frame and holds the phone steady while you chop, whisk, and knead.

We really like using the Overhead Pro Tripod for iPhone videos. The nice thing about this tripod is that it has an arm. Since the camera is far away from the legs of the tripod, you’re not getting the legs in your shot. A smartphone is light enough that this very small tripod can support it, so it’s a great economical option.

Overhead options

• ​NEEWER DS009 Overhead Arm* ($25.99): Best for tight budgets. It clamps onto a light stand or desk stand you already own and extends 22 inches. Just note that you need a stand to attach it to, and it holds up to 5.5 lb.
• ​OverHead Pro Tripod Kit ($209): The easiest all-in-one overhead setup. The tripod and boom arm reach 5 feet high with a 2.8-foot arm, and the kit includes a phone clip and bullseye level. Hang a counterweight on the hook for stability. Already have a tripod? The arm alone is $129.
• ​NEEWER Pro C-Stand with Boom Arm* (from $189.99): Studio-level stability and height (up to 10.8 feet) for wide overhead shots of a full stovetop or table spread, and it doubles as a light stand. It has a big footprint, so always use a sandbag on the leg under the boom, and add a phone clamp.

Side-angle and on-the-go options

• A tabletop mini tripod (like a Manfrotto PIXI* or JOBY GorillaPod*) with a phone clamp is perfect for quick counter-height shots and behind-the-scenes clips.
• A standard light stand or lightweight photo tripod with a phone clamp gives you adjustable, eye-level side angles for pours and plating.
• A MagSafe mount (like this one from elitehood*) snaps your iPhone on and off in seconds. Pick one with twist-out grips or a locking design so the phone can’t slide off an overhead arm.

Tips for any stand

• Use a bubble level (or the level in the iPhone Camera app’s grid settings) so your overhead shots are perfectly square to the counter.
• Test for wobble before you hit record. Chop hard on your board and watch the preview. If it shakes, add a sandbag or shorten the arm.
• Shoot in landscape overhead if you’ll crop for multiple platforms, or rotate the clamp to vertical if the video is only for Reels and TikTok.

Audio: microphones for iPhone

If you talk to the camera, a wireless clip-on mic is the most important thing you’ll buy after a stand. The iPhone’s built-in mics pick up the whole room: the fridge hum, the range hood, the echo off your tile backsplash. A mic clipped a few inches from your mouth fixes that instantly.

Today’s wireless mic kits plug straight into the iPhone’s USB-C port (older Lightning iPhones need the Lightning version or an adapter) and work with the built-in Camera app. No settings required.

Wireless clip-on mics

• ​BlueBolt PocketPro Mini Wireless Mic ($49.99): The most budget-friendly way to get clearer audio. This single-mic kit comes in USB-C and Lightning versions, has built-in noise cancellation, and weighs just 7 grams. It has a shorter range (about 65 feet) and battery life (up to 5 hours) than pricier kits, but that’s plenty for filming in your kitchen.
• ​DJI Mic Mini* ($79–$99.99): Tiny and light with an 8-hour battery, and it sounds far better than its size suggests. Our pick for most bloggers starting out.
• ​RØDE Wireless GO Gen 3* (about $169–$199): Pro-level reliability with 32-bit float, onboard backup recording, and timecode. Ideal if you also film with a second camera.

Why two mics? Most kits come with two transmitters. That’s perfect for filming with a partner, or for clipping the second mic near the stove to capture the sizzle.

Audio tips

• Turn off the range hood and dishwasher while you’re talking, and film the loud steps separately.
• Soften the room. A rug, curtains, or even a towel over the counter behind the camera cuts down on echo.
• Record a quick test and listen with headphones before every shoot.

Lighting

Good light matters even more on an iPhone than on a big camera. The iPhone’s small sensor gets noisy and muddy in dim kitchens, and it will happily shift color as clouds roll by. We still love natural light, but artificial light lets you film consistently any time of day, any season (a big deal for us here in Minnesota).

Start with free (and almost free) light

• Window light: Set up near a large window, ideally north-facing, for soft, even light that doesn’t change dramatically over a long shoot.
• Diffuse it: A sheer white curtain or an inexpensive photo diffuser softens harsh direct sun.
• Bounce it: A white foam core board from the craft store fills in dark shadows on the side of the food away from the window.
• Turn off the overhead lights. Mixing warm kitchen bulbs with daylight gives you odd color casts that are hard to fix.

Artificial light options

• ​Westcott Flex Cine Bi-Color 1′ x 1′ ($499.90 for the mat, kits from $999.90): A premium, lightweight, flexible LED mat that tucks into tight kitchen spaces. It’s pricey, and the dimmer is sold separately unless you buy a kit.
• ​NEEWER 2-Pack Bi-Color 660 LED Video Light* ($199): A budget-friendly two-light kit that comes with stands. Both panels are dimmable and bi-color, so you can light the main side and fill the shadows without buying anything else. It’s portable enough to set up and pack away around a busy kitchen.
• ​amaran 100x S Bi-Color* ($199): Our pick for a main “fake window” light. It’s a 100W bi-color LED with excellent color accuracy (CRI 96+) and app control, so you can dial in brightness and color temperature from your phone. Pair it with a Bowens-mount softbox, like the Light Dome SE, for soft, natural-looking light. The softbox and stand are sold separately unless you buy a kit.

​Want to learn more about artificial lighting?
​Watch our Artificial Lighting Course!​

Editing Software for Recipe Videos

• ​Edits by Instagram (free, iPhone): Quick Reels with captions, templates, and a built-in teleprompter, with no watermark.
• ​Final Cut Pro ($12.99/month in Apple Creator Studio, or $299.99 one-time on Mac): Our go-to for polished recipe videos on iPad and Mac. Synchronize Clips lines up your wireless mic audio in seconds.
• ​CapCut (free, with a paid Pro upgrade, iPhone): Fast, template-driven edits with auto captions, trending effects, and easy speed ramps for TikTok and Reels.
• ​InShot (free, with a paid Pro upgrade, iPhone): A simple, beginner-friendly editor for trimming, adding music and text, and resizing for each platform. The free version adds a watermark, and Pro removes it.
• ​Adobe Premiere mobile (free with some paid features, iPhone and iPad): If you’re already using Adobe Lightroom and/or Adobe Photoshop for your food photography, you might want to add another Adobe product to your workflow. Premiere Pro gives you a lot of control in terms of the final video, and is also great for those who are working on Windows computers – Final Cut Pro X and iMovie (below) are both only for Macs.

Want to learn more about editing? Check out our courses on editing in Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, CapCutand InShotcourses!

Helpful extras

Monitoring: see your shot while you cook

When your iPhone is four feet above the counter, you can’t see the screen. Here are a few ways to keep an eye on framing and focus:

• ​Reflector 4 allows us to see what the phone is recording without having to look at the phone screen itself. It hooks up wirelessly and broadcasts your phone video onto your tablet or computer.
• An iPad or second iPhone: The free Blackmagic Camera app lets you monitor and control your iPhone remotely from another Apple device.
• Final Cut Camera + Final Cut Pro for iPad: Live Multicam connects up to four iPhones or iPads, so you can watch (and record) your overhead and side angles on one iPad screen.
• Apple Watch: The built-in Camera Remote app shows a live preview and starts or stops recording from your wrist.
• A Bluetooth remote: Many phone stands and tripods include one. It’s the cheapest way to start and stop recording without touching (and bumping) the phone.

Storage: video files are big

A few minutes of 4K ProRes can fill a 256GB iPhone in no time. On iPhone 15 Pro and newer, you can record ProRes directly to an external USB-C SSD. It needs to be exFAT-formatted and fast enough (at least 220 MB/s for 4K60, 440 MB/s for 4K120). Portable SSDs like the Samsung T7 Shield* and SanDisk Extreme* are popular choices. For everyday HEVC footage, iCloud Photos or Google Drive works well for backing up and sharing with your team.

Gimbal: for moving shots

You don’t need a gimbal for tabletop recipe videos, since a stand is steadier. But if you film farmers’ market trips, restaurant visits, or walk-and-talk videos, a gimbal like the DJI Osmo Mobile 8* ($159) smooths out every step. It also supports Apple DockKit for subject tracking in the iPhone Camera app.

You don’t need the studio kit to make recipe videos people love. Some of the most-watched Reels we’ve ever posted were filmed on a phone. Start with your iPhone, a steady stand, and good window light. Add a mic when you start talking to the camera, and add lights when the seasons (or your schedule) start fighting you.

Want to learn more about recipe video equipment and settings? Watch our Creating Vertical Short-Form Videoscourse!

What about you? What’s in your recipe video kit right now? Is there a stand, mic, or app you can’t live without? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

This blog post, The Gear We Use For Recipe Videos in 2026, originally appeared on Food Blogger Pro.