Best cameras for teaching yoga online in 2025

Every day a yoga teacher asks me what camera I use to teach yoga online.

When I started teaching yoga online, I didn't know much about cameras – but I was fortunate to marry a photographer and a gear geek. My husband Konrad spends an unreasonable amount of money on cameras and lenses and copious hours watching YouTube camera reviews. Here's what he has helped steer me toward.

Before you read more, if you don't have a good mic yet for teaching online, then I strongly recommend you start there. Audio is king, and a good mic will have much more influence on your video quality than a good camera will. Consider checking out this rundown of the best mics for online yoga teachers.

Now, for cameras, I'll run through options from the most affordable options including the phone you already have, all the way up to the highest quality that the top professional yoga teachers use.

Here's the list of choices, in order of price:

Webcam

Most built-in desktops and laptops have their own webcam. These are typically low resolution and low quality, but they work fine for some yoga teachers' needs. For higher quality zoom yoga classes, you'll want to buy a webcam that plugs into your computer's USB port and hooks onto the top of the monitor.

The best starter webcam for yoga teachers is the Logitech C920x ($69.99) which is Full HD (1080p) resolution.

If you can pay a little more I strongly recommend the Logitech Brio ($130), which is what I use when teaching on Zoom and livestreaming. This webcam has smart lighting which adjusts to help me look professional in any environment, including low light situations. The Brio has an adjustable field of view which helps get my whole body into the frame, even when doing standing yoga postures in a small room. When I guide meditation and chat with my students, I switch to the normal angle, which frames my head and shoulders without distortion.

Smartphones & iPhones For Zoom Yoga

Most yoga teachers with a smartphone or iPhone already have an excellent camera in their pocket. If you are okay with not seeing your Zoom students as easily as you can on a laptop or computer, then this may be the way to go if you're on a budget.

Be sure to mount your smartphone using a tripod like my favorite, the GorillaPod Stand ($19.83).

Note for Zoom teachers: If you're primarily teaching on Zoom to live groups, a webcam or phone is probably all you need. Moving into the next level of quality is primarily for those making on-demand videos to post to YouTube or professional live-streaming applications. Keep in mind that Zoom degrades your video quality, so it really doesn't make a lot of sense to maximize your video quality for Zoom.

Digital Camera for Livestreaming

For higher quality live-streaming, I use a Sony ZV-1 Digital Camera ($648) which is perfect for vlogging (aka self-videoing) with a self-facing viewer. It also acts as a webcam with plug-and-play functionality into live-streaming software.

Camcorder

Most professional DSLR and mirrorless cameras are strangely ill-suited for long-form video classes. They have short battery lives (usually 30-60 minutes), plus that pesky 30-minute video recording limit which is apparently related to EU regulations. But the Panasonic 4K Ultra HD Video Camera Camcorder ($797.99) gets around these. It's made for video, not photography, and is a top-notch choice for amazing 4K video quality. It has a multitude of automation features that are essential for those of us who film ourselves including great auto light adjustment and auto-focus for fitness and yoga videos.

Mirrorless Camera

I film with my husband's Sony A7R4 mirrorless camera ($2,998), which is overkill for most yoga teachers and comes with a steep learning curve. It's the camera I've used for most of the yoga videos on my YouTube channel. I use it with this 16-35mm wide-angle zoom lens ($1,898).

For a more affordable professional camera, the Canon EOS M50 with 15-45mm Lens is used by Charlie Follows to make the beautiful yoga videos featured on her fast-growing YouTube channel.

What Yoga with Adriene Uses

Lastly, one of the most famous yoga influencers, Adriene Mishler, uses a Canon EOS 80D ($1,198) to film her videos, which have gained over 10 million subscribers.