"[Updated] 2024 Approved A Vlogger's Guide To Camera Lenses | Wondershare Filmora"
A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses | Wondershare Filmora
A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses
Richard Bennett
Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions
The staple of any vlog is the talking headshot, a shot of the speaker talking directly to the audience. You can compose this shot with different kinds of lenses for your interchangeable lens camera.
But which kind of lens is the right lens for you as a vlogger?
In this article, I’m going to help you figure that out.
- Part 1: Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto
- Part 2: Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group
- Part 3: Crop Factor
- Part 4: Focal Length Equivalency Table
- Part 5: Aperture
- Part 6: Vlogging With a Fast Lens
- Part 7: Optical Image Stabilization
Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto
There are three main ranges in focal lengths that camera lenses can be categorized into wide, standard, and telephoto.
Wide-Angle Lens
Wide-angle lenses can “see more.” They allow more of your scene to fit inside your frame. Objects that are closer to the lens appear much bigger while objects that are further away appear even smaller. Perspectives are also enhanced, making close objects and people that just make it into the sides of the frame appear more stretched out. Out of all the other ranges in focal lengths, wide-angle lenses will appear the least zoomed in.
Standard Lens
With standard lenses or normal lenses, you won’t get the stretched out objects or enhanced perspectives that you get from wide-angle lenses. Instead, standard lenses are meant to see scenes as the natural human eye is meant to see them. If you shoot a scene with both a wide-angle lens and a standard lens from the same position, you’ll notice that less of the scene fits into your frame. Standard lenses will appear more zoomed-in than wide-angle lenses, but less zoomed-in than telephoto lenses.
Telephoto Lens
Out of all the other ranges in focal lengths, telephoto lenses will appear the most zoomed in. This can be beneficial for the shooter who wants to get a closer shot of a scene without having to physically be in close proximity to the scene. Objects that are further away in the background also appear larger and closer than they would appear on wide-angle or standard lenses.
Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group
You can get your talking head footage using lenses from any of the three focal length groups. Depending on how you plan to vlog most of the time, though, one of the three focal lengths might be more suitable for you.
When to vlog with a wide-angle lens
Wide-angle lenses are the most commonly used lenses for vlogging. Wide-angle lenses are great when you need to be close to your camera. This might be the case for you if your recording space is small or if you want to film yourself as you hold your camera up with your own hand.
Being close to your camera not only gives you the option to use your camera’s built-in microphone, but it also gives you the option to make use of camera-mounted shotgun microphones.
When to vlog with a standard lens
Standard lenses are great when you have more space to be further away from your camera. The perspectives in your shot will look more natural through a standard lens, making your talking head footage feel more corporate or professional. You’ll also be able to get blurrier backgrounds using a standard lens versus a wide-angle lens.
Being further away from your camera, however, means that you’ll have to use a separate microphone positioned closer to you.
When to vlog with a telephoto lens
As telephoto lenses are even more zoomed in, you’ll need to be even further away from your camera to fit yourself inside your camera frame. Why would any vlogger ever need to be that far away from their camera? One word… teleprompter. If you want or need to stick to a script, you’ll have to be far away enough from your camera that it doesn’t appear like your eyes are scanning left to right. You then close in the distance with a telephoto lens.
In the above video, Marcos Rocha compares different focal lengths for talking head videos. Which focal length range do you like the look of?
Crop Factor
Focal lengths in camera lenses are measured in millimeters. You can vlog yourself handheld with a 24mm lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor (the sensor is the piece of hardware inside your camera that turns the light it receives into a digital image). But if you use a 24mm lens on a camera with a smaller sensor, like an APS-C sensor or even smaller Micro 4/3 sensor, more of you will get cropped out (see below).
In order to make up for the cropping that occurs, you will need to use a wider lens on cameras with smaller sensors to get the same shot you’d get with a full-frame camera.
Focal Length Equivalency Table
This table shows you the focal lengths needed to achieve the same shot between cameras with different sensor sizes. In order to take a shot as wide as the shot I took of myself with the 24mm lens on my full-frame camera, I would need a 15mm lens on an APS-C sensor camera or a 12mm lens on a micro 4/3 camera.
Focal Length / Sensor | Full Frame | APS-C | Micro 4/3 |
---|---|---|---|
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe) | 16mm | 10mm | 8mm |
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe) | 18mm | 11mm | 9mm |
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe) | 24mm | 15mm | 12mm |
Wide | 35mm | 22mm | 18mm |
Standard | 50mm | 31mm | 25mm |
Telephoto | 70mm | 44mm | 35mm |
Telephoto | 100mm | 63mm | 50mm |
Telephoto | 200mm | 125mm | 100mm |
Aperture
The next thing to consider when you’re looking for a lens is the aperture, the hole (often adjustable) within the lens that lets light in. Aperture for camera lenses is measured in f-stops (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0) - the smaller the f-stop number, the larger the aperture (bigger hole letting even more light in).
Because larger aperture lenses let more light in, they need a shorter time for cameras to compose an image. This is why larger aperture lenses are also called “fast” lenses.
Fast lenses are more expensive because they cost more to produce. There’s a lot more that goes into them, including larger and higher quality glass elements.
But do you even need a fast lens?
Vlogging With a Fast Lens
Pros of Vlogging With a Fast Lens
- Better low-light performance
- Better autofocus performance
- Better “bokeh” (out-of-focus areas, like your background, having that nice blurry look that you see in a lot of movies)
Cons of Vlogging With a Fast Lens
- More expensive
- Moving subjects more likely to get out of focus when shooting with a large aperture
- Better continuous autofocus performance needed when shooting moving subjects with a large aperture
Optical Image Stabilization
Finally, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want your lens to have built-in optical image stabilization (OIS).
OIS is very beneficial to have on a lens if you’re a vlogger who films mostly handheld footage. Although this technology adds to the price of your lens as well, it can greatly help you to capture smoother footage that may otherwise be shaky. Nikon calls this technology “Vibration Reduction” (VR) for their lenses.
In the above video, you can see how much OIS can help to stabilize your footage. MicBergsma simultaneously compares the footage between two GoPro Hero5 Blacks, one with OIS on and one with OIS off.
If, however, you are shooting most of your vlogs on a tripod, you won’t need a lens with OIS.
Looking for ways to set up your talking-head shot for YouTube with any of these lenses? Check out our post on 4 Ways To Set Up Your Talking-Head Shots For YouTube .
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Also read:
- 2024 Approved Virtual Victors The Leading Ladies in Gaming
- What Everyone Needs to Know About ASMR Videos for 2024
- [Updated] Diverging Paths YouTube Licensing & Creative Commons for 2024
- [New] Top 15 Secrets to Building Quality Free Ad Videos for YouTube
- Perfecting Your Youtube Videos for IGTV Integration for 2024
- [New] 2024 Approved Discover the Power of 5 Editors Beyond Youtube's Boundaries
- [Updated] Strategies for Standing Out with the Perfect YT Brand Dimensions
- [New] In 2024, Elevating Your Content 6 Steps to Higher YouTube Visibility
- [Updated] Unveiling the Money Map A 3-Step Guide for Calculating Your YouTube Income
- [Updated] Streamline Your Musical Journey with YouTube's 60-Second Clips
- [Updated] 2024 Approved Amplify Content with Free Audio Samples
- [Updated] Perfect Shots A Guide to Capturing Engaging YouTube Content
- [New] In 2024, Creatives Making Marvel Virtual Worlds Vivid
- [New] Easy Steps for Exporting Videos From YouTube to Dailymotion for 2024
- [Updated] 2024 Approved Command the Stage of YouTube with Studio Skills
- [Updated] Exploring the YouTube Content Manager Toolkit
- [Updated] 2024 Approved Altering Who Can Access Your YouTube Videos
- [New] 2024 Approved Average Profit per Million YouTube Viewers
- Prosperous Gaming Vids Through Smart Hash Implementation for 2024
- [Updated] Emoji Tips for YT Comments A Quick Guide for 2024
- [Updated] Navigating Video Aspects on YouTube Perfect Size & Quality Balance
- [New] In 2024, Essential Strategies for Effective Content Management in Creator Studio
- [Updated] Tailoring Trending Topics to Endings
- [Updated] In 2024, Direct Access to Streams How to Download YouTube Videos to Your iOS Device
- [Updated] Clear, Distraction-Free Viewing of Old YouTube Content for 2024
- [Updated] 2024 Approved Edible Imagery Stepwise Food Film Making
- [New] Investigating the Power of 4-Second YouTube Subscriptions
- [New] Discovering Video Opportunities with Google Trend Analysis for 2024
- 2024 Approved Video Production Pro Tips Incorporating Audio Into YouTube Content
- 2024 Approved YouTube Monetary Potential Predictor
- In 2024, What is the best Pokemon for pokemon pvp ranking On Nokia 105 Classic? | Dr.fone
- [Updated] Mastering Hands-Free Motion An Overview
- How to Rescue Lost Photos from Samsung Galaxy XCover 7?
- New 2024 Approved Music Preservation Made Simple A List of the Best Equipment for Recording Your Top Tunes
- In 2024, The Essential Facetune Walkthrough for Stunning Photos
- In 2024, How to Shoot Cinematic Footage with Phone
- 2024 Approved A Comprehensive Guide for Free Video Translator Downloading
- [Updated] In 2024, Pros' Guide to FB Advertising Success
- [New] Reclaim Social Life Overcoming a Hack on Facebook
- Explore Classic PS3 Games Through Best Emulators 2023 for 2024
- [Updated] 2024 Approved Perfecting Your TikTok Content Utilizing Templates to Enhance Videos
- [Updated] Best 20 Anime Song Opens in Ranking
- New VLC Trimmer Mac Best Way to Trim VLC Without Losing Quality for 2024
- In 2024, The Metaverse & Omniverse A Detailed Breakdown
- Updated In 2024, How to Translate YouTube Videos to English Subtitles
- [New] In 2024, No-Trouble Recorder for Win10 Desktop
- Updated In 2024, Cut Your Editing Time in Half with These 20 Adobe Premiere Shortcuts
- Title: "[Updated] 2024 Approved A Vlogger's Guide To Camera Lenses | Wondershare Filmora"
- Author: Kenneth
- Created at : 2024-06-05 07:43:21
- Updated at : 2024-06-06 07:43:21
- Link: https://facebook-video-footage.techidaily.com/updated-2024-approved-a-vloggers-guide-to-camera-lenses-wondershare-filmora/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.