Branding with Visuals: Inserting Watermarks Into YouTube Vids

How to Add Logo or Watermark to YouTube Video

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A watermark is a still image that is usually plugged in the videos, for the purpose of claiming copyrights or publicity purpose. YouTube generally carries a “branding” option where you can brand your video with your channel. This doesn’t provide a stable watermark. Therefore, when someone downloads that video using a second party (YouTube downloader) it gets removed. For this purpose the legal author will have to put a Channel watemark on their YouTube videos. In this guide, we will show you how to add watermark to your YouTube videos, existing or new.

You May Also Like:
Best Watermark Apps for iPhone - How to Watermark Photos on iPhone >>

Wondershare AniEraser Seamless, Effortless, Intuitive.
AniEraser makes it easy to perfect any photo or video; no matter the device or platform - experience a smooth, effortless transformation of your image and maximize its potential with just one click.
Make your moment perfect.

Free Download Free Download Edit online

How to Add a Watermark to Your YouTube Videos

• Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos
• Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos

To add a watermark to your previously uploaded videos you will need to have created and saved your watermark outside of your video editing program.

• Sign in to your YouTube account. Click on the thumbnail image of your account at the top right corner. This will give you a drop down menu. Then Click on the small gear (indicating settings)

• This will lead you to setting center. Click on “view additional features”

• To the left of the window, Click the third option of “branding”
• Click on “add watermark”. Then you can choose an image from your computer. After your image is uploaded, click save.

Notes

YouTube watermark size: Your watermark should be transparent, square, and larger than 50x50 pixels, which is the size it will be shrunk down to when it appears in the corner of your videos.

YouTube watermark starting time: you will have the option of choosing a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your video, or having it there for the entire length of your video. Once that is done click ‘Update’ and your watermark will be applied to your videos.

YouTube watermark color: Youtube suggests that your watermark have only one color. The point is that you should not use anything flashy that will take attention away from your video, so having two or three colors is not necessarily wrong if your design is subtle.

Here is a tutorial video for how to add watermark to Your YouTube videos:

Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

1. Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora which is one of the ideal video editing tools especially when it comes to watermarking your videos . It helps you in adding static and video watermarks over the video. The basic theme of the video watermarking is the concept of picture-in-picture .

The following steps have to be taken to add a watermark:

• Add the video and watermarking data by drag dropping it into the workspace
• Drag the required video on the timeline and the watermark on it as well
• Adjust the watermark and add pre-made special effects to it
• Mask the watermark in the shape you like
• Save the video

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

2. Windows movie maker

Windows movie maker is free default windows software that can easily add watermark to your videos to secure your copyrights. It can cater two types of watermarks; images and text. For images, it just supports PNG and GIF format files and generally doesn’t support transparency. Moreover, an external file, Windows Logo Locator is needed for placing the logo at different positions.

How to add watermark to video with Windows Movie Maker

Adding Text watermark:

• Open windows movie maker
• Click on ‘videos’ under the title of import.
• Import your video to the timeline.
• Right beneath imports under the category of edit you will find ‘titles and credits’. Click.
• Enter the text for watermark.
• Choose the title positioning, font and transparency.
• Add title. You will find it along the length of timeline. You may drag to expand it, for viewing it during the entire videos length. Select file and click publish video.

Adding image watermark:

The image should be in .PNG or .GIF format.

• Save the image in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Download a logo Locator as per your installed windows from FX archives.
• Select the location of the logo in your video where you want it to appear.
• Choose the screen size and the logo size
• Type the name of the file of the logo you had already saved with the extension. For e.g. logo.png
• Copy the text that appears underneath and paste it on the notepad and save the typed file in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Open windows movie maker again.
• Choose title and credits underneath the edit category.
• Press space bar once and then click ‘change the title animation’.
• You will see your image there. Click on ad title and press Ctrl+p to publish.

Part 3: How to Create a Transparent logo for Youtube Channel

Do you want to make a transparent image as logo for your YouTube? If you want to brand your YouTube channel, we believe it is a must to add transparent logo for YouTube branding. Actually, you can do this in Filmora just with a green screen image. Check the steps below to know the secret.

Step 1: Import video and image to Filmora

Open Filmora. Choose Create New Project. Click import media files here in Media library. Select your video and a green screen image. In fact, a green screen video is also accessable, but usually brand logo is image. Now drag them onto timeline.

Step 2: Import video and image to Filmora

Right click on the image clip in the timeline. Choose Green Screen. You will see the image is transparent in the preview window. Now, you need to adjust some details. You can adjust edge thickness and edge feather to better edge. If the green screen background is not totally removed, drag tolerance to adjust it.

Step 3: Scale the logo

You can clip the image clip first and go to preview window to scale it down or up by dragging the green dot. You can put the YouTube logo at corner.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A watermark is a still image that is usually plugged in the videos, for the purpose of claiming copyrights or publicity purpose. YouTube generally carries a “branding” option where you can brand your video with your channel. This doesn’t provide a stable watermark. Therefore, when someone downloads that video using a second party (YouTube downloader) it gets removed. For this purpose the legal author will have to put a Channel watemark on their YouTube videos. In this guide, we will show you how to add watermark to your YouTube videos, existing or new.

You May Also Like:
Best Watermark Apps for iPhone - How to Watermark Photos on iPhone >>

Wondershare AniEraser Seamless, Effortless, Intuitive.
AniEraser makes it easy to perfect any photo or video; no matter the device or platform - experience a smooth, effortless transformation of your image and maximize its potential with just one click.
Make your moment perfect.

Free Download Free Download Edit online

How to Add a Watermark to Your YouTube Videos

• Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos
• Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos

To add a watermark to your previously uploaded videos you will need to have created and saved your watermark outside of your video editing program.

• Sign in to your YouTube account. Click on the thumbnail image of your account at the top right corner. This will give you a drop down menu. Then Click on the small gear (indicating settings)

• This will lead you to setting center. Click on “view additional features”

• To the left of the window, Click the third option of “branding”
• Click on “add watermark”. Then you can choose an image from your computer. After your image is uploaded, click save.

Notes

YouTube watermark size: Your watermark should be transparent, square, and larger than 50x50 pixels, which is the size it will be shrunk down to when it appears in the corner of your videos.

YouTube watermark starting time: you will have the option of choosing a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your video, or having it there for the entire length of your video. Once that is done click ‘Update’ and your watermark will be applied to your videos.

YouTube watermark color: Youtube suggests that your watermark have only one color. The point is that you should not use anything flashy that will take attention away from your video, so having two or three colors is not necessarily wrong if your design is subtle.

Here is a tutorial video for how to add watermark to Your YouTube videos:

Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

1. Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora which is one of the ideal video editing tools especially when it comes to watermarking your videos . It helps you in adding static and video watermarks over the video. The basic theme of the video watermarking is the concept of picture-in-picture .

The following steps have to be taken to add a watermark:

• Add the video and watermarking data by drag dropping it into the workspace
• Drag the required video on the timeline and the watermark on it as well
• Adjust the watermark and add pre-made special effects to it
• Mask the watermark in the shape you like
• Save the video

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

2. Windows movie maker

Windows movie maker is free default windows software that can easily add watermark to your videos to secure your copyrights. It can cater two types of watermarks; images and text. For images, it just supports PNG and GIF format files and generally doesn’t support transparency. Moreover, an external file, Windows Logo Locator is needed for placing the logo at different positions.

How to add watermark to video with Windows Movie Maker

Adding Text watermark:

• Open windows movie maker
• Click on ‘videos’ under the title of import.
• Import your video to the timeline.
• Right beneath imports under the category of edit you will find ‘titles and credits’. Click.
• Enter the text for watermark.
• Choose the title positioning, font and transparency.
• Add title. You will find it along the length of timeline. You may drag to expand it, for viewing it during the entire videos length. Select file and click publish video.

Adding image watermark:

The image should be in .PNG or .GIF format.

• Save the image in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Download a logo Locator as per your installed windows from FX archives.
• Select the location of the logo in your video where you want it to appear.
• Choose the screen size and the logo size
• Type the name of the file of the logo you had already saved with the extension. For e.g. logo.png
• Copy the text that appears underneath and paste it on the notepad and save the typed file in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Open windows movie maker again.
• Choose title and credits underneath the edit category.
• Press space bar once and then click ‘change the title animation’.
• You will see your image there. Click on ad title and press Ctrl+p to publish.

Part 3: How to Create a Transparent logo for Youtube Channel

Do you want to make a transparent image as logo for your YouTube? If you want to brand your YouTube channel, we believe it is a must to add transparent logo for YouTube branding. Actually, you can do this in Filmora just with a green screen image. Check the steps below to know the secret.

Step 1: Import video and image to Filmora

Open Filmora. Choose Create New Project. Click import media files here in Media library. Select your video and a green screen image. In fact, a green screen video is also accessable, but usually brand logo is image. Now drag them onto timeline.

Step 2: Import video and image to Filmora

Right click on the image clip in the timeline. Choose Green Screen. You will see the image is transparent in the preview window. Now, you need to adjust some details. You can adjust edge thickness and edge feather to better edge. If the green screen background is not totally removed, drag tolerance to adjust it.

Step 3: Scale the logo

You can clip the image clip first and go to preview window to scale it down or up by dragging the green dot. You can put the YouTube logo at corner.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A watermark is a still image that is usually plugged in the videos, for the purpose of claiming copyrights or publicity purpose. YouTube generally carries a “branding” option where you can brand your video with your channel. This doesn’t provide a stable watermark. Therefore, when someone downloads that video using a second party (YouTube downloader) it gets removed. For this purpose the legal author will have to put a Channel watemark on their YouTube videos. In this guide, we will show you how to add watermark to your YouTube videos, existing or new.

You May Also Like:
Best Watermark Apps for iPhone - How to Watermark Photos on iPhone >>

Wondershare AniEraser Seamless, Effortless, Intuitive.
AniEraser makes it easy to perfect any photo or video; no matter the device or platform - experience a smooth, effortless transformation of your image and maximize its potential with just one click.
Make your moment perfect.

Free Download Free Download Edit online

How to Add a Watermark to Your YouTube Videos

• Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos
• Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos

To add a watermark to your previously uploaded videos you will need to have created and saved your watermark outside of your video editing program.

• Sign in to your YouTube account. Click on the thumbnail image of your account at the top right corner. This will give you a drop down menu. Then Click on the small gear (indicating settings)

• This will lead you to setting center. Click on “view additional features”

• To the left of the window, Click the third option of “branding”
• Click on “add watermark”. Then you can choose an image from your computer. After your image is uploaded, click save.

Notes

YouTube watermark size: Your watermark should be transparent, square, and larger than 50x50 pixels, which is the size it will be shrunk down to when it appears in the corner of your videos.

YouTube watermark starting time: you will have the option of choosing a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your video, or having it there for the entire length of your video. Once that is done click ‘Update’ and your watermark will be applied to your videos.

YouTube watermark color: Youtube suggests that your watermark have only one color. The point is that you should not use anything flashy that will take attention away from your video, so having two or three colors is not necessarily wrong if your design is subtle.

Here is a tutorial video for how to add watermark to Your YouTube videos:

Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

1. Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora which is one of the ideal video editing tools especially when it comes to watermarking your videos . It helps you in adding static and video watermarks over the video. The basic theme of the video watermarking is the concept of picture-in-picture .

The following steps have to be taken to add a watermark:

• Add the video and watermarking data by drag dropping it into the workspace
• Drag the required video on the timeline and the watermark on it as well
• Adjust the watermark and add pre-made special effects to it
• Mask the watermark in the shape you like
• Save the video

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

2. Windows movie maker

Windows movie maker is free default windows software that can easily add watermark to your videos to secure your copyrights. It can cater two types of watermarks; images and text. For images, it just supports PNG and GIF format files and generally doesn’t support transparency. Moreover, an external file, Windows Logo Locator is needed for placing the logo at different positions.

How to add watermark to video with Windows Movie Maker

Adding Text watermark:

• Open windows movie maker
• Click on ‘videos’ under the title of import.
• Import your video to the timeline.
• Right beneath imports under the category of edit you will find ‘titles and credits’. Click.
• Enter the text for watermark.
• Choose the title positioning, font and transparency.
• Add title. You will find it along the length of timeline. You may drag to expand it, for viewing it during the entire videos length. Select file and click publish video.

Adding image watermark:

The image should be in .PNG or .GIF format.

• Save the image in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Download a logo Locator as per your installed windows from FX archives.
• Select the location of the logo in your video where you want it to appear.
• Choose the screen size and the logo size
• Type the name of the file of the logo you had already saved with the extension. For e.g. logo.png
• Copy the text that appears underneath and paste it on the notepad and save the typed file in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Open windows movie maker again.
• Choose title and credits underneath the edit category.
• Press space bar once and then click ‘change the title animation’.
• You will see your image there. Click on ad title and press Ctrl+p to publish.

Part 3: How to Create a Transparent logo for Youtube Channel

Do you want to make a transparent image as logo for your YouTube? If you want to brand your YouTube channel, we believe it is a must to add transparent logo for YouTube branding. Actually, you can do this in Filmora just with a green screen image. Check the steps below to know the secret.

Step 1: Import video and image to Filmora

Open Filmora. Choose Create New Project. Click import media files here in Media library. Select your video and a green screen image. In fact, a green screen video is also accessable, but usually brand logo is image. Now drag them onto timeline.

Step 2: Import video and image to Filmora

Right click on the image clip in the timeline. Choose Green Screen. You will see the image is transparent in the preview window. Now, you need to adjust some details. You can adjust edge thickness and edge feather to better edge. If the green screen background is not totally removed, drag tolerance to adjust it.

Step 3: Scale the logo

You can clip the image clip first and go to preview window to scale it down or up by dragging the green dot. You can put the YouTube logo at corner.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A watermark is a still image that is usually plugged in the videos, for the purpose of claiming copyrights or publicity purpose. YouTube generally carries a “branding” option where you can brand your video with your channel. This doesn’t provide a stable watermark. Therefore, when someone downloads that video using a second party (YouTube downloader) it gets removed. For this purpose the legal author will have to put a Channel watemark on their YouTube videos. In this guide, we will show you how to add watermark to your YouTube videos, existing or new.

You May Also Like:
Best Watermark Apps for iPhone - How to Watermark Photos on iPhone >>

Wondershare AniEraser Seamless, Effortless, Intuitive.
AniEraser makes it easy to perfect any photo or video; no matter the device or platform - experience a smooth, effortless transformation of your image and maximize its potential with just one click.
Make your moment perfect.

Free Download Free Download Edit online

How to Add a Watermark to Your YouTube Videos

• Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos
• Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

Part 1: How to add logo or watermark to in existing YouTube videos

To add a watermark to your previously uploaded videos you will need to have created and saved your watermark outside of your video editing program.

• Sign in to your YouTube account. Click on the thumbnail image of your account at the top right corner. This will give you a drop down menu. Then Click on the small gear (indicating settings)

• This will lead you to setting center. Click on “view additional features”

• To the left of the window, Click the third option of “branding”
• Click on “add watermark”. Then you can choose an image from your computer. After your image is uploaded, click save.

Notes

YouTube watermark size: Your watermark should be transparent, square, and larger than 50x50 pixels, which is the size it will be shrunk down to when it appears in the corner of your videos.

YouTube watermark starting time: you will have the option of choosing a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your video, or having it there for the entire length of your video. Once that is done click ‘Update’ and your watermark will be applied to your videos.

YouTube watermark color: Youtube suggests that your watermark have only one color. The point is that you should not use anything flashy that will take attention away from your video, so having two or three colors is not necessarily wrong if your design is subtle.

Here is a tutorial video for how to add watermark to Your YouTube videos:

Part 2: Add logos or watermarks to your videos before uploading

1. Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora which is one of the ideal video editing tools especially when it comes to watermarking your videos . It helps you in adding static and video watermarks over the video. The basic theme of the video watermarking is the concept of picture-in-picture .

The following steps have to be taken to add a watermark:

• Add the video and watermarking data by drag dropping it into the workspace
• Drag the required video on the timeline and the watermark on it as well
• Adjust the watermark and add pre-made special effects to it
• Mask the watermark in the shape you like
• Save the video

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

2. Windows movie maker

Windows movie maker is free default windows software that can easily add watermark to your videos to secure your copyrights. It can cater two types of watermarks; images and text. For images, it just supports PNG and GIF format files and generally doesn’t support transparency. Moreover, an external file, Windows Logo Locator is needed for placing the logo at different positions.

How to add watermark to video with Windows Movie Maker

Adding Text watermark:

• Open windows movie maker
• Click on ‘videos’ under the title of import.
• Import your video to the timeline.
• Right beneath imports under the category of edit you will find ‘titles and credits’. Click.
• Enter the text for watermark.
• Choose the title positioning, font and transparency.
• Add title. You will find it along the length of timeline. You may drag to expand it, for viewing it during the entire videos length. Select file and click publish video.

Adding image watermark:

The image should be in .PNG or .GIF format.

• Save the image in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Download a logo Locator as per your installed windows from FX archives.
• Select the location of the logo in your video where you want it to appear.
• Choose the screen size and the logo size
• Type the name of the file of the logo you had already saved with the extension. For e.g. logo.png
• Copy the text that appears underneath and paste it on the notepad and save the typed file in >C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\.
• Open windows movie maker again.
• Choose title and credits underneath the edit category.
• Press space bar once and then click ‘change the title animation’.
• You will see your image there. Click on ad title and press Ctrl+p to publish.

Part 3: How to Create a Transparent logo for Youtube Channel

Do you want to make a transparent image as logo for your YouTube? If you want to brand your YouTube channel, we believe it is a must to add transparent logo for YouTube branding. Actually, you can do this in Filmora just with a green screen image. Check the steps below to know the secret.

Step 1: Import video and image to Filmora

Open Filmora. Choose Create New Project. Click import media files here in Media library. Select your video and a green screen image. In fact, a green screen video is also accessable, but usually brand logo is image. Now drag them onto timeline.

Step 2: Import video and image to Filmora

Right click on the image clip in the timeline. Choose Green Screen. You will see the image is transparent in the preview window. Now, you need to adjust some details. You can adjust edge thickness and edge feather to better edge. If the green screen background is not totally removed, drag tolerance to adjust it.

Step 3: Scale the logo

You can clip the image clip first and go to preview window to scale it down or up by dragging the green dot. You can put the YouTube logo at corner.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Optimal Lens Selection for Smooth Vlogging Experience

A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

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