The Right Tools For Your YouTube Journey - Camera Lenses Explained

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

Elevating Positivity in a Constructive Space

How To Deal with YouTube Trolls and Negative Comments

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

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