Your Ultimate YouTube Video Gear: Top-Rated Cameras and Lenses

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

Thumbnail Artistry for Engaging YouTube Channels

YouTube Channel Art: How to Make Banners, Icons, and Thumbnails?

Shanoon Cox

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube channel art refers to your banner, icon, and watermark along with the thumbnails of your videos. Creating custom channel art is a great way to express yourself and communicate the tone of your videos.

YouTube supports JPG, GIF, BMP, and PNG files for channel art, although they do not allow animated GIFs.

Part 1: Top Sites for YouTube Channel Art

You can make your channel art in Photoshop, or another photo editing program, but there are also some excellent tools online which you can access for free. Here are two of the best:

Canva.com

Canva has templates for YouTube banners as well as a variety of stock images. You can also upload and edit your own images on Canva. It is a free service, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each. Canva has a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey.com

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. It’s free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription for either $4.99 a month, or $2.75 a month for a year.

Part 2: Banners

Your banner is the header for your channel page. Its dimensions are 2560 x 1440 px.

Not all of your banner will be visible on all devices. The full 2560 x 1440 px image will only be seen by viewers watching on tv screens.

Only 1546 x 423 px of your banner will be visible on computers, and this ‘safe area’ can vary for different tablets and smartphones depending on the width of their screens. Make sure any important text or logos are placed in a central location so everybody can see them.

Also, keep in mind that your icon will hover over the top left corner of your banner and that your social media icons will be located in the bottom right corner.

The file size of your banner cannot be over 4MB.

Part 3: Icons

Your icon is the avatar you use when leaving and replying to comments on YouTube. It also hovers over your banner on your channel page.

By default, your icon will be the picture associated with your Google account.

If you upload a new icon, it will render down to 98 x 98 px. So, any square image larger than 98 x 98 px will work. However, YouTube recommends you use one as large as 800 x 800 px. This will give you a sharper, higher quality, image.

Part 4: Thumbnails

Thumbnails are the images that represent your videos on your channel page and in search results.

You can browse through your video and choose a still frame you want to use as your video’s thumbnail. Or, you can upload a custom image.

Custom thumbnails should have an aspect ratio of 16:9, the same as YouTube’s video player. The files should be under 2MB and have a resolution of 1280 x 720.

To upload a custom thumbnail, select the custom thumbnail option under Video Thumbnails at the end of the video uploading process. You can also change the thumbnails of your existing videos to custom ones through Video Manager.

Remember that your thumbnail will be rendered down to a much smaller size. If you use text, like the title of your video, then you should make it really big so that it is easy to read when it gets shrunk down.

Part 5: Watermarks

A watermark is a small, usually 50 x 50 px image displayed in the bottom right corner of your video.

Watermarks protect your videos by making them harder for others to steal and take credit for.

Ideally, your watermark will be a transparent version of your logo. Try not to use more than three colors – you do not want your watermark to distract your viewers.

If you add a branding watermark through YouTube then that watermark will also double as a subscribe link.

Here is how you can add a branding watermark through YouTube:

1. On YouTube, go to your Creator Studio and select Branding under the Channel menu.
2. Click the blue add a watermark button on the Branding page.
3. An upload of a watermark window will pop up. Select your image file and click Save.
4. Choose between having a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your videos, or having it there for the entire length of your videos. The popular choice is to have it visible through the entire video.
5. Click Update. Your watermark will be applied to all of your videos.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube channel art refers to your banner, icon, and watermark along with the thumbnails of your videos. Creating custom channel art is a great way to express yourself and communicate the tone of your videos.

YouTube supports JPG, GIF, BMP, and PNG files for channel art, although they do not allow animated GIFs.

Part 1: Top Sites for YouTube Channel Art

You can make your channel art in Photoshop, or another photo editing program, but there are also some excellent tools online which you can access for free. Here are two of the best:

Canva.com

Canva has templates for YouTube banners as well as a variety of stock images. You can also upload and edit your own images on Canva. It is a free service, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each. Canva has a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey.com

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. It’s free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription for either $4.99 a month, or $2.75 a month for a year.

Part 2: Banners

Your banner is the header for your channel page. Its dimensions are 2560 x 1440 px.

Not all of your banner will be visible on all devices. The full 2560 x 1440 px image will only be seen by viewers watching on tv screens.

Only 1546 x 423 px of your banner will be visible on computers, and this ‘safe area’ can vary for different tablets and smartphones depending on the width of their screens. Make sure any important text or logos are placed in a central location so everybody can see them.

Also, keep in mind that your icon will hover over the top left corner of your banner and that your social media icons will be located in the bottom right corner.

The file size of your banner cannot be over 4MB.

Part 3: Icons

Your icon is the avatar you use when leaving and replying to comments on YouTube. It also hovers over your banner on your channel page.

By default, your icon will be the picture associated with your Google account.

If you upload a new icon, it will render down to 98 x 98 px. So, any square image larger than 98 x 98 px will work. However, YouTube recommends you use one as large as 800 x 800 px. This will give you a sharper, higher quality, image.

Part 4: Thumbnails

Thumbnails are the images that represent your videos on your channel page and in search results.

You can browse through your video and choose a still frame you want to use as your video’s thumbnail. Or, you can upload a custom image.

Custom thumbnails should have an aspect ratio of 16:9, the same as YouTube’s video player. The files should be under 2MB and have a resolution of 1280 x 720.

To upload a custom thumbnail, select the custom thumbnail option under Video Thumbnails at the end of the video uploading process. You can also change the thumbnails of your existing videos to custom ones through Video Manager.

Remember that your thumbnail will be rendered down to a much smaller size. If you use text, like the title of your video, then you should make it really big so that it is easy to read when it gets shrunk down.

Part 5: Watermarks

A watermark is a small, usually 50 x 50 px image displayed in the bottom right corner of your video.

Watermarks protect your videos by making them harder for others to steal and take credit for.

Ideally, your watermark will be a transparent version of your logo. Try not to use more than three colors – you do not want your watermark to distract your viewers.

If you add a branding watermark through YouTube then that watermark will also double as a subscribe link.

Here is how you can add a branding watermark through YouTube:

1. On YouTube, go to your Creator Studio and select Branding under the Channel menu.
2. Click the blue add a watermark button on the Branding page.
3. An upload of a watermark window will pop up. Select your image file and click Save.
4. Choose between having a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your videos, or having it there for the entire length of your videos. The popular choice is to have it visible through the entire video.
5. Click Update. Your watermark will be applied to all of your videos.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube channel art refers to your banner, icon, and watermark along with the thumbnails of your videos. Creating custom channel art is a great way to express yourself and communicate the tone of your videos.

YouTube supports JPG, GIF, BMP, and PNG files for channel art, although they do not allow animated GIFs.

Part 1: Top Sites for YouTube Channel Art

You can make your channel art in Photoshop, or another photo editing program, but there are also some excellent tools online which you can access for free. Here are two of the best:

Canva.com

Canva has templates for YouTube banners as well as a variety of stock images. You can also upload and edit your own images on Canva. It is a free service, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each. Canva has a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey.com

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. It’s free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription for either $4.99 a month, or $2.75 a month for a year.

Part 2: Banners

Your banner is the header for your channel page. Its dimensions are 2560 x 1440 px.

Not all of your banner will be visible on all devices. The full 2560 x 1440 px image will only be seen by viewers watching on tv screens.

Only 1546 x 423 px of your banner will be visible on computers, and this ‘safe area’ can vary for different tablets and smartphones depending on the width of their screens. Make sure any important text or logos are placed in a central location so everybody can see them.

Also, keep in mind that your icon will hover over the top left corner of your banner and that your social media icons will be located in the bottom right corner.

The file size of your banner cannot be over 4MB.

Part 3: Icons

Your icon is the avatar you use when leaving and replying to comments on YouTube. It also hovers over your banner on your channel page.

By default, your icon will be the picture associated with your Google account.

If you upload a new icon, it will render down to 98 x 98 px. So, any square image larger than 98 x 98 px will work. However, YouTube recommends you use one as large as 800 x 800 px. This will give you a sharper, higher quality, image.

Part 4: Thumbnails

Thumbnails are the images that represent your videos on your channel page and in search results.

You can browse through your video and choose a still frame you want to use as your video’s thumbnail. Or, you can upload a custom image.

Custom thumbnails should have an aspect ratio of 16:9, the same as YouTube’s video player. The files should be under 2MB and have a resolution of 1280 x 720.

To upload a custom thumbnail, select the custom thumbnail option under Video Thumbnails at the end of the video uploading process. You can also change the thumbnails of your existing videos to custom ones through Video Manager.

Remember that your thumbnail will be rendered down to a much smaller size. If you use text, like the title of your video, then you should make it really big so that it is easy to read when it gets shrunk down.

Part 5: Watermarks

A watermark is a small, usually 50 x 50 px image displayed in the bottom right corner of your video.

Watermarks protect your videos by making them harder for others to steal and take credit for.

Ideally, your watermark will be a transparent version of your logo. Try not to use more than three colors – you do not want your watermark to distract your viewers.

If you add a branding watermark through YouTube then that watermark will also double as a subscribe link.

Here is how you can add a branding watermark through YouTube:

1. On YouTube, go to your Creator Studio and select Branding under the Channel menu.
2. Click the blue add a watermark button on the Branding page.
3. An upload of a watermark window will pop up. Select your image file and click Save.
4. Choose between having a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your videos, or having it there for the entire length of your videos. The popular choice is to have it visible through the entire video.
5. Click Update. Your watermark will be applied to all of your videos.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube channel art refers to your banner, icon, and watermark along with the thumbnails of your videos. Creating custom channel art is a great way to express yourself and communicate the tone of your videos.

YouTube supports JPG, GIF, BMP, and PNG files for channel art, although they do not allow animated GIFs.

Part 1: Top Sites for YouTube Channel Art

You can make your channel art in Photoshop, or another photo editing program, but there are also some excellent tools online which you can access for free. Here are two of the best:

Canva.com

Canva has templates for YouTube banners as well as a variety of stock images. You can also upload and edit your own images on Canva. It is a free service, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each. Canva has a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey.com

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. It’s free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription for either $4.99 a month, or $2.75 a month for a year.

Part 2: Banners

Your banner is the header for your channel page. Its dimensions are 2560 x 1440 px.

Not all of your banner will be visible on all devices. The full 2560 x 1440 px image will only be seen by viewers watching on tv screens.

Only 1546 x 423 px of your banner will be visible on computers, and this ‘safe area’ can vary for different tablets and smartphones depending on the width of their screens. Make sure any important text or logos are placed in a central location so everybody can see them.

Also, keep in mind that your icon will hover over the top left corner of your banner and that your social media icons will be located in the bottom right corner.

The file size of your banner cannot be over 4MB.

Part 3: Icons

Your icon is the avatar you use when leaving and replying to comments on YouTube. It also hovers over your banner on your channel page.

By default, your icon will be the picture associated with your Google account.

If you upload a new icon, it will render down to 98 x 98 px. So, any square image larger than 98 x 98 px will work. However, YouTube recommends you use one as large as 800 x 800 px. This will give you a sharper, higher quality, image.

Part 4: Thumbnails

Thumbnails are the images that represent your videos on your channel page and in search results.

You can browse through your video and choose a still frame you want to use as your video’s thumbnail. Or, you can upload a custom image.

Custom thumbnails should have an aspect ratio of 16:9, the same as YouTube’s video player. The files should be under 2MB and have a resolution of 1280 x 720.

To upload a custom thumbnail, select the custom thumbnail option under Video Thumbnails at the end of the video uploading process. You can also change the thumbnails of your existing videos to custom ones through Video Manager.

Remember that your thumbnail will be rendered down to a much smaller size. If you use text, like the title of your video, then you should make it really big so that it is easy to read when it gets shrunk down.

Part 5: Watermarks

A watermark is a small, usually 50 x 50 px image displayed in the bottom right corner of your video.

Watermarks protect your videos by making them harder for others to steal and take credit for.

Ideally, your watermark will be a transparent version of your logo. Try not to use more than three colors – you do not want your watermark to distract your viewers.

If you add a branding watermark through YouTube then that watermark will also double as a subscribe link.

Here is how you can add a branding watermark through YouTube:

1. On YouTube, go to your Creator Studio and select Branding under the Channel menu.
2. Click the blue add a watermark button on the Branding page.
3. An upload of a watermark window will pop up. Select your image file and click Save.
4. Choose between having a start time for your watermark, making it appear only at the end of your videos, or having it there for the entire length of your videos. The popular choice is to have it visible through the entire video.
5. Click Update. Your watermark will be applied to all of your videos.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Also read: