Exploring Vlogging: Selecting the Best Cameras & Lenses

A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

The staple of any vlog is the talking headshot, a shot of the speaker talking directly to the audience. You can compose this shot with different kinds of lenses for your interchangeable lens camera.

But which kind of lens is the right lens for you as a vlogger?

In this article, I’m going to help you figure that out.

Part 1: Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto
Part 2: Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group
Part 3: Crop Factor
Part 4: Focal Length Equivalency Table
Part 5: Aperture
Part 6: Vlogging With a Fast Lens
Part 7: Optical Image Stabilization

Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto

There are three main ranges in focal lengths that camera lenses can be categorized into wide, standard, and telephoto.

Wide-Angle Lens

Wide-angle lenses can “see more.” They allow more of your scene to fit inside your frame. Objects that are closer to the lens appear much bigger while objects that are further away appear even smaller. Perspectives are also enhanced, making close objects and people that just make it into the sides of the frame appear more stretched out. Out of all the other ranges in focal lengths, wide-angle lenses will appear the least zoomed in.

Standard Lens

With standard lenses or normal lenses, you won’t get the stretched out objects or enhanced perspectives that you get from wide-angle lenses. Instead, standard lenses are meant to see scenes as the natural human eye is meant to see them. If you shoot a scene with both a wide-angle lens and a standard lens from the same position, you’ll notice that less of the scene fits into your frame. Standard lenses will appear more zoomed-in than wide-angle lenses, but less zoomed-in than telephoto lenses.

Telephoto Lens

Out of all the other ranges in focal lengths, telephoto lenses will appear the most zoomed in. This can be beneficial for the shooter who wants to get a closer shot of a scene without having to physically be in close proximity to the scene. Objects that are further away in the background also appear larger and closer than they would appear on wide-angle or standard lenses.

Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group

You can get your talking head footage using lenses from any of the three focal length groups. Depending on how you plan to vlog most of the time, though, one of the three focal lengths might be more suitable for you.

When to vlog with a wide-angle lens

Wide-angle lenses are the most commonly used lenses for vlogging. Wide-angle lenses are great when you need to be close to your camera. This might be the case for you if your recording space is small or if you want to film yourself as you hold your camera up with your own hand.

Being close to your camera not only gives you the option to use your camera’s built-in microphone, but it also gives you the option to make use of camera-mounted shotgun microphones.

When to vlog with a standard lens

Standard lenses are great when you have more space to be further away from your camera. The perspectives in your shot will look more natural through a standard lens, making your talking head footage feel more corporate or professional. You’ll also be able to get blurrier backgrounds using a standard lens versus a wide-angle lens.

Being further away from your camera, however, means that you’ll have to use a separate microphone positioned closer to you.

When to vlog with a telephoto lens

As telephoto lenses are even more zoomed in, you’ll need to be even further away from your camera to fit yourself inside your camera frame. Why would any vlogger ever need to be that far away from their camera? One word… teleprompter. If you want or need to stick to a script, you’ll have to be far away enough from your camera that it doesn’t appear like your eyes are scanning left to right. You then close in the distance with a telephoto lens.

In the above video, Marcos Rocha compares different focal lengths for talking head videos. Which focal length range do you like the look of?

Crop Factor

Focal lengths in camera lenses are measured in millimeters. You can vlog yourself handheld with a 24mm lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor (the sensor is the piece of hardware inside your camera that turns the light it receives into a digital image). But if you use a 24mm lens on a camera with a smaller sensor, like an APS-C sensor or even smaller Micro 4/3 sensor, more of you will get cropped out (see below).

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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 .

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Richard Bennett

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

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Your Roadmap to Monetization Mastery: The Straightforward Strategy for Analyzing YouTube Earnings

There have been lots of user queries similar to the one above about how to check YouTube income lately. Honestly, YouTube has made it easy for users to track their revenue analytics on the platform, thus making it easy for creators to track how much they make and other revenue data.

So, if you don’t know how to check YouTube income, don’t worry, this article will teach you the simple steps to check your YouTube. Plus, you’ll find out how your YouTube earnings are calculated. Just stick with us.

Post quality videos
Upload videos regularly
Promote your Videos

Hot FAQs on YouTube channel earnings check

Part 1: Follow the steps below to check your YouTube earnings

The process of checking YouTube income is pretty straightforward. So, regardless of what device you’re using to check, we’ve briefly explained the step-by-step instructions to carry out your YouTube income check within a few clicks.

Check on a computer

To check YouTube income on your PC or Mac, you just have to do the following;

Step1 Open the browser app on your computer and sign in to your YouTube Studio .

Step2 Click Analytics from the left side of the screen.

Step3 On the Analytics screen, select Revenue from the top side of the screen to check your YouTube income.

There, you’ll find your YouTube income and other necessary data that you might need.

Check on a Mobile Device

The process of checking YouTube income on an Android or iOS device is also straightforward, and you can use either the YouTube app or the YouTube Studio app to perform the operation. The steps below explain the procedure;

YouTube App

Step1 Make sure you have the latest version of the YouTube app on your phone. If not, you can install it from Google Play Store or App Store.

Step2 Log in to your YouTube account and tap on the Profile icon at the top side. Then, select Your Channel.

Step3 Tap the Analytics icon from the middle menu. Your YouTube channel income and other data will be displayed on your phone screen.

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YouTube Studio App

Step1 Launch the YouTube Studio app on your Android or iPhone.

Step2 Tap Analytics from the bottom menu and select Revenue from the top of the screen.

The information that you’ll find in the YouTube revenue analytics includes the following;

RPM (Revenue Per Mile); This is the metric that displays how much a creator has earned per 1000 video views.
Playback-based CPM; This shows the average gross revenue per 1000 playbacks where an AD or more is displayed.
Monthly Estimated Revenue; This report shows how much a YouTuber has earned from his/her channel in the last six months.
Revenue Sources: Just as the name suggests, this shows you the data of how much is earned from each revenue source used on your YouTube channel.
Transaction Revenue; The transaction revenue metric is a breakdown of how much a creator has earned from membership and merch.
Top Earnings; It shows the data of the video with the highest estimated revenue.
Ad Type; This displays the percentage of revenue earned from the different types of ads.

Part 2: How your YouTube earnings are calculated

Having known how to check YouTube income, if you’re still wondering how your earnings are calculated, here, we’ve discussed all the necessary information you need to know about how YouTube earnings are calculated.

YouTube earnings are calculated based on different factors. From CPC to CPM, estimated gross earnings per view, and more. Keep reading to find out more about how these factors affect your YouTube earnings;

CPM (Cost Per Mile): CPM is the amount an advertiser pays for every one thousand views of their ads. This means if an advertiser is paying you $10CPM, you’ll earn $10 on every 1000 views of their ads.

CPC (Cost Per Click): Most people think CPC is the same as CPM, but no they are not. Cost Per Click is the amount an advertiser pays for every viewer that clicks on their ads. If an advertiser is willing to pay $10, then you’ll earn $10 on every ad click.

Estimated Gross Earning Per Subscriber: You’ll notice whenever you watch a YouTube video, the creator always emphasizes you click the Subscribe button to get a notification on every new video he/she uploads. Well, they do this because the more subscribers they get, the more likely their videos appear in search results.

Also, if you have a huge Subscriber base, your videos tend to get more views, thereby increasing ad views, ad clicks, and your earnings.

All the factors explained above will determine how your YouTube earnings are calculated. However, keep in mind that you’ll receive only 55% of the total dollar advertisers pays while YouTube keeps the remaining 45%. If you get an average of $5 from an advertiser on every 1000 ad view, you’ll earn $5 x 55% which is approximately $2.75.

You can also calculate your YouTube channel total earnings by using the YouTube calculator .

Part 3: How do you increase your YouTube earnings?

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1. Post quality videos

If your video is of low quality, then viewers might not find it interesting. For this reason, it’s important you post quality videos, and you need the Wondershare Filmora software for such an operation.

Filmora is one of the best video editing software that is trusted by millions of users globally because of its high efficiency. It supports lots of advanced tools that anyone can utilize to edit and spice up their videos. From adding transitions to applying effects, and more. It even offers a high-quality built-in preset that users can utilize for free to give their video the best quality they can ever think of.

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Step1 Install Filmora software on your computer.

Step2 Use the Import button to upload the video you created for your YouTube channel. You can also drag-n-drop it to the interface of the software.

Step3 Drag-n-drop the video you uploaded to the Timeline.

Step4 To remove unwanted background from your video, click Effects from the top side of the screen. Select AI Portrait from the left side of the screen and select a preferred AI Portrait effect that you’ll like to use in the video.

Step5 Next, drag-n-dop the chosen AI Portrait effect to the timeline. After that, adjust the AI Portrait effect from the timeline. You can also add multiple effects by dragging and dropping them to the timeline.

Step6 Double-click the AI Portrait effect from the Timeline. From the pop-up that appears, adjust the settings according to your requirements.

Step7 You can add Subscribe watermark by clicking the >> icon at the top of the screen, then select Element.

Choose the ‘Social Media Show Element 07’ Effects. Drag-n-drop the selected effect to the Timeline.

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Step8 Preview the edited video. If you’re satisfied with the output, click the Export button at the top bar and choose Burn DVD from the drop-down list.

Step9 Enter file name in the box next to Label. Then, navigate to Folder Path and choose where you want the file to be saved. Afterward, click Export to Finish.

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2. Upload videos regularly

Starting a YouTube channel can be quite hard from start, but make it a priority to upload at least two quality videos every week. Yes, the more quality videos you post, the more you attract the viewer to like your videos, and the higher your chances of getting new subscribers, thereby increasing your YouTube earnings.

3. Promote your Videos

Promoting your YouTube videos is a great way to increase your YouTube earnings. Once you post a new video on YouTube, you can share it to your other social media profiles or websites to increase views and attract new folks to watch the video. The more views you get the more money you’ll make.

Part 4: Hot FAQs on YouTube channel earnings check

Let’s take a look at some frequently asked questions from users like you.

YouTube monetization involves making money from videos you upload on your YouTube channel. And Google AdSense is a means of monetizing your YouTube channel.

2. Why should you consider monetizing on YouTube creator?

Monetizing YouTube as a creator is a great way to earn passive income just by uploading videos. Research shows that an average YouTuber has the potential of earning $10,000 in revenue per year.

3. Which category is best for YouTube earnings?

The average CPM you earn from videos you upload on YouTube all depends on the niche of your video. The following are the best 5 categories best for YouTube earnings in 2022;

Make Money Online - $13.52

Social Media Marketing - $12.41

Finance & Investing - $12.25

Educational Videos - $9.89

Photography & Film Making - $7.31

Final Words

Checking YouTube income is not a big deal. This article has covered every necessary detail you need to know about checking your YouTube income on a PC or mobile phone. Also, if you don’t understand how YouTube earnings are calculated, we touched on that, and don’t hesitate to employ the tips discussed to increase your YouTube earnings.

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Part 1: Follow the steps below to check your YouTube earnings