Navigating Lenses for Professional Videography

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

Analytics Unlocked: Your Step-by-Step YouTube Guide

How to View YouTube Statistics

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Learn how to view YouTube statistics and you can grow your channel faster. By paying attention to your statistics, which are available for free to every YouTuber in the Analytics section of the Creator Studio, you will be able to see how successful your individual videos are and replicate that success.

The information available for each video includes how many new subscribers it attracted and how much watch time it has so far (which is important if you want to monetize someday). By looking at which videos are performing well in these areas you can determine what you are doing right and replicate that success in future videos.

• How to View Your YouTube Statistics
• Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports
• Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports
• How to View Other People’s YouTube Statistics

Making Better YouTube Videos with Filmora to Get More Views

As one of the best video editing software for YouTube, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. After editing, you can upload the video to YouTube directly when export. Download the free trial version below and start making YouTube videos with Filmora.

How to View Your YouTube Statistics

In order to view your YouTube Analytics, sign in to your YouTube account and go to your Creator Studio. From there, click into the Analytics tab in the menu on the left of your screen.

In order to check which of your videos are performing the best, click on Watch time under Watch time reports. At the top of the page there’ll be a graph of your watch time in general, and if you scroll down you’ll see a list of your videos ranked by watch time. The best performing ones will be at the top and, to see more stats related to these high-performing videos, simply click on their titles. Afterwards, you’ll be able to click around the different sections in your Analytics and see reports relating to the specific video you clicked on.

The two main types of analytics reports are Watch Time Reports and Interaction Reports.

1. Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports

To find Watch time reports you just need to log into your Google account, go to the Creator studio, click the analytics tab, and then click on watch time. You can see the watch time of every video on your channel, which is important data to have because watch time is the most important factor when it comes to ranking your video in search results.

A watch time report includes the total amount of time that your video, or a selection of videos, is actually being watched for. In order to make sure that you are publishing only quality videos you need to make sure that your viewers are consistently sticking to your videos and watching them all away through, or at least to the half-way mark. Watch time represents one of the most meaningful metrics in ensuring that you are engaging your audience.

YouTube analytics can now display a watch time of every video that you have produced. Seeing the metrics on how long people are actually watching every video that you produce can show you what you’ve done right in the past and what you need to do more of to continue raising your watch time.

Alongside watch time you can see the average duration individual viewers are watching your videos for. The average percentage of your video that gets viewed will showcase areas where you may be struggling with your video content. For example, if an abnormally high number of viewers are clicking away during your intro, there’s probably something about that clip that needs to be changed.

In the watch time reports for individual videos, you will be able to see data on where your views are coming from and which demographics are watching the most. Where your viewers are watching, in terms of desktop or mobile, is also interesting data that is available in this section.

Click here for more tips onincreasing your views .

2. Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports

Interaction reports are related to the actions viewers take – i.e. subscribing to your channel, liking your videos, or leaving a comments. You can find interaction reports in the Creator Studio under Analytics.

Interaction reports can be broken down into several different reports that can help determine the overall performance of any YouTube videos. The main interaction reports that you should be interested in include:

1. Subscribers: You can find extensive data on your subscribers, like demographics including age groups and gender. Learning more about your subscribers can help you to tailor your content. For example, if you learn that your viewers are mostly young women under 24 in the USA, you can do research into what is currently popular with young women under 24 in the USA.

Want to see your subscriber count in real-time?

2. Likes and dislikes: Likes and dislikes aren’t a powerful metric when it comes to search engine rankings, but they provide useful information to creators. If you’re getting a lot of dislikes on a video, you should look into why. If you’re getting a lot of likes on a video, it can indicate that you should focus on creating similar content.

3. Playlists: A viewer watching a video in a playlist is much more likely to keep watching more videos from that playlist, making playlists great for the growth of your channel. Reports in this section will help you figure out which of your playlists is performing best, which could give you an idea of which types of videos or video topics are going over best with your viewers.

4. Comments: Reading comments is a great way to figure out what your viewers think, but that’s not all they’re good for. If viewers return to a video to continue talking to you or other viewers then that will drive up your views and watch time. If a video is especially good at generating discussion, you should figure out why (i.e. your sign-off question) and keep doing it.

5. Sharing: Discovering where your video is being shared can be important for figuring out what platforms you should be on besides YouTube. If your video is shared and viewed a lot on Twitter, you should consider making a Twitter account for your channel.

6. Cards: Tracking the performance of your Cards will help you optimize them to direct traffic between your videos. By testing out different time stamps for cards you’ll find the perfect places to put them. By trying different messages in your cards you’ll learn how to write ‘calls to action’ that mobilize your viewers.

End screens: End Screens are essential for keeping viewers on your channel. The report of the click-through rates of your end screens is important for helping you figure out which kinds of links work, and which style of ends screen is most effective for you. Are people more likely to click when you talk to them through the end screen, or when it’s a static card?

7. 360 heat map reports: A heat map report works specifically with 360° videos if you are choosing to engage your audience with this type of content. Viewing YouTube video statistics for 360° heat maps will help to show the areas on your video that viewers are most interested in.

How to View Other Peoples YouTube Statistics

If you want to check out the statistics of rival YouTube channels (including the most subscribed channels on YouTube ), or channels you’re a fan of, try using Social Blade . Social Blade is one of the most trusted sources of YouTube data, and it may actually be easier to check your own basic stats there than in the Creator Studio sometimes due to their simple layout. To get started all you need to do is type the name of any YouTube channel into the search bar. You’ll be able to see reports on daily views, channel growth, and even estimated ad revenue (learn more about how to view a channel’s ad revenue here ).

Now that you know how to view YouTube statistics, what will you do with them?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Learn how to view YouTube statistics and you can grow your channel faster. By paying attention to your statistics, which are available for free to every YouTuber in the Analytics section of the Creator Studio, you will be able to see how successful your individual videos are and replicate that success.

The information available for each video includes how many new subscribers it attracted and how much watch time it has so far (which is important if you want to monetize someday). By looking at which videos are performing well in these areas you can determine what you are doing right and replicate that success in future videos.

• How to View Your YouTube Statistics
• Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports
• Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports
• How to View Other People’s YouTube Statistics

Making Better YouTube Videos with Filmora to Get More Views

As one of the best video editing software for YouTube, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. After editing, you can upload the video to YouTube directly when export. Download the free trial version below and start making YouTube videos with Filmora.

How to View Your YouTube Statistics

In order to view your YouTube Analytics, sign in to your YouTube account and go to your Creator Studio. From there, click into the Analytics tab in the menu on the left of your screen.

In order to check which of your videos are performing the best, click on Watch time under Watch time reports. At the top of the page there’ll be a graph of your watch time in general, and if you scroll down you’ll see a list of your videos ranked by watch time. The best performing ones will be at the top and, to see more stats related to these high-performing videos, simply click on their titles. Afterwards, you’ll be able to click around the different sections in your Analytics and see reports relating to the specific video you clicked on.

The two main types of analytics reports are Watch Time Reports and Interaction Reports.

1. Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports

To find Watch time reports you just need to log into your Google account, go to the Creator studio, click the analytics tab, and then click on watch time. You can see the watch time of every video on your channel, which is important data to have because watch time is the most important factor when it comes to ranking your video in search results.

A watch time report includes the total amount of time that your video, or a selection of videos, is actually being watched for. In order to make sure that you are publishing only quality videos you need to make sure that your viewers are consistently sticking to your videos and watching them all away through, or at least to the half-way mark. Watch time represents one of the most meaningful metrics in ensuring that you are engaging your audience.

YouTube analytics can now display a watch time of every video that you have produced. Seeing the metrics on how long people are actually watching every video that you produce can show you what you’ve done right in the past and what you need to do more of to continue raising your watch time.

Alongside watch time you can see the average duration individual viewers are watching your videos for. The average percentage of your video that gets viewed will showcase areas where you may be struggling with your video content. For example, if an abnormally high number of viewers are clicking away during your intro, there’s probably something about that clip that needs to be changed.

In the watch time reports for individual videos, you will be able to see data on where your views are coming from and which demographics are watching the most. Where your viewers are watching, in terms of desktop or mobile, is also interesting data that is available in this section.

Click here for more tips onincreasing your views .

2. Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports

Interaction reports are related to the actions viewers take – i.e. subscribing to your channel, liking your videos, or leaving a comments. You can find interaction reports in the Creator Studio under Analytics.

Interaction reports can be broken down into several different reports that can help determine the overall performance of any YouTube videos. The main interaction reports that you should be interested in include:

1. Subscribers: You can find extensive data on your subscribers, like demographics including age groups and gender. Learning more about your subscribers can help you to tailor your content. For example, if you learn that your viewers are mostly young women under 24 in the USA, you can do research into what is currently popular with young women under 24 in the USA.

Want to see your subscriber count in real-time?

2. Likes and dislikes: Likes and dislikes aren’t a powerful metric when it comes to search engine rankings, but they provide useful information to creators. If you’re getting a lot of dislikes on a video, you should look into why. If you’re getting a lot of likes on a video, it can indicate that you should focus on creating similar content.

3. Playlists: A viewer watching a video in a playlist is much more likely to keep watching more videos from that playlist, making playlists great for the growth of your channel. Reports in this section will help you figure out which of your playlists is performing best, which could give you an idea of which types of videos or video topics are going over best with your viewers.

4. Comments: Reading comments is a great way to figure out what your viewers think, but that’s not all they’re good for. If viewers return to a video to continue talking to you or other viewers then that will drive up your views and watch time. If a video is especially good at generating discussion, you should figure out why (i.e. your sign-off question) and keep doing it.

5. Sharing: Discovering where your video is being shared can be important for figuring out what platforms you should be on besides YouTube. If your video is shared and viewed a lot on Twitter, you should consider making a Twitter account for your channel.

6. Cards: Tracking the performance of your Cards will help you optimize them to direct traffic between your videos. By testing out different time stamps for cards you’ll find the perfect places to put them. By trying different messages in your cards you’ll learn how to write ‘calls to action’ that mobilize your viewers.

End screens: End Screens are essential for keeping viewers on your channel. The report of the click-through rates of your end screens is important for helping you figure out which kinds of links work, and which style of ends screen is most effective for you. Are people more likely to click when you talk to them through the end screen, or when it’s a static card?

7. 360 heat map reports: A heat map report works specifically with 360° videos if you are choosing to engage your audience with this type of content. Viewing YouTube video statistics for 360° heat maps will help to show the areas on your video that viewers are most interested in.

How to View Other Peoples YouTube Statistics

If you want to check out the statistics of rival YouTube channels (including the most subscribed channels on YouTube ), or channels you’re a fan of, try using Social Blade . Social Blade is one of the most trusted sources of YouTube data, and it may actually be easier to check your own basic stats there than in the Creator Studio sometimes due to their simple layout. To get started all you need to do is type the name of any YouTube channel into the search bar. You’ll be able to see reports on daily views, channel growth, and even estimated ad revenue (learn more about how to view a channel’s ad revenue here ).

Now that you know how to view YouTube statistics, what will you do with them?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Learn how to view YouTube statistics and you can grow your channel faster. By paying attention to your statistics, which are available for free to every YouTuber in the Analytics section of the Creator Studio, you will be able to see how successful your individual videos are and replicate that success.

The information available for each video includes how many new subscribers it attracted and how much watch time it has so far (which is important if you want to monetize someday). By looking at which videos are performing well in these areas you can determine what you are doing right and replicate that success in future videos.

• How to View Your YouTube Statistics
• Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports
• Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports
• How to View Other People’s YouTube Statistics

Making Better YouTube Videos with Filmora to Get More Views

As one of the best video editing software for YouTube, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. After editing, you can upload the video to YouTube directly when export. Download the free trial version below and start making YouTube videos with Filmora.

How to View Your YouTube Statistics

In order to view your YouTube Analytics, sign in to your YouTube account and go to your Creator Studio. From there, click into the Analytics tab in the menu on the left of your screen.

In order to check which of your videos are performing the best, click on Watch time under Watch time reports. At the top of the page there’ll be a graph of your watch time in general, and if you scroll down you’ll see a list of your videos ranked by watch time. The best performing ones will be at the top and, to see more stats related to these high-performing videos, simply click on their titles. Afterwards, you’ll be able to click around the different sections in your Analytics and see reports relating to the specific video you clicked on.

The two main types of analytics reports are Watch Time Reports and Interaction Reports.

1. Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports

To find Watch time reports you just need to log into your Google account, go to the Creator studio, click the analytics tab, and then click on watch time. You can see the watch time of every video on your channel, which is important data to have because watch time is the most important factor when it comes to ranking your video in search results.

A watch time report includes the total amount of time that your video, or a selection of videos, is actually being watched for. In order to make sure that you are publishing only quality videos you need to make sure that your viewers are consistently sticking to your videos and watching them all away through, or at least to the half-way mark. Watch time represents one of the most meaningful metrics in ensuring that you are engaging your audience.

YouTube analytics can now display a watch time of every video that you have produced. Seeing the metrics on how long people are actually watching every video that you produce can show you what you’ve done right in the past and what you need to do more of to continue raising your watch time.

Alongside watch time you can see the average duration individual viewers are watching your videos for. The average percentage of your video that gets viewed will showcase areas where you may be struggling with your video content. For example, if an abnormally high number of viewers are clicking away during your intro, there’s probably something about that clip that needs to be changed.

In the watch time reports for individual videos, you will be able to see data on where your views are coming from and which demographics are watching the most. Where your viewers are watching, in terms of desktop or mobile, is also interesting data that is available in this section.

Click here for more tips onincreasing your views .

2. Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports

Interaction reports are related to the actions viewers take – i.e. subscribing to your channel, liking your videos, or leaving a comments. You can find interaction reports in the Creator Studio under Analytics.

Interaction reports can be broken down into several different reports that can help determine the overall performance of any YouTube videos. The main interaction reports that you should be interested in include:

1. Subscribers: You can find extensive data on your subscribers, like demographics including age groups and gender. Learning more about your subscribers can help you to tailor your content. For example, if you learn that your viewers are mostly young women under 24 in the USA, you can do research into what is currently popular with young women under 24 in the USA.

Want to see your subscriber count in real-time?

2. Likes and dislikes: Likes and dislikes aren’t a powerful metric when it comes to search engine rankings, but they provide useful information to creators. If you’re getting a lot of dislikes on a video, you should look into why. If you’re getting a lot of likes on a video, it can indicate that you should focus on creating similar content.

3. Playlists: A viewer watching a video in a playlist is much more likely to keep watching more videos from that playlist, making playlists great for the growth of your channel. Reports in this section will help you figure out which of your playlists is performing best, which could give you an idea of which types of videos or video topics are going over best with your viewers.

4. Comments: Reading comments is a great way to figure out what your viewers think, but that’s not all they’re good for. If viewers return to a video to continue talking to you or other viewers then that will drive up your views and watch time. If a video is especially good at generating discussion, you should figure out why (i.e. your sign-off question) and keep doing it.

5. Sharing: Discovering where your video is being shared can be important for figuring out what platforms you should be on besides YouTube. If your video is shared and viewed a lot on Twitter, you should consider making a Twitter account for your channel.

6. Cards: Tracking the performance of your Cards will help you optimize them to direct traffic between your videos. By testing out different time stamps for cards you’ll find the perfect places to put them. By trying different messages in your cards you’ll learn how to write ‘calls to action’ that mobilize your viewers.

End screens: End Screens are essential for keeping viewers on your channel. The report of the click-through rates of your end screens is important for helping you figure out which kinds of links work, and which style of ends screen is most effective for you. Are people more likely to click when you talk to them through the end screen, or when it’s a static card?

7. 360 heat map reports: A heat map report works specifically with 360° videos if you are choosing to engage your audience with this type of content. Viewing YouTube video statistics for 360° heat maps will help to show the areas on your video that viewers are most interested in.

How to View Other Peoples YouTube Statistics

If you want to check out the statistics of rival YouTube channels (including the most subscribed channels on YouTube ), or channels you’re a fan of, try using Social Blade . Social Blade is one of the most trusted sources of YouTube data, and it may actually be easier to check your own basic stats there than in the Creator Studio sometimes due to their simple layout. To get started all you need to do is type the name of any YouTube channel into the search bar. You’ll be able to see reports on daily views, channel growth, and even estimated ad revenue (learn more about how to view a channel’s ad revenue here ).

Now that you know how to view YouTube statistics, what will you do with them?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Learn how to view YouTube statistics and you can grow your channel faster. By paying attention to your statistics, which are available for free to every YouTuber in the Analytics section of the Creator Studio, you will be able to see how successful your individual videos are and replicate that success.

The information available for each video includes how many new subscribers it attracted and how much watch time it has so far (which is important if you want to monetize someday). By looking at which videos are performing well in these areas you can determine what you are doing right and replicate that success in future videos.

• How to View Your YouTube Statistics
• Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports
• Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports
• How to View Other People’s YouTube Statistics

Making Better YouTube Videos with Filmora to Get More Views

As one of the best video editing software for YouTube, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. After editing, you can upload the video to YouTube directly when export. Download the free trial version below and start making YouTube videos with Filmora.

How to View Your YouTube Statistics

In order to view your YouTube Analytics, sign in to your YouTube account and go to your Creator Studio. From there, click into the Analytics tab in the menu on the left of your screen.

In order to check which of your videos are performing the best, click on Watch time under Watch time reports. At the top of the page there’ll be a graph of your watch time in general, and if you scroll down you’ll see a list of your videos ranked by watch time. The best performing ones will be at the top and, to see more stats related to these high-performing videos, simply click on their titles. Afterwards, you’ll be able to click around the different sections in your Analytics and see reports relating to the specific video you clicked on.

The two main types of analytics reports are Watch Time Reports and Interaction Reports.

1. Interpreting YouTube Watch Time Reports

To find Watch time reports you just need to log into your Google account, go to the Creator studio, click the analytics tab, and then click on watch time. You can see the watch time of every video on your channel, which is important data to have because watch time is the most important factor when it comes to ranking your video in search results.

A watch time report includes the total amount of time that your video, or a selection of videos, is actually being watched for. In order to make sure that you are publishing only quality videos you need to make sure that your viewers are consistently sticking to your videos and watching them all away through, or at least to the half-way mark. Watch time represents one of the most meaningful metrics in ensuring that you are engaging your audience.

YouTube analytics can now display a watch time of every video that you have produced. Seeing the metrics on how long people are actually watching every video that you produce can show you what you’ve done right in the past and what you need to do more of to continue raising your watch time.

Alongside watch time you can see the average duration individual viewers are watching your videos for. The average percentage of your video that gets viewed will showcase areas where you may be struggling with your video content. For example, if an abnormally high number of viewers are clicking away during your intro, there’s probably something about that clip that needs to be changed.

In the watch time reports for individual videos, you will be able to see data on where your views are coming from and which demographics are watching the most. Where your viewers are watching, in terms of desktop or mobile, is also interesting data that is available in this section.

Click here for more tips onincreasing your views .

2. Interpreting YouTube Interaction Reports

Interaction reports are related to the actions viewers take – i.e. subscribing to your channel, liking your videos, or leaving a comments. You can find interaction reports in the Creator Studio under Analytics.

Interaction reports can be broken down into several different reports that can help determine the overall performance of any YouTube videos. The main interaction reports that you should be interested in include:

1. Subscribers: You can find extensive data on your subscribers, like demographics including age groups and gender. Learning more about your subscribers can help you to tailor your content. For example, if you learn that your viewers are mostly young women under 24 in the USA, you can do research into what is currently popular with young women under 24 in the USA.

Want to see your subscriber count in real-time?

2. Likes and dislikes: Likes and dislikes aren’t a powerful metric when it comes to search engine rankings, but they provide useful information to creators. If you’re getting a lot of dislikes on a video, you should look into why. If you’re getting a lot of likes on a video, it can indicate that you should focus on creating similar content.

3. Playlists: A viewer watching a video in a playlist is much more likely to keep watching more videos from that playlist, making playlists great for the growth of your channel. Reports in this section will help you figure out which of your playlists is performing best, which could give you an idea of which types of videos or video topics are going over best with your viewers.

4. Comments: Reading comments is a great way to figure out what your viewers think, but that’s not all they’re good for. If viewers return to a video to continue talking to you or other viewers then that will drive up your views and watch time. If a video is especially good at generating discussion, you should figure out why (i.e. your sign-off question) and keep doing it.

5. Sharing: Discovering where your video is being shared can be important for figuring out what platforms you should be on besides YouTube. If your video is shared and viewed a lot on Twitter, you should consider making a Twitter account for your channel.

6. Cards: Tracking the performance of your Cards will help you optimize them to direct traffic between your videos. By testing out different time stamps for cards you’ll find the perfect places to put them. By trying different messages in your cards you’ll learn how to write ‘calls to action’ that mobilize your viewers.

End screens: End Screens are essential for keeping viewers on your channel. The report of the click-through rates of your end screens is important for helping you figure out which kinds of links work, and which style of ends screen is most effective for you. Are people more likely to click when you talk to them through the end screen, or when it’s a static card?

7. 360 heat map reports: A heat map report works specifically with 360° videos if you are choosing to engage your audience with this type of content. Viewing YouTube video statistics for 360° heat maps will help to show the areas on your video that viewers are most interested in.

How to View Other Peoples YouTube Statistics

If you want to check out the statistics of rival YouTube channels (including the most subscribed channels on YouTube ), or channels you’re a fan of, try using Social Blade . Social Blade is one of the most trusted sources of YouTube data, and it may actually be easier to check your own basic stats there than in the Creator Studio sometimes due to their simple layout. To get started all you need to do is type the name of any YouTube channel into the search bar. You’ll be able to see reports on daily views, channel growth, and even estimated ad revenue (learn more about how to view a channel’s ad revenue here ).

Now that you know how to view YouTube statistics, what will you do with them?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett