Utilizing Royalty-Free Beats in Your YouTube Clips

How To Get Royalty Free Music for Your YouTube Videos

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Unleash Creativity with the Right Camera 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