Innovative Daily Vlog Themes

Daily Vlogging Ideas: What to Talk about While Vlogging?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Every genre on YouTube has its own unique challenges, but daily vlogging is probably the hardest thing you could take on. Firstly because it means you have to do all the work of shooting and editing every day and secondly because it means you need to have something to talk about every single day. Even vlogging once or twice a week is tough.

How do you know what you should talk about in your vlog ? Some people are so comfortable in front of the camera they can just turn it on and start talking about whatever’s on their mind, but they’re in the minority.

Before starting your daily vlogging, you have to figure out one important thing ahead of time.

Do you have a niche?

You should have a niche. In a genre as broad as vlogging it is important to have some kind of hook that sets you apart from other vloggers. This can be an interest that you have, an industry you work in, or even a field of study you’re involved in at school. If you’re into technology, for example, you’ll always have a wealth of subjects to vlog about because all you’ll have to do is look at the day’s tech news and make a video reporting and commenting on it.

The other reason it’s good to have a niche is that you’ll be able to use keywords related to that niche in your video titles and tags. It’s hard to make it with a vlogging channel because nobody is searching for your content unless you are covering a specific topic like the technology they want to hear about.

• What are you watching/reading?
• Snapshots of Your Day
• Whatever You Need to Get Out
• What did you learn today?

Here are 4 things to talk about in your daily vlog:

What are you watching/reading?

If you’re really into a book or tv show, or if you saw a movie recently, then those are all good things to talk about (warn people if you’re going to spoil anything!). You do recaps, reviews, or just share a few thoughts you had. If you’re worried about alienating people who don’t watch/read the same stuff as you then you can keep it more general and just react to a few things from the media you’re consuming while also talking about your day. It’ll give you an anchor to build the rest of your video around, even if it’s not all you talk about.

By commenting on what you’re watching/reading you have a better chance of capitalizing on a trending topic people are searching for. You could also find yourself an audience by becoming involved in fan communities.

Snapshots of Your Day

Casey Neistat is the master of this. He is always ready with a camera on hand so that, when something interesting happens, he can capture it and build his daily vlog around it.

Carrying a camera around like Casey may or may not suit your lifestyle, but you can still pick out one story from your day to tell. It doesn’t have to be a major event, and you shouldn’t worry that it won’t be interesting to other people. It’s your personality they’re tuning in for, so even if you’re just talking about a funny thing your cat did it will keep your audience interested because a) it’s you talking about it and b) it gives them a bit of insight into your life.

Whatever You Need to Get Out

Flula is frequently puzzled by English expressions, like ‘Party Pooper’, and needs to get his confusion off his chest at odd hours of the day.

Ranting about people you know can get messy when people from your offline life see it, so maybe avoid that. However, if you’re angry about something in general – or really happy about something – then whatever it is you’re feeling strongly about is probably the thing you should be vlogging about.

It does not matter what it is that is making you have this strong reaction (unless, again, it’s an actual person who might see your video and cause problems for you). If you’re mad about a real injustice in the world then that’s a great thing to talk about – you might even raise some awareness for the issue – but you can also rant about your favorite flavor of yogurt being cut and that’ll be engaging to viewers too.

Alternatively: you could do a vlog about how happy you are to have gotten engaged or a vlog about how happy you are that it was sunny today, and your enthusiasm will carry your audience through either video with you.

What did you learn today?

Fun fact: The original lyrics Paul McCartney imagined for ‘Yesterday’ were ‘Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs’.

You learn something new every day, right? Why not share that factoid with your viewers. Here a few facts to get you started:

Whales evolved from a land-based animal called a pakicetus.

The hagfish hunt by swimming into the mouth of a larger fish and eating it from the inside.

Crows live in family units, visit their aging parents, and have funerals for dead crows.

The puya chilensis is a plant that ‘eats’ sheep (sheep get stuck to it, starve, and end up as fertilizer).

Sea monkeys can survive in space.

EVERYTHING

You could also just flick the camera on and tell the full story of your day like you’d do in a traditional daily blog. What did you have for breakfast, how was school/work, did you talk to any friends, how was the weather – anything and everything. Generally, these videos can run a bit long and don’t have a lot of snappy editing. They’re faster to make, which is good if you’re doing them every day, but the unpolished nature of them won’t appeal to everyone. It will be exactly what appeals to some people, though.

Customize Your Vlog Stories with Powerful Video Editor

We’ve got a new eBook out!

It’s got strategies that have worked for other YouTubers, boiled down to simple action steps.

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

Every genre on YouTube has its own unique challenges, but daily vlogging is probably the hardest thing you could take on. Firstly because it means you have to do all the work of shooting and editing every day and secondly because it means you need to have something to talk about every single day. Even vlogging once or twice a week is tough.

How do you know what you should talk about in your vlog ? Some people are so comfortable in front of the camera they can just turn it on and start talking about whatever’s on their mind, but they’re in the minority.

Before starting your daily vlogging, you have to figure out one important thing ahead of time.

Do you have a niche?

You should have a niche. In a genre as broad as vlogging it is important to have some kind of hook that sets you apart from other vloggers. This can be an interest that you have, an industry you work in, or even a field of study you’re involved in at school. If you’re into technology, for example, you’ll always have a wealth of subjects to vlog about because all you’ll have to do is look at the day’s tech news and make a video reporting and commenting on it.

The other reason it’s good to have a niche is that you’ll be able to use keywords related to that niche in your video titles and tags. It’s hard to make it with a vlogging channel because nobody is searching for your content unless you are covering a specific topic like the technology they want to hear about.

• What are you watching/reading?
• Snapshots of Your Day
• Whatever You Need to Get Out
• What did you learn today?

Here are 4 things to talk about in your daily vlog:

What are you watching/reading?

If you’re really into a book or tv show, or if you saw a movie recently, then those are all good things to talk about (warn people if you’re going to spoil anything!). You do recaps, reviews, or just share a few thoughts you had. If you’re worried about alienating people who don’t watch/read the same stuff as you then you can keep it more general and just react to a few things from the media you’re consuming while also talking about your day. It’ll give you an anchor to build the rest of your video around, even if it’s not all you talk about.

By commenting on what you’re watching/reading you have a better chance of capitalizing on a trending topic people are searching for. You could also find yourself an audience by becoming involved in fan communities.

Snapshots of Your Day

Casey Neistat is the master of this. He is always ready with a camera on hand so that, when something interesting happens, he can capture it and build his daily vlog around it.

Carrying a camera around like Casey may or may not suit your lifestyle, but you can still pick out one story from your day to tell. It doesn’t have to be a major event, and you shouldn’t worry that it won’t be interesting to other people. It’s your personality they’re tuning in for, so even if you’re just talking about a funny thing your cat did it will keep your audience interested because a) it’s you talking about it and b) it gives them a bit of insight into your life.

Whatever You Need to Get Out

Flula is frequently puzzled by English expressions, like ‘Party Pooper’, and needs to get his confusion off his chest at odd hours of the day.

Ranting about people you know can get messy when people from your offline life see it, so maybe avoid that. However, if you’re angry about something in general – or really happy about something – then whatever it is you’re feeling strongly about is probably the thing you should be vlogging about.

It does not matter what it is that is making you have this strong reaction (unless, again, it’s an actual person who might see your video and cause problems for you). If you’re mad about a real injustice in the world then that’s a great thing to talk about – you might even raise some awareness for the issue – but you can also rant about your favorite flavor of yogurt being cut and that’ll be engaging to viewers too.

Alternatively: you could do a vlog about how happy you are to have gotten engaged or a vlog about how happy you are that it was sunny today, and your enthusiasm will carry your audience through either video with you.

What did you learn today?

Fun fact: The original lyrics Paul McCartney imagined for ‘Yesterday’ were ‘Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs’.

You learn something new every day, right? Why not share that factoid with your viewers. Here a few facts to get you started:

Whales evolved from a land-based animal called a pakicetus.

The hagfish hunt by swimming into the mouth of a larger fish and eating it from the inside.

Crows live in family units, visit their aging parents, and have funerals for dead crows.

The puya chilensis is a plant that ‘eats’ sheep (sheep get stuck to it, starve, and end up as fertilizer).

Sea monkeys can survive in space.

EVERYTHING

You could also just flick the camera on and tell the full story of your day like you’d do in a traditional daily blog. What did you have for breakfast, how was school/work, did you talk to any friends, how was the weather – anything and everything. Generally, these videos can run a bit long and don’t have a lot of snappy editing. They’re faster to make, which is good if you’re doing them every day, but the unpolished nature of them won’t appeal to everyone. It will be exactly what appeals to some people, though.

Customize Your Vlog Stories with Powerful Video Editor

We’ve got a new eBook out!

It’s got strategies that have worked for other YouTubers, boiled down to simple action steps.

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

Every genre on YouTube has its own unique challenges, but daily vlogging is probably the hardest thing you could take on. Firstly because it means you have to do all the work of shooting and editing every day and secondly because it means you need to have something to talk about every single day. Even vlogging once or twice a week is tough.

How do you know what you should talk about in your vlog ? Some people are so comfortable in front of the camera they can just turn it on and start talking about whatever’s on their mind, but they’re in the minority.

Before starting your daily vlogging, you have to figure out one important thing ahead of time.

Do you have a niche?

You should have a niche. In a genre as broad as vlogging it is important to have some kind of hook that sets you apart from other vloggers. This can be an interest that you have, an industry you work in, or even a field of study you’re involved in at school. If you’re into technology, for example, you’ll always have a wealth of subjects to vlog about because all you’ll have to do is look at the day’s tech news and make a video reporting and commenting on it.

The other reason it’s good to have a niche is that you’ll be able to use keywords related to that niche in your video titles and tags. It’s hard to make it with a vlogging channel because nobody is searching for your content unless you are covering a specific topic like the technology they want to hear about.

• What are you watching/reading?
• Snapshots of Your Day
• Whatever You Need to Get Out
• What did you learn today?

Here are 4 things to talk about in your daily vlog:

What are you watching/reading?

If you’re really into a book or tv show, or if you saw a movie recently, then those are all good things to talk about (warn people if you’re going to spoil anything!). You do recaps, reviews, or just share a few thoughts you had. If you’re worried about alienating people who don’t watch/read the same stuff as you then you can keep it more general and just react to a few things from the media you’re consuming while also talking about your day. It’ll give you an anchor to build the rest of your video around, even if it’s not all you talk about.

By commenting on what you’re watching/reading you have a better chance of capitalizing on a trending topic people are searching for. You could also find yourself an audience by becoming involved in fan communities.

Snapshots of Your Day

Casey Neistat is the master of this. He is always ready with a camera on hand so that, when something interesting happens, he can capture it and build his daily vlog around it.

Carrying a camera around like Casey may or may not suit your lifestyle, but you can still pick out one story from your day to tell. It doesn’t have to be a major event, and you shouldn’t worry that it won’t be interesting to other people. It’s your personality they’re tuning in for, so even if you’re just talking about a funny thing your cat did it will keep your audience interested because a) it’s you talking about it and b) it gives them a bit of insight into your life.

Whatever You Need to Get Out

Flula is frequently puzzled by English expressions, like ‘Party Pooper’, and needs to get his confusion off his chest at odd hours of the day.

Ranting about people you know can get messy when people from your offline life see it, so maybe avoid that. However, if you’re angry about something in general – or really happy about something – then whatever it is you’re feeling strongly about is probably the thing you should be vlogging about.

It does not matter what it is that is making you have this strong reaction (unless, again, it’s an actual person who might see your video and cause problems for you). If you’re mad about a real injustice in the world then that’s a great thing to talk about – you might even raise some awareness for the issue – but you can also rant about your favorite flavor of yogurt being cut and that’ll be engaging to viewers too.

Alternatively: you could do a vlog about how happy you are to have gotten engaged or a vlog about how happy you are that it was sunny today, and your enthusiasm will carry your audience through either video with you.

What did you learn today?

Fun fact: The original lyrics Paul McCartney imagined for ‘Yesterday’ were ‘Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs’.

You learn something new every day, right? Why not share that factoid with your viewers. Here a few facts to get you started:

Whales evolved from a land-based animal called a pakicetus.

The hagfish hunt by swimming into the mouth of a larger fish and eating it from the inside.

Crows live in family units, visit their aging parents, and have funerals for dead crows.

The puya chilensis is a plant that ‘eats’ sheep (sheep get stuck to it, starve, and end up as fertilizer).

Sea monkeys can survive in space.

EVERYTHING

You could also just flick the camera on and tell the full story of your day like you’d do in a traditional daily blog. What did you have for breakfast, how was school/work, did you talk to any friends, how was the weather – anything and everything. Generally, these videos can run a bit long and don’t have a lot of snappy editing. They’re faster to make, which is good if you’re doing them every day, but the unpolished nature of them won’t appeal to everyone. It will be exactly what appeals to some people, though.

Customize Your Vlog Stories with Powerful Video Editor

We’ve got a new eBook out!

It’s got strategies that have worked for other YouTubers, boiled down to simple action steps.

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

Every genre on YouTube has its own unique challenges, but daily vlogging is probably the hardest thing you could take on. Firstly because it means you have to do all the work of shooting and editing every day and secondly because it means you need to have something to talk about every single day. Even vlogging once or twice a week is tough.

How do you know what you should talk about in your vlog ? Some people are so comfortable in front of the camera they can just turn it on and start talking about whatever’s on their mind, but they’re in the minority.

Before starting your daily vlogging, you have to figure out one important thing ahead of time.

Do you have a niche?

You should have a niche. In a genre as broad as vlogging it is important to have some kind of hook that sets you apart from other vloggers. This can be an interest that you have, an industry you work in, or even a field of study you’re involved in at school. If you’re into technology, for example, you’ll always have a wealth of subjects to vlog about because all you’ll have to do is look at the day’s tech news and make a video reporting and commenting on it.

The other reason it’s good to have a niche is that you’ll be able to use keywords related to that niche in your video titles and tags. It’s hard to make it with a vlogging channel because nobody is searching for your content unless you are covering a specific topic like the technology they want to hear about.

• What are you watching/reading?
• Snapshots of Your Day
• Whatever You Need to Get Out
• What did you learn today?

Here are 4 things to talk about in your daily vlog:

What are you watching/reading?

If you’re really into a book or tv show, or if you saw a movie recently, then those are all good things to talk about (warn people if you’re going to spoil anything!). You do recaps, reviews, or just share a few thoughts you had. If you’re worried about alienating people who don’t watch/read the same stuff as you then you can keep it more general and just react to a few things from the media you’re consuming while also talking about your day. It’ll give you an anchor to build the rest of your video around, even if it’s not all you talk about.

By commenting on what you’re watching/reading you have a better chance of capitalizing on a trending topic people are searching for. You could also find yourself an audience by becoming involved in fan communities.

Snapshots of Your Day

Casey Neistat is the master of this. He is always ready with a camera on hand so that, when something interesting happens, he can capture it and build his daily vlog around it.

Carrying a camera around like Casey may or may not suit your lifestyle, but you can still pick out one story from your day to tell. It doesn’t have to be a major event, and you shouldn’t worry that it won’t be interesting to other people. It’s your personality they’re tuning in for, so even if you’re just talking about a funny thing your cat did it will keep your audience interested because a) it’s you talking about it and b) it gives them a bit of insight into your life.

Whatever You Need to Get Out

Flula is frequently puzzled by English expressions, like ‘Party Pooper’, and needs to get his confusion off his chest at odd hours of the day.

Ranting about people you know can get messy when people from your offline life see it, so maybe avoid that. However, if you’re angry about something in general – or really happy about something – then whatever it is you’re feeling strongly about is probably the thing you should be vlogging about.

It does not matter what it is that is making you have this strong reaction (unless, again, it’s an actual person who might see your video and cause problems for you). If you’re mad about a real injustice in the world then that’s a great thing to talk about – you might even raise some awareness for the issue – but you can also rant about your favorite flavor of yogurt being cut and that’ll be engaging to viewers too.

Alternatively: you could do a vlog about how happy you are to have gotten engaged or a vlog about how happy you are that it was sunny today, and your enthusiasm will carry your audience through either video with you.

What did you learn today?

Fun fact: The original lyrics Paul McCartney imagined for ‘Yesterday’ were ‘Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs’.

You learn something new every day, right? Why not share that factoid with your viewers. Here a few facts to get you started:

Whales evolved from a land-based animal called a pakicetus.

The hagfish hunt by swimming into the mouth of a larger fish and eating it from the inside.

Crows live in family units, visit their aging parents, and have funerals for dead crows.

The puya chilensis is a plant that ‘eats’ sheep (sheep get stuck to it, starve, and end up as fertilizer).

Sea monkeys can survive in space.

EVERYTHING

You could also just flick the camera on and tell the full story of your day like you’d do in a traditional daily blog. What did you have for breakfast, how was school/work, did you talk to any friends, how was the weather – anything and everything. Generally, these videos can run a bit long and don’t have a lot of snappy editing. They’re faster to make, which is good if you’re doing them every day, but the unpolished nature of them won’t appeal to everyone. It will be exactly what appeals to some people, though.

Customize Your Vlog Stories with Powerful Video Editor

We’ve got a new eBook out!

It’s got strategies that have worked for other YouTubers, boiled down to simple action steps.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

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

A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

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

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

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

Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto

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

Wide-Angle Lens

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

Standard Lens

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

Telephoto Lens

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

Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group

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

When to vlog with a wide-angle lens

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

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

When to vlog with a standard lens

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

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

When to vlog with a telephoto lens

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

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

Crop Factor

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

In order to make up for the cropping that occurs, you will need to use a wider lens on cameras with smaller sensors to get the same shot you’d get with a full-frame camera.

Focal Length Equivalency Table

This table shows you the focal lengths needed to achieve the same shot between cameras with different sensor sizes. In order to take a shot as wide as the shot I took of myself with the 24mm lens on my full-frame camera, I would need a 15mm lens on an APS-C sensor camera or a 12mm lens on a micro 4/3 camera.

Focal Length / Sensor	Full Frame	APS-C	Micro 4/3
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	16mm	10mm	8mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	18mm	11mm	9mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	24mm	15mm	12mm
Wide	35mm	22mm	18mm
Standard	50mm	31mm	25mm
Telephoto	70mm	44mm	35mm
Telephoto	100mm	63mm	50mm
Telephoto	200mm	125mm	100mm

Aperture

The next thing to consider when you’re looking for a lens is the aperture, the hole (often adjustable) within the lens that lets light in. Aperture for camera lenses is measured in f-stops (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0) - the smaller the f-stop number, the larger the aperture (bigger hole letting even more light in).

Because larger aperture lenses let more light in, they need a shorter time for cameras to compose an image. This is why larger aperture lenses are also called “fast” lenses.

Fast lenses are more expensive because they cost more to produce. There’s a lot more that goes into them, including larger and higher quality glass elements.

But do you even need a fast lens?

Vlogging With a Fast Lens

Pros of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• Better low-light performance
• Better autofocus performance
• Better “bokeh” (out-of-focus areas, like your background, having that nice blurry look that you see in a lot of movies)

Cons of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• More expensive
• Moving subjects more likely to get out of focus when shooting with a large aperture
• Better continuous autofocus performance needed when shooting moving subjects with a large aperture

Optical Image Stabilization

Finally, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want your lens to have built-in optical image stabilization (OIS).

OIS is very beneficial to have on a lens if you’re a vlogger who films mostly handheld footage. Although this technology adds to the price of your lens as well, it can greatly help you to capture smoother footage that may otherwise be shaky. Nikon calls this technology “Vibration Reduction” (VR) for their lenses.

In the above video, you can see how much OIS can help to stabilize your footage. MicBergsma simultaneously compares the footage between two GoPro Hero5 Blacks, one with OIS on and one with OIS off.

If, however, you are shooting most of your vlogs on a tripod, you won’t need a lens with OIS.

Looking for ways to set up your talking-head shot for YouTube with any of these lenses? Check out our post on 4 Ways To Set Up Your Talking-Head Shots For YouTube .

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

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

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

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

Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto

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

Wide-Angle Lens

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

Standard Lens

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

Telephoto Lens

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

Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group

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

When to vlog with a wide-angle lens

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

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

When to vlog with a standard lens

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

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

When to vlog with a telephoto lens

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

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

Crop Factor

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

In order to make up for the cropping that occurs, you will need to use a wider lens on cameras with smaller sensors to get the same shot you’d get with a full-frame camera.

Focal Length Equivalency Table

This table shows you the focal lengths needed to achieve the same shot between cameras with different sensor sizes. In order to take a shot as wide as the shot I took of myself with the 24mm lens on my full-frame camera, I would need a 15mm lens on an APS-C sensor camera or a 12mm lens on a micro 4/3 camera.

Focal Length / Sensor	Full Frame	APS-C	Micro 4/3
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	16mm	10mm	8mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	18mm	11mm	9mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	24mm	15mm	12mm
Wide	35mm	22mm	18mm
Standard	50mm	31mm	25mm
Telephoto	70mm	44mm	35mm
Telephoto	100mm	63mm	50mm
Telephoto	200mm	125mm	100mm

Aperture

The next thing to consider when you’re looking for a lens is the aperture, the hole (often adjustable) within the lens that lets light in. Aperture for camera lenses is measured in f-stops (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0) - the smaller the f-stop number, the larger the aperture (bigger hole letting even more light in).

Because larger aperture lenses let more light in, they need a shorter time for cameras to compose an image. This is why larger aperture lenses are also called “fast” lenses.

Fast lenses are more expensive because they cost more to produce. There’s a lot more that goes into them, including larger and higher quality glass elements.

But do you even need a fast lens?

Vlogging With a Fast Lens

Pros of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• Better low-light performance
• Better autofocus performance
• Better “bokeh” (out-of-focus areas, like your background, having that nice blurry look that you see in a lot of movies)

Cons of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• More expensive
• Moving subjects more likely to get out of focus when shooting with a large aperture
• Better continuous autofocus performance needed when shooting moving subjects with a large aperture

Optical Image Stabilization

Finally, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want your lens to have built-in optical image stabilization (OIS).

OIS is very beneficial to have on a lens if you’re a vlogger who films mostly handheld footage. Although this technology adds to the price of your lens as well, it can greatly help you to capture smoother footage that may otherwise be shaky. Nikon calls this technology “Vibration Reduction” (VR) for their lenses.

In the above video, you can see how much OIS can help to stabilize your footage. MicBergsma simultaneously compares the footage between two GoPro Hero5 Blacks, one with OIS on and one with OIS off.

If, however, you are shooting most of your vlogs on a tripod, you won’t need a lens with OIS.

Looking for ways to set up your talking-head shot for YouTube with any of these lenses? Check out our post on 4 Ways To Set Up Your Talking-Head Shots For YouTube .

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

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

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

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

Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto

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

Wide-Angle Lens

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

Standard Lens

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

Telephoto Lens

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

Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group

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

When to vlog with a wide-angle lens

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

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

When to vlog with a standard lens

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

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

When to vlog with a telephoto lens

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

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

Crop Factor

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

In order to make up for the cropping that occurs, you will need to use a wider lens on cameras with smaller sensors to get the same shot you’d get with a full-frame camera.

Focal Length Equivalency Table

This table shows you the focal lengths needed to achieve the same shot between cameras with different sensor sizes. In order to take a shot as wide as the shot I took of myself with the 24mm lens on my full-frame camera, I would need a 15mm lens on an APS-C sensor camera or a 12mm lens on a micro 4/3 camera.

Focal Length / Sensor	Full Frame	APS-C	Micro 4/3
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	16mm	10mm	8mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	18mm	11mm	9mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	24mm	15mm	12mm
Wide	35mm	22mm	18mm
Standard	50mm	31mm	25mm
Telephoto	70mm	44mm	35mm
Telephoto	100mm	63mm	50mm
Telephoto	200mm	125mm	100mm

Aperture

The next thing to consider when you’re looking for a lens is the aperture, the hole (often adjustable) within the lens that lets light in. Aperture for camera lenses is measured in f-stops (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0) - the smaller the f-stop number, the larger the aperture (bigger hole letting even more light in).

Because larger aperture lenses let more light in, they need a shorter time for cameras to compose an image. This is why larger aperture lenses are also called “fast” lenses.

Fast lenses are more expensive because they cost more to produce. There’s a lot more that goes into them, including larger and higher quality glass elements.

But do you even need a fast lens?

Vlogging With a Fast Lens

Pros of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• Better low-light performance
• Better autofocus performance
• Better “bokeh” (out-of-focus areas, like your background, having that nice blurry look that you see in a lot of movies)

Cons of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• More expensive
• Moving subjects more likely to get out of focus when shooting with a large aperture
• Better continuous autofocus performance needed when shooting moving subjects with a large aperture

Optical Image Stabilization

Finally, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want your lens to have built-in optical image stabilization (OIS).

OIS is very beneficial to have on a lens if you’re a vlogger who films mostly handheld footage. Although this technology adds to the price of your lens as well, it can greatly help you to capture smoother footage that may otherwise be shaky. Nikon calls this technology “Vibration Reduction” (VR) for their lenses.

In the above video, you can see how much OIS can help to stabilize your footage. MicBergsma simultaneously compares the footage between two GoPro Hero5 Blacks, one with OIS on and one with OIS off.

If, however, you are shooting most of your vlogs on a tripod, you won’t need a lens with OIS.

Looking for ways to set up your talking-head shot for YouTube with any of these lenses? Check out our post on 4 Ways To Set Up Your Talking-Head Shots For YouTube .

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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

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

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

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

Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto

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

Wide-Angle Lens

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

Standard Lens

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

Telephoto Lens

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

Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group

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

When to vlog with a wide-angle lens

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

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

When to vlog with a standard lens

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

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

When to vlog with a telephoto lens

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

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

Crop Factor

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

In order to make up for the cropping that occurs, you will need to use a wider lens on cameras with smaller sensors to get the same shot you’d get with a full-frame camera.

Focal Length Equivalency Table

This table shows you the focal lengths needed to achieve the same shot between cameras with different sensor sizes. In order to take a shot as wide as the shot I took of myself with the 24mm lens on my full-frame camera, I would need a 15mm lens on an APS-C sensor camera or a 12mm lens on a micro 4/3 camera.

Focal Length / Sensor	Full Frame	APS-C	Micro 4/3
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	16mm	10mm	8mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	18mm	11mm	9mm
Wide (Handheld Selfie-Safe)	24mm	15mm	12mm
Wide	35mm	22mm	18mm
Standard	50mm	31mm	25mm
Telephoto	70mm	44mm	35mm
Telephoto	100mm	63mm	50mm
Telephoto	200mm	125mm	100mm

Aperture

The next thing to consider when you’re looking for a lens is the aperture, the hole (often adjustable) within the lens that lets light in. Aperture for camera lenses is measured in f-stops (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0) - the smaller the f-stop number, the larger the aperture (bigger hole letting even more light in).

Because larger aperture lenses let more light in, they need a shorter time for cameras to compose an image. This is why larger aperture lenses are also called “fast” lenses.

Fast lenses are more expensive because they cost more to produce. There’s a lot more that goes into them, including larger and higher quality glass elements.

But do you even need a fast lens?

Vlogging With a Fast Lens

Pros of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• Better low-light performance
• Better autofocus performance
• Better “bokeh” (out-of-focus areas, like your background, having that nice blurry look that you see in a lot of movies)

Cons of Vlogging With a Fast Lens

• More expensive
• Moving subjects more likely to get out of focus when shooting with a large aperture
• Better continuous autofocus performance needed when shooting moving subjects with a large aperture

Optical Image Stabilization

Finally, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want your lens to have built-in optical image stabilization (OIS).

OIS is very beneficial to have on a lens if you’re a vlogger who films mostly handheld footage. Although this technology adds to the price of your lens as well, it can greatly help you to capture smoother footage that may otherwise be shaky. Nikon calls this technology “Vibration Reduction” (VR) for their lenses.

In the above video, you can see how much OIS can help to stabilize your footage. MicBergsma simultaneously compares the footage between two GoPro Hero5 Blacks, one with OIS on and one with OIS off.

If, however, you are shooting most of your vlogs on a tripod, you won’t need a lens with OIS.

Looking for ways to set up your talking-head shot for YouTube with any of these lenses? Check out our post on 4 Ways To Set Up Your Talking-Head Shots For YouTube .

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett