![[New] Guidance for Effortless Addition of YouTube Playlists to Your Site](https://thmb.techidaily.com/1621022f15bae9f90515e95f15edd431dd0fad0e7e4a31a614efb85ef8dac6ad.JPG)
[New] Guidance for Effortless Addition of YouTube Playlists to Your Site
Guidance for Effortless Addition of YouTube Playlists to Your Site
YouTube is an excellent resource for entertainment, education, and general information, but did you know you can also display a YouTube playlist on your website?
Embedding a YouTube playlist will allow you to showcase a collection of videos on a topic or theme on your website. It’s also a great way to keep your visitors engaged on your site for more extended periods.
To help you with the process, we’ll explore different step-by-step methods to embed a YouTube playlist on a website to add interactivity to your site.
So, if you’re ready to get started, read on!
How To Embed a YouTube Playlist on a Website
If you want to embed and display a YouTube playlist on your website, we’ll give you a complete rundown of the three methods you can try to get this done. But, of course, each method has its pros and cons, so you’ll need to decide which is right for you.
Here’s how to embed a YouTube playlist on a Website:
Embedding a YouTube Playlist on Website Using WordPress Plugin
The plugin is the simplest way to add a YouTube Playlist to your WordPress website. This will help you get this done in no time without having to write any code for the process.
With plugins like YouTube Feed Pro by Smash Balloon , you can extend your website’s functionality and create, customize, or embed a YouTube playlist with just a few clicks of a mouse.
To embed and add a YouTube playlist on your website page/post, do the following steps in sequence:
Step1 Launch a browser on your PC and head to your WordPress website’s login page. Sign in to your dashboard using your username and password.
Step2 Click the “Plugins” option from the left-hand side menu on the WordPress dashboard. Now, click “Add New” and use the search option to find and install the YouTube Feed Pro plugin. Afterward, click the “Activate” option to enable the plugin.
Step3 Click the “YouTube Feed” option from the left menu and open “All Feeds.” On the next page, click “Add New” at the top left of the screen.
You will now be asked what type of feed you want to create. Select “Playlist” and click “Next.”
Step4 You need to create your YouTube API Key , copy it, and paste it into the pop-up. Click “Add” to connect your YouTube account to the plugin.
Step5 Select the Playlist you want to display on your WordPress website and take its ID. Paste that in the next pop-up window and click “Next” to continue the process.
Your YouTube playlist will be connected to your WordPress website. To further customize it, select the template you want and click “Next.” You can also configure the Feed Layout and Color Scheme.
Step6 Once you are done with customization, click the “Embed” option on the top-right side of the screen, and a pop-up window will appear. Next, click “Add to a Page,” and a list of pages on your website will be displayed.
Choose your page and click “Add” at the bottom of the pop-up window. You’ll be directed to a new page where you can embed the feed. Click the “Plus” icon at the top-left of the screen, search for YouTube Feed and choose the Feeds for YouTube block to embed and add your playlist.
That’s about it! You’ve successfully embedded a YouTube playlist on your WordPress website.
Embedding a YouTube Playlist on a Website Using oEmbed Code
Another method to embed a YouTube playlist on your WordPress website is to use oEmbed Code. This method requires basic CSS, HTML, or Java knowledge; otherwise, you won’t be able to customize your playlist.
Moreover, this method is too complicated for beginners, and you will miss the customer support provided by WordPress plugin developers in case of any mishaps.
To use the oEmbed Code method, do the following steps:
Step1 In the first step, head to your YouTube account and access the Playlist you want to embed. Next, click the three dots below it and copy its URL.
Step2 Now, login to your WordPress dashboard and open the post or page editor where you want to add the playlist.
Step3 Paste the URL directly in the editor and click “Update” to save the changes.
WordPress will grab your playlist from YouTube and automatically show it in your post using oEmbed. The outcome is a single video with a menu that your viewers can click to see other videos in the playlist.
Embedding a YouTube Playlist on WebsiteUsing
Conclusion
This article discusses step-by-step methods to embed a YouTube playlist on a website using the WordPress plugin, oEmbed code, and iFrame embed code.
Additionally, we’ve recommended Wondershare Filmora for making engaging and captivating YouTube videos that you can export directly to your channel from the software.
We hope you’ve found this article informative and can now display your YouTube playlist on your site without hassle.
Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)
Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later
With this software, you can quickly make eye-captivating YouTube videos by recording from a screen or webcam and can edit them using advanced editing features. Filmora also allows you to instantly export your content to YouTube with just a few clicks, which you can later embed into your website.
Some key features of Wondershare Filmora are as follows:
- Advanced video editing features include keyframing, speed ramping, Boris FX, Motion Tracking, Titles, and more.
- Massive library of preset templates, effects, transitions, animations, and royalty-free music.
- Instant Export to YouTube channel.
- Record from webcam, screen, and voiceover.
- Simple drag-and-drop interface.
Conclusion
This article discusses step-by-step methods to embed a YouTube playlist on a website using the WordPress plugin, oEmbed code, and iFrame embed code.
Additionally, we’ve recommended Wondershare Filmora for making engaging and captivating YouTube videos that you can export directly to your channel from the software.
We hope you’ve found this article informative and can now display your YouTube playlist on your site without hassle.
Gear Up Yourself: Selecting Prime Lenses for Successful Vlogging
A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses
Richard Bennett
Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions
The staple of any vlog is the talking headshot, a shot of the speaker talking directly to the audience. You can compose this shot with different kinds of lenses for your interchangeable lens camera.
But which kind of lens is the right lens for you as a vlogger?
In this article, I’m going to help you figure that out.
- Part 1: Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto
- Part 2: Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group
- Part 3: Crop Factor
- Part 4: Focal Length Equivalency Table
- Part 5: Aperture
- Part 6: Vlogging With a Fast Lens
- Part 7: Optical Image Stabilization
Three Focal Length Groups: Wide, Standard, Telephoto
There are three main ranges in focal lengths that camera lenses can be categorized into wide, standard, and telephoto.
Wide-Angle Lens
Wide-angle lenses can “see more.” They allow more of your scene to fit inside your frame. Objects that are closer to the lens appear much bigger while objects that are further away appear even smaller. Perspectives are also enhanced, making close objects and people that just make it into the sides of the frame appear more stretched out. Out of all the other ranges in focal lengths, wide-angle lenses will appear the least zoomed in.
Standard Lens
With standard lenses or normal lenses, you won’t get the stretched out objects or enhanced perspectives that you get from wide-angle lenses. Instead, standard lenses are meant to see scenes as the natural human eye is meant to see them. If you shoot a scene with both a wide-angle lens and a standard lens from the same position, you’ll notice that less of the scene fits into your frame. Standard lenses will appear more zoomed-in than wide-angle lenses, but less zoomed-in than telephoto lenses.
Telephoto Lens
Out of all the other ranges in focal lengths, telephoto lenses will appear the most zoomed in. This can be beneficial for the shooter who wants to get a closer shot of a scene without having to physically be in close proximity to the scene. Objects that are further away in the background also appear larger and closer than they would appear on wide-angle or standard lenses.
Vlogging With Each Focal Length Group
You can get your talking head footage using lenses from any of the three focal length groups. Depending on how you plan to vlog most of the time, though, one of the three focal lengths might be more suitable for you.
When to vlog with a wide-angle lens
Wide-angle lenses are the most commonly used lenses for vlogging. Wide-angle lenses are great when you need to be close to your camera. This might be the case for you if your recording space is small or if you want to film yourself as you hold your camera up with your own hand.
Being close to your camera not only gives you the option to use your camera’s built-in microphone, but it also gives you the option to make use of camera-mounted shotgun microphones.
When to vlog with a standard lens
Standard lenses are great when you have more space to be further away from your camera. The perspectives in your shot will look more natural through a standard lens, making your talking head footage feel more corporate or professional. You’ll also be able to get blurrier backgrounds using a standard lens versus a wide-angle lens.
Being further away from your camera, however, means that you’ll have to use a separate microphone positioned closer to you.
When to vlog with a telephoto lens
As telephoto lenses are even more zoomed in, you’ll need to be even further away from your camera to fit yourself inside your camera frame. Why would any vlogger ever need to be that far away from their camera? One word… teleprompter. If you want or need to stick to a script, you’ll have to be far away enough from your camera that it doesn’t appear like your eyes are scanning left to right. You then close in the distance with a telephoto lens.
In the above video, Marcos Rocha compares different focal lengths for talking head videos. Which focal length range do you like the look of?
Crop Factor
Focal lengths in camera lenses are measured in millimeters. You can vlog yourself handheld with a 24mm lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor (the sensor is the piece of hardware inside your camera that turns the light it receives into a digital image). But if you use a 24mm lens on a camera with a smaller sensor, like an APS-C sensor or even smaller Micro 4/3 sensor, more of you will get cropped out (see below).
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
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
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
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.
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- Created at : 2024-11-19 17:22:58
- Updated at : 2024-11-24 16:36:50
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/new-guidance-for-effortless-addition-of-youtube-playlists-to-your-site/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.