Understanding YouTube’s Revenue Streams

Video site YouTube, owned by Google, is one of the biggest money makers for the internet giant. YouTube has changed how content creators share their work, becoming a multi-billion dollar business.

So how does YouTube pay you? It’s simple. YouTube pays you when you watch videos, view ads, search, etc. YouTube also pays you when you are a part of a video’s revenue.

In this article, we’re going to walk you through our 4-step process to outline to illustrate exactly how youtube pays you. First, let’s see the minimum eligibility requirements to join Youtube Partner Program.

1. Emma Chamberlain - $12 million
2. Roman Atwood – $14.5 million
3. JJ Olatunji (AKA KSI) – $15 million
4. Stevin John (AKA Blippi) – $16 million
5. Sean McLoughlin (AKA Jacksepticeye) – $16 million
6. David Dobrik – $20 million
7. Anastasia Radzinskaya (AKA Like Nastya) – $20 million
8. Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal – $20 million
9. Lilly Singh – $20 million
10. Preston Arsement – $20 million
11. James Charles – $22 million
12. Evan Fong – $25 million
13. Jimmy Donaldson (AKA MrBeast) – $25 million
14. Daniel Middleton – $35 million
15. Mark Fischbach (AKA Markiplier) – $35 million
16. Felix Kjellberg (AKA PewDiePie) – $40 million
17. Logan Paul – $45 million
18. Dude Perfect - $50 million
19. Jake Paul – $60 million
20. Ryan Kaji – $100 million

• Alternative ways to earn more money from YouTube
• Hot FAQs on YouTube channel monetization

Part 1: When does youtube pay you [threshold to meet]

As a YouTuber, do you feel like you’re always struggling to reach some “threshold” where YouTube finally starts rewarding your efforts with some financial reward? You came to the right place; here’s a list of Youtube minimum criteria to reach the threshold.

1. 1K subscribers

The first requirement to monetize your channel is to increase your subscribers to at least 1000.

2. Follow all the YouTube channel monetization policies

These policies are a collection of documents containing all the policies, guidelines, and terms that apply to the YouTube Partner Program and advertising programs.

3. Availability in your region

It would be best if you were in the listed countries where Youtube Partner Program is available.

4. Strike free channel

Remember to avoid any strikes if you are planning to monetize your channel.

5. 4,000 watch hours

To qualify as a creator with a sustainable audience, you’ll need at least 4,000 public watch hours within 12 months in your channel.

6. AdSense account

You’ll need to ensure that you have a Google Adsense account set up and ready to go. Without an Adsense account, the video isn’t eligible to be monetized.

Part 2: How Do You Get Paid on YouTube?

We know that making money from YouTube can be challenging but not impossible. We’ll help you figure out how to get paid. Whether you want to create your videos and monetize them or you want to take advantage of the huge pool of talent. We’ll show you what the impact of the Youtube Partner program is on the revenue of YouTube channel owners:

Video length

One of the most noteworthy characteristics of a YouTube video is its length. A longer video provides a greater amount of information, which means a greater likelihood of the viewer actually watching it to completion.

Ad Quality

The two main qualities that differentiate high-quality YouTube ads are relevance and timeliness. It would be best if you tailored the ad to what’s happening within the video to be relevant. For instance, an ad about a new study may be relevant if the video is about health or science. The ad should also be timely. If you’re looking to get more revenue out of your channel, the quality of your ads should be high.

Number of clicks each ad receives

The number of times your video ad is shown is an important factor in how much it makes. You can increase your ads’ revenue potential by increasing the ad’s number of clicks. Advertisers use this metric to gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns, which is why optimizing the number of clicks your ads get is so important.

Ad Blockers

And there are two problems with ad blocking. The first is that it cuts off revenue. The second problem is that it reduces user engagement. Ad blocking decreases the amount of time that users spend watching videos. Youtube videos that rely on advertising to generate revenue may decrease their income.

Bonus: See how much you can get by YouTube Pay Calculator

Calculating your potential earnings from YouTube is a great way to see if it is worth your time to start a channel and create videos for certain niches. It can also help you set realistic expectations for the average earnings you can expect.

A YouTube pay calculator is a simple way to estimate how much money you can make from your YouTube channel. These calculators will help you better understand how much money your youtube channel is making. Based on your view count, engagement and various other factors, it can help you to calculate your earnings from a YouTube Video or Channel.

1.Daily Video Views

Drag the YouTube Video Views Slider right or left based on your daily video views. It’s important to set your Estimated Click-Through Rate based on your channels. All that combined, you can view your monthly estimated earnings potential in seconds.

2.YouTube Channel Analytics

This tool only requires your channel URL. Copy and paste the URL and click ‘Check.’ You’ll get a short report of your channel that includes your total subscribers, the last 90 days’ progress, and an estimated earning per video.

3.Youtube Money Calculator

The Youtube money calculator will show you the exact profit you are earning per day and will let you track your earnings daily, weekly and monthly. You can use the youtube money calculator to see if you should stop or continue your videos. You will also get to know how to improve your income.

How does YouTube send you money? Illustrate the mechanism

To receive money from Youtube, you must have an AdSense account linked with google and your Youtube channel. Let us find out how YouTube sends you money. Follow the steps mentioned below:

• Connect your AdSense account to your Google account and YouTube channel
• Make sure monetization is enabled.
• Check out the different kinds of video and ad formats you can monetize.

The videos and the ads you’ll put on your channel will get you money from Youtube in your AdSense account. When you have earned $10 in ads using your AdSense account linked to your Google account, Google will send you a confirmation email. Once all the verification has been done, Youtube will send you money in your AdSense account.

Part 3: Top YouTube Earners in 2022

When you think about the top YouTube earners, most name recognition is due to big-name influencers like PewDiePie and T-Series. Both these Youtubers, and the rest of the big names like Emma Chamberlain, Ryan Higa, Markiplier, and Hannah Hart, have significantly impacted the world of YouTube by becoming some of the best at what they do.

Now you must be wondering who the richest YouTubers are. We rounded up the top of the richest YouTubers in 2022. Read on to see which YouTube celebrities are worth the most.

20. Emma Chamberlain – $12 million

Emma Chamberlain, a vlogger and a social media personality, has a net worth of $12 million. Her personality has amassed over 11.8 million subscribers and over 1.5 billion views.

19. Roman Atwood – $14.5 million

Roman Atwood became famous with prank videos on his YouTube channel back in 2009. He started another channel, “RomanAtwoodVlogs”, which now has over 15.5 million subscribers and 5.5 billion views. Total of all his endeavors is a staggering net worth of $14.5 million.

18. JJ Olatunji (AKA KSI) – $15 million

KSI is number 18 on our list, with a net worth of $15 million. In 2009, he created a new channel under the name moniker KSI. Now his channel has about 23.7 million subscribers and over 5.8 billion views.

17. Stevin John (AKA Blippi) – $16 million

Blippihis is a fun character for kids who make educational videos for them. His channel is available in several languages and has over 16.4 million subscribers, leaving Stevin with a net worth of $16 million.

16. Sean McLoughlin (AKA Jacksepticeye) – $16 million

This Irish YouTube personality has a vlogging and video games channel. This year, he has over 28 million subscribers and makes about $300,000 per month, making his net worth around $16 million.

15. David Dobrik – $20 million

David, a viral social media star, has gathered 18.2 million subscribers and over 8 billion views. His combined followers from different social media platforms are over 45 million. David’s other business endeavors and social media success explain his worth of $20 million.

14. Anastasia Radzinskaya (AKA Like Nastya) – $20 million

Nastya is an eight-year-old Russian girl who, in just a few years, has become one of the known children’s YouTubers in the world. Nowadays, she has over 110 million subscribers combining her six channels with over 42 billion views. In 2017, she partnered with Yoolato to monetize the content. It was worth it – Radzinskaya is now worth a massive $20 million.

13. Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal – $20 million

They are Best known as the comedy duo Rhett and Link, one of the best comedy channels on youtube. Their YouTube channel has made them a combined $20 million fortune thanks to the success of their TV show Good Mythical Morning, which currently has around 17.5 million subscribers and over 7.8 billion views.

12. Lilly Singh – $20 million

Lilly Singh has comedic sketches featuring other YouTubers and celebrities in her YouTube videos. She released his first YouTube video in 2010, and his comedy sketches have attracted more than 14 million subscribers. Her total worth is $20 million.

11. Preston Arsement – $20 million

Preston Arsement has made it to Forbes magazine as one of the most paid internet entrepreneurs of 2022. His channel PrestonPlayz has attracted 21 million subscribers; now, he has a net worth of $20 million.

10. James Charles – $22 million

James Charles is a makeup artist who started by making YouTube videos about makeup tutorials and has since made a career. His makeup collection and clothing line business, along with youtube tutorials, made him a fortune of $22 million.

9. Evan Fong – $25 million

Evan Fong started the channel VanossGaming, which produces gaming videos on YouTube. His channel was launched in 2011 and now has over 25 million subscribers and over 7 billion views. His career as a star in computer animated series and directory in games made him an estimated worth of $25 million.

8. Jimmy Donaldson (AKA MrBeast) – $25 million

Jimmy’s YouTube career started in 2012 at the age of 13. With over 100 million subscribers and more than 22.5 billion views on his multiple channels, this social media king is in a league of his own. MrBeast, who can afford to give away $1 million in a single video, has a net worth of $25 million.

7. Daniel Middleton – $35 million

Daniel Middleton has made millions from his gaming YouTube channel DanTDM. He’s got 26 million subscribers and 10 billion views. This man also amassed a fortune of more than $35 million and set many world records in the most popular games.

6. Mark Fischbach (AKA Markiplier) – $35 million

Mark’s channel is one of the top 100 most subscribed Youtube channels. His career as a writer, actor, director and producer made him a fortune of $35 million.

5.Felix Kjellberg (AKA PewDiePie) – $40 million

Pewdiepie channel is often among the most subscribed channels on YouTube, and today it has around a whopping 111 million subscribers and over 28.2 billion views. Despite some setbacks, he still earned a staggering net worth of $40 million.

4. Logan Paul – $45 million

Logan is one of the most popular YouTubers of today’s generation. His channel of 23.6 million subscribers, along with successful merchandise and boxing career, make a total worth of $45 million.

3. Dude Perfect - $50 million

Dude Perfect is an entertainment, sports, and comedy brand that creates high-quality entertainment content that makes a whopping net worth of $50 million. Their channel boasts over 58 million YouTube subscribers.

2. Jake Paul – $60 million

Logan’s little brother Jake Paul started his content creation career at 16. His Youtube channel got hit early, and now he boasts over 20.4 million subscribers and 8.1 billion views.

1. Ryan Kaji – $100 million

You don’t normally meet a 10-year-old with a $100 million fortune, but Ryan Kaji is a rare exception. Ryan’s toy reviews have attracted more than two million subscribers and more than 50.7 billion views.

Part 4: Alternative ways to earn more money from YouTube

Some people think they can’t make money from YouTube…but that’s not true. You can make good money from YouTube, even as a newbie. It just takes some persistence and hard work to make that happen. We’ll show you some alternative ways to make more money on YouTube.

Make Good Content Continuously

Making good content that people love to watch repeatedly is a great way to earn more money. The key is improving the content continuously every week, month, or year.

Creating content that is both entertaining and informative helps people to make decisions. An audience can get a lot of information from the video, but if it is not of good quality, it will not have a good impression.

Bonus: Spice up your videos with Wondershare Filmora

A powerful video editing software can help you a lot. With an impactful editor software like Filmora, it allows you to add titles, music, and transition effects to give your video more visual appeal.

The current most popular video editing software application on the market is, hands down, Wondershare Filmora. Editing is incredibly easy with Filmora. Even the most inexperienced user can create a compelling, professional-looking video with Filmora in minutes. With Filmora’s video creation tools, anyone can easily edit, add effects, change text, and even make voiceovers. Filmora’s intuitive interface is a dream for non-experts as well. Some of its unique features include:

Stock Media

A royalty-free stock media, smart templates, and visual effects plug-ins will help you add more variety to your videos.

AI Portrait

Remove backgrounds from photographs with great accuracy, plus includes 80+ artificial intelligence portraits and photo editing stickers.

Green Screen

The green screen doesn’t just change your background but creates special effects, too.

Keyframing

It helps your videos look more energetic with smooth animation.

Color Correction

Add or make your own stunning 3D LUTs with color correction.

Join Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is a relatively easy way to turn YouTube viewers into customers. You can join many successful affiliate programs, but if you’re looking for the most money, go for the ones that offer a recurring commission.

Get Brand sponsorships

If you’re wondering if getting brand sponsorships for Youtube is worth the money, the answer is a resounding yes. Sponsorships on Youtube generate tons of views and even more engagement than ads do.

But brands tend to sponsor only content deemed relevant to the brand. So if you want to be a sponsored content creator, you must get to know your audience first and then build out your social media strategy around the products you sell and the messages you want to communicate.

Hot FAQs on YouTube channel monetization

1. What if I don’t meet the program threshold?

While trying to meet the threshold, focus on making content that will stand out from the competition and build your channel.

2. If I meet the threshold, do I automatically get into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP)?

No, the Youtube team will review every channel that passes the threshold. You cannot apply to join the YPP if your account has any active Community Guidelines strike. Plus, your channel must follow Youtube policies and guidelines.

3. How much money does 1 million views make?

For every one million views a YouTube video gets, a YouTuber can make upwards of $5000, based on Forbes’s estimated pay rate of $5. However, these are estimates, and the amount YouTubers earn from Youtube varies wildly.

Final Words

This article is a pretty good overview of the “how” of YouTube monetization, though we would also add that it can take a while to build up a following on YouTube if you’re starting. You’ll want to ensure that you put enough time and effort into your videos.

Your content must be unique so your viewers will want to stick around and engage with you. And lastly, if you’re looking to monetize your YouTube channel, focus on building your channel and growing your audience.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Part 1: When does youtube pay you [threshold to meet]

As a YouTuber, do you feel like you’re always struggling to reach some “threshold” where YouTube finally starts rewarding your efforts with some financial reward? You came to the right place; here’s a list of Youtube minimum criteria to reach the threshold.

1. 1K subscribers

The first requirement to monetize your channel is to increase your subscribers to at least 1000.

2. Follow all the YouTube channel monetization policies

These policies are a collection of documents containing all the policies, guidelines, and terms that apply to the YouTube Partner Program and advertising programs.

3. Availability in your region

It would be best if you were in the listed countries where Youtube Partner Program is available.

4. Strike free channel

Remember to avoid any strikes if you are planning to monetize your channel.

5. 4,000 watch hours

To qualify as a creator with a sustainable audience, you’ll need at least 4,000 public watch hours within 12 months in your channel.

6. AdSense account

You’ll need to ensure that you have a Google Adsense account set up and ready to go. Without an Adsense account, the video isn’t eligible to be monetized.

Part 2: How Do You Get Paid on YouTube?

We know that making money from YouTube can be challenging but not impossible. We’ll help you figure out how to get paid. Whether you want to create your videos and monetize them or you want to take advantage of the huge pool of talent. We’ll show you what the impact of the Youtube Partner program is on the revenue of YouTube channel owners:

Video length

One of the most noteworthy characteristics of a YouTube video is its length. A longer video provides a greater amount of information, which means a greater likelihood of the viewer actually watching it to completion.

Ad Quality

The two main qualities that differentiate high-quality YouTube ads are relevance and timeliness. It would be best if you tailored the ad to what’s happening within the video to be relevant. For instance, an ad about a new study may be relevant if the video is about health or science. The ad should also be timely. If you’re looking to get more revenue out of your channel, the quality of your ads should be high.

Number of clicks each ad receives

The number of times your video ad is shown is an important factor in how much it makes. You can increase your ads’ revenue potential by increasing the ad’s number of clicks. Advertisers use this metric to gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns, which is why optimizing the number of clicks your ads get is so important.

Ad Blockers

And there are two problems with ad blocking. The first is that it cuts off revenue. The second problem is that it reduces user engagement. Ad blocking decreases the amount of time that users spend watching videos. Youtube videos that rely on advertising to generate revenue may decrease their income.

Bonus: See how much you can get by YouTube Pay Calculator

Calculating your potential earnings from YouTube is a great way to see if it is worth your time to start a channel and create videos for certain niches. It can also help you set realistic expectations for the average earnings you can expect.

A YouTube pay calculator is a simple way to estimate how much money you can make from your YouTube channel. These calculators will help you better understand how much money your youtube channel is making. Based on your view count, engagement and various other factors, it can help you to calculate your earnings from a YouTube Video or Channel.

1.Daily Video Views

Drag the YouTube Video Views Slider right or left based on your daily video views. It’s important to set your Estimated Click-Through Rate based on your channels. All that combined, you can view your monthly estimated earnings potential in seconds.

2.YouTube Channel Analytics

This tool only requires your channel URL. Copy and paste the URL and click ‘Check.’ You’ll get a short report of your channel that includes your total subscribers, the last 90 days’ progress, and an estimated earning per video.

3.Youtube Money Calculator

The Youtube money calculator will show you the exact profit you are earning per day and will let you track your earnings daily, weekly and monthly. You can use the youtube money calculator to see if you should stop or continue your videos. You will also get to know how to improve your income.

How does YouTube send you money? Illustrate the mechanism

To receive money from Youtube, you must have an AdSense account linked with google and your Youtube channel. Let us find out how YouTube sends you money. Follow the steps mentioned below:

• Connect your AdSense account to your Google account and YouTube channel
• Make sure monetization is enabled.
• Check out the different kinds of video and ad formats you can monetize.

The videos and the ads you’ll put on your channel will get you money from Youtube in your AdSense account. When you have earned $10 in ads using your AdSense account linked to your Google account, Google will send you a confirmation email. Once all the verification has been done, Youtube will send you money in your AdSense account.

Part 3: Top YouTube Earners in 2022

When you think about the top YouTube earners, most name recognition is due to big-name influencers like PewDiePie and T-Series. Both these Youtubers, and the rest of the big names like Emma Chamberlain, Ryan Higa, Markiplier, and Hannah Hart, have significantly impacted the world of YouTube by becoming some of the best at what they do.

Now you must be wondering who the richest YouTubers are. We rounded up the top of the richest YouTubers in 2022. Read on to see which YouTube celebrities are worth the most.

20. Emma Chamberlain – $12 million

Emma Chamberlain, a vlogger and a social media personality, has a net worth of $12 million. Her personality has amassed over 11.8 million subscribers and over 1.5 billion views.

19. Roman Atwood – $14.5 million

Roman Atwood became famous with prank videos on his YouTube channel back in 2009. He started another channel, “RomanAtwoodVlogs”, which now has over 15.5 million subscribers and 5.5 billion views. Total of all his endeavors is a staggering net worth of $14.5 million.

18. JJ Olatunji (AKA KSI) – $15 million

KSI is number 18 on our list, with a net worth of $15 million. In 2009, he created a new channel under the name moniker KSI. Now his channel has about 23.7 million subscribers and over 5.8 billion views.

17. Stevin John (AKA Blippi) – $16 million

Blippihis is a fun character for kids who make educational videos for them. His channel is available in several languages and has over 16.4 million subscribers, leaving Stevin with a net worth of $16 million.

16. Sean McLoughlin (AKA Jacksepticeye) – $16 million

This Irish YouTube personality has a vlogging and video games channel. This year, he has over 28 million subscribers and makes about $300,000 per month, making his net worth around $16 million.

15. David Dobrik – $20 million

David, a viral social media star, has gathered 18.2 million subscribers and over 8 billion views. His combined followers from different social media platforms are over 45 million. David’s other business endeavors and social media success explain his worth of $20 million.

14. Anastasia Radzinskaya (AKA Like Nastya) – $20 million

Nastya is an eight-year-old Russian girl who, in just a few years, has become one of the known children’s YouTubers in the world. Nowadays, she has over 110 million subscribers combining her six channels with over 42 billion views. In 2017, she partnered with Yoolato to monetize the content. It was worth it – Radzinskaya is now worth a massive $20 million.

13. Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal – $20 million

They are Best known as the comedy duo Rhett and Link, one of the best comedy channels on youtube. Their YouTube channel has made them a combined $20 million fortune thanks to the success of their TV show Good Mythical Morning, which currently has around 17.5 million subscribers and over 7.8 billion views.

12. Lilly Singh – $20 million

Lilly Singh has comedic sketches featuring other YouTubers and celebrities in her YouTube videos. She released his first YouTube video in 2010, and his comedy sketches have attracted more than 14 million subscribers. Her total worth is $20 million.

11. Preston Arsement – $20 million

Preston Arsement has made it to Forbes magazine as one of the most paid internet entrepreneurs of 2022. His channel PrestonPlayz has attracted 21 million subscribers; now, he has a net worth of $20 million.

10. James Charles – $22 million

James Charles is a makeup artist who started by making YouTube videos about makeup tutorials and has since made a career. His makeup collection and clothing line business, along with youtube tutorials, made him a fortune of $22 million.

9. Evan Fong – $25 million

Evan Fong started the channel VanossGaming, which produces gaming videos on YouTube. His channel was launched in 2011 and now has over 25 million subscribers and over 7 billion views. His career as a star in computer animated series and directory in games made him an estimated worth of $25 million.

8. Jimmy Donaldson (AKA MrBeast) – $25 million

Jimmy’s YouTube career started in 2012 at the age of 13. With over 100 million subscribers and more than 22.5 billion views on his multiple channels, this social media king is in a league of his own. MrBeast, who can afford to give away $1 million in a single video, has a net worth of $25 million.

7. Daniel Middleton – $35 million

Daniel Middleton has made millions from his gaming YouTube channel DanTDM. He’s got 26 million subscribers and 10 billion views. This man also amassed a fortune of more than $35 million and set many world records in the most popular games.

6. Mark Fischbach (AKA Markiplier) – $35 million

Mark’s channel is one of the top 100 most subscribed Youtube channels. His career as a writer, actor, director and producer made him a fortune of $35 million.

5.Felix Kjellberg (AKA PewDiePie) – $40 million

Pewdiepie channel is often among the most subscribed channels on YouTube, and today it has around a whopping 111 million subscribers and over 28.2 billion views. Despite some setbacks, he still earned a staggering net worth of $40 million.

4. Logan Paul – $45 million

Logan is one of the most popular YouTubers of today’s generation. His channel of 23.6 million subscribers, along with successful merchandise and boxing career, make a total worth of $45 million.

3. Dude Perfect - $50 million

Dude Perfect is an entertainment, sports, and comedy brand that creates high-quality entertainment content that makes a whopping net worth of $50 million. Their channel boasts over 58 million YouTube subscribers.

2. Jake Paul – $60 million

Logan’s little brother Jake Paul started his content creation career at 16. His Youtube channel got hit early, and now he boasts over 20.4 million subscribers and 8.1 billion views.

1. Ryan Kaji – $100 million

You don’t normally meet a 10-year-old with a $100 million fortune, but Ryan Kaji is a rare exception. Ryan’s toy reviews have attracted more than two million subscribers and more than 50.7 billion views.

Part 4: Alternative ways to earn more money from YouTube

Some people think they can’t make money from YouTube…but that’s not true. You can make good money from YouTube, even as a newbie. It just takes some persistence and hard work to make that happen. We’ll show you some alternative ways to make more money on YouTube.

Make Good Content Continuously

Making good content that people love to watch repeatedly is a great way to earn more money. The key is improving the content continuously every week, month, or year.

Creating content that is both entertaining and informative helps people to make decisions. An audience can get a lot of information from the video, but if it is not of good quality, it will not have a good impression.

Bonus: Spice up your videos with Wondershare Filmora

A powerful video editing software can help you a lot. With an impactful editor software like Filmora, it allows you to add titles, music, and transition effects to give your video more visual appeal.

The current most popular video editing software application on the market is, hands down, Wondershare Filmora. Editing is incredibly easy with Filmora. Even the most inexperienced user can create a compelling, professional-looking video with Filmora in minutes. With Filmora’s video creation tools, anyone can easily edit, add effects, change text, and even make voiceovers. Filmora’s intuitive interface is a dream for non-experts as well. Some of its unique features include:

Stock Media

A royalty-free stock media, smart templates, and visual effects plug-ins will help you add more variety to your videos.

AI Portrait

Remove backgrounds from photographs with great accuracy, plus includes 80+ artificial intelligence portraits and photo editing stickers.

Green Screen

The green screen doesn’t just change your background but creates special effects, too.

Keyframing

It helps your videos look more energetic with smooth animation.

Color Correction

Add or make your own stunning 3D LUTs with color correction.

Join Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is a relatively easy way to turn YouTube viewers into customers. You can join many successful affiliate programs, but if you’re looking for the most money, go for the ones that offer a recurring commission.

Get Brand sponsorships

If you’re wondering if getting brand sponsorships for Youtube is worth the money, the answer is a resounding yes. Sponsorships on Youtube generate tons of views and even more engagement than ads do.

But brands tend to sponsor only content deemed relevant to the brand. So if you want to be a sponsored content creator, you must get to know your audience first and then build out your social media strategy around the products you sell and the messages you want to communicate.

Hot FAQs on YouTube channel monetization

1. What if I don’t meet the program threshold?

While trying to meet the threshold, focus on making content that will stand out from the competition and build your channel.

2. If I meet the threshold, do I automatically get into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP)?

No, the Youtube team will review every channel that passes the threshold. You cannot apply to join the YPP if your account has any active Community Guidelines strike. Plus, your channel must follow Youtube policies and guidelines.

3. How much money does 1 million views make?

For every one million views a YouTube video gets, a YouTuber can make upwards of $5000, based on Forbes’s estimated pay rate of $5. However, these are estimates, and the amount YouTubers earn from Youtube varies wildly.

Final Words

This article is a pretty good overview of the “how” of YouTube monetization, though we would also add that it can take a while to build up a following on YouTube if you’re starting. You’ll want to ensure that you put enough time and effort into your videos.

Your content must be unique so your viewers will want to stick around and engage with you. And lastly, if you’re looking to monetize your YouTube channel, focus on building your channel and growing your audience.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

A Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses | Wondershare Filmora

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

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