and what do the different lenses actually look like?

In this video, we're gonna be looking at some examples

so you can find the perfect lens for your next shoot.

Coming up!

(camera snapping)

Hey, what's up, guys!

Sean here with THiNK Media,

bringing you the best tips and tools

for building your influence with online video

and on this channel we do a lot of tips

and strategy videos as well as tech gear reviews

and demos just like this one,

so if you're new here, consider subscribing.

And hey, at any point during the video,

check out show notes and links in the description below.

I'm gonna be talking about a lot of different gear

and accessories in this video so you can see

a whole list in the YouTube description.

Let's jump into the video!

So, if you've recently picked up a DSLR

or a mirrorless camera that has interchangeable lenses,

you might have found yourself stumped a little bit

as to what different lenses do and what kind of results

they actually give you as far as how the image looks.

I mean, I think that we all generally know that

a zoom lens can get a little bit tighter

and a wide lens is going to give you a wider shot,

but there's a few other things that go into it.

So, in this video we actually kind of wanna go through

some examples so you can actually see exactly

what lenses look like on certain cameras,

as well as share some tips along the way.

But first, there's three questions

that you wanna ask yourself when picking out a lens

and the first one is, what are you shooting?

That's your subject matter.

In some cases, maybe you're shooting a bride

or you're shooting a wedding and you're doing video

and you want the image to be more flattering

on maybe a body type or a body shape.

That's gonna go into lens choice.

The second question that you wanna ask is

where are you shooting?

Then, when you start to think about that,

maybe the place you're shooting is going to have

a low-light condition so you'll need a lens

that will actually do well in that.

Or maybe it's a really tight, constrained place

so even though you want a certain look,

you only have so much space to deal with.

That's going to influence your lens choice as well.

And then the third question to ask yourself is,

what is your budget?

Because there's a lot of amazing lenses

and amazing glass on the market,

but it also can get pretty expensive,

so it might be out of reach depending on

what project you're working on

or what finances you have available.

But in this video, we're going to be focusing mainly

on just the basic kit lenses

and actually a lot of affordable lenses,

kind of for creating YouTube videos,

but a lot of the tips and principles will apply

even for higher-end lenses.

Okay, the first lens that we're going to check out

is the Canon 18 to 55 kit lens.

So, this is the lens that you're gonna get included

with most DSLRs and even other brands that you would buy.

This is a pretty standard focal range.

So, let's throw it on the camera so you can actually see

what it looks like at the different focal lengths.

All right, so right now you're seeing the kit lens

at 18 millimeters and obviously,

when it's zoomed out like this, it's too far,

so the way we'd compose the shot is we'd move

the camera forward so it gets closer to me,

but this brings up one of the first,

kind of most important things about lenses

is that the different focal lengths

create different distortion in the image.

So what I mean is now the shot's pretty good,

but there's a little bit of a bending to it and actually,

if I'm right in the center of the image,

it's actually gonna make me appear a little bit thinner

because it's gonna kinda squeeze me down here in the middle.

So what you would actually want to do to kind of get a

different shot dynamic is move the camera backwards,

so we're going to go back to where it's about

eight to ten feet from me

and you can see me on the other angle here.

Now what we'll do is we'll actually zoom the camera in

to more like 55

or somewhere where it's a little like

35 millimeters or something like that.

And now you're actually going to kinda create more of a

true-to-life body shape for your subject.

So what you're actually seeing right now is

30 millimeters on the kit lens,

and so it gives you kind of a good idea

of how you would position the camera

as well as the shot.

And, if we wanted to kind of have the same shot composition,

but to see how it changes the way my body looks,

we can move the camera even further back

and then we'll zoom in all the way to 55 millimeters,

as far as this kit lens goes,

to kind of get that shot composition.

And again, now my whole body should be fuller

because of the lens compression when you're zoomed in

kind of gives you a whole different shot

and it's gonna give you less on the edges.

It's not gonna be a wide shot,

but it even changes the way your set looks,

but to do this you need a little more space

'cause now the camera's about 15 feet away from me

and because we've got this mic with the wire going on,

we're able to actually do this.

But this gives you kind of an idea

how different focal lengths adjust how the image looks,

not just how large it is.

Now, for our next comparison

let's talk about vlogging a little bit.

Now, most vloggers typically want a wide shot.

If you've ever used a camera where you felt like

it was just right in your face 'cause

it was zoomed in so much,

that's why a lot of these point and shoot cameras

are pretty popular because they start pretty wide

but lets compare it.

Now, this is a Canon G7X.

It's a focal length of 24 millimeters

up to 100 millimeters

and the Sony RX100 and different cameras like that

have similar focal lengths.

So let's look at a shot of what 24 millimeters

actually would look like.

So, this is 24 millimeters and as you can see,

I have this Joby Gorillapod SLR

which helps me get the camera a little bit further away,

but you can see how far I have to hold it with my arm here,

as well as what the shot composition is here

and again, this is that 24 millimeters.

So, now let's cut over to

the Canon SL2 at 18 millimeters

to see the difference between 24 and 18.

Okay, so now we've got the Canon SL2 DSLR

with the kit lens at 18 millimeters

and so you can see kinda how far it is

and now here's the shot composition compared to

the 24 millimeter starting focal length of the G7X.

And so, you have a pretty good wide shot here,

but what's nice about having, you know, a DSLR,

is you could go as wide as the 10 to 18

to really give you a different perspective

and this is very popular for vloggers.

So again, this is 18 millimeters.

Now, let's check out what 10 millimeters looks like

on the Canon SL2 DSLR.

Okay, so now we've got the 10 to 18 lens on the Canon SL2

and so here's what this shot looks like

at 10 millimeters and as you can see, it's super wide.

But this is one reason why this kind of setup

is pretty popular, particularly for vlogging

because number one, you also don't even have to hold

the camera as far away.

In those other shots, you saw how stretched out my arm was

with this Gorillapod as well,

but you can even hold the shot in a little bit closer

and get still a very wide shot,

as you can see kind of here.

Now, this gives you that idea.

And again, with the kit lens you started at 18,

but you could zoom into 55.

This one allows you to also zoom in to 18.

So, if you have these two lenses,

you could go from 10 to 18, and then you could go from 18

to 55 and kind of complete focal length options

depending on your set-up of lenses.

So far we've looked at a kit lens 18 to 55,

we've looked at a 10 to 18 wide angle lens

and one of the things that we learn

is that no lens solves every problem.

That's why you've gotta ask those questions.

You know, what are you shooting, where are you shooting.

One of the things that's great about a wide angle lens

is you can pull off some very tight shots.

If you have a limited space, you can actually get

some pretty creative things done with it,

but also the wide angle lens creates kind of distortion,

it creates some different warping.

You usually wanna be a lot closer if you're a subject

to the wide angle lens or else you kinda get small

and off into the distance,

whereas if you can zoom in more,

there is less distortion

and it's actually a little bit more professional feeling.

Sometimes YouTubers, we want that wide angle vibe

where it kind of bends things a bit,

kinda has like a quirkiness,

kind of a cool vibe to it,

but if you really wanna be professional

and kind of have that almost film look,

almost, you know, that less quirky look to it,

that's why you, a lot of times,

would be using more zoomed in,

kind of portrait or telephoto lenses.

So now, let's actually cut over to some examples

so you can actually see side by side footage

and photos of what different focal lengths look like

and what they actually do to your subject when you use them.

Alright, so right now you are seeing the 10 to 18

at 10 millimeters, so it's a very wide shot

and as we've talked about,

it definitely creates distortion, right?

And it kind of, actually, probably squeezes down my face

a little bit, makes me a little bit thinner in the side

and then stretches the outside of the image

so when I put my arms out like this,

it might make them look nice and crazy.

So this has definitely got distortion to it,

so throughout this test we're gonna try

to keep the same shot composition,

but what we're gonna have to do is move

the camera back each time and so next up,

we're gonna go to the kit lens

and actually go to 18 millimeters

so you can see what that looks like.

Alright, so right now you're seeing

the kit lens at 18 millimeters.

So now distortion is beginning to be removed quite a bit,

but this is still definitely a wider angle perspective

and so next up, we're going to be going

to the 24 millimeters.

This is actually one of my favorite Canon lenses

because it's super affordable

and it also is a little bit faster

and what we mean by that is that

the aperture goes all the way to 2.8.