Help! I Failed HORRIBLY. What kind of Lens Can Achieve this Look?

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videonewbie

i could really use some photographer/videographer help.

Im really young so pardon how ignorant i am to things that must be so second nature to u all...i just recently bought my first dslr canon t4i to film self videos and youtube vlogs after working my butt off and saving money for months and well im hitting a lot of bumps in the road

i have two main questions...

Question#1
i want to recreate a video with the same quality as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YozLTf5J0M&feature=plcp

i was told that i should buy a lens with a low aperture to create a blurred background effect. i ended up buying the 50mm f1.8 lens (someone suggested it to me)

51SgiNeTs7L._AA160_.jpg


but i soon found out that this lens is NOT for taking self portraits or self videos it is way too close on the face

i set up the camera on a joby tripod on my desk about a feet and a half away....this resulted in my face taking up the entire screen ....in order for proper framing i had to sit about 6 feet away from the camera.

the lens that came with the camera is a 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens

51jc0LKo7KL._AA160_.jpg


and while that one has better framing for self videos, the result is not like what i want because it just looks boring and flat. it doesnt have that same depth as the video above.

is my solution as simple as buying a lens with a smaller focal length ?

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Question#2 one of the new features on the t4i is the auto focus during video and pictures. however the constant clicking and focusing of the lens makes for a lot of distracting noise. surely this is not optimal for video shooting?

also how is the auto focus on the t4i any different than if i were to just toggle the "AF/MF" tab on the actual lens itself?


---

i just recently started learning about cameras and i have Other random wonderings:

-why would anyone want a slower shutter speed? high shutter speed = less chance ur photos will be blurry correct? but i notice everytime i adjust my shutter speed higher the preview image becomes much darker. why is that?

-even when my camera is in "auto" mode i find that all the photos i take are blurry. on my old camera (powershot) i could simply have the camera in auto mode and if i pressed the shutter button halfway everything would focus, but doing the same action on my new dslr camera results in blurry pics every time.

-i understand the camera powers off after 30 sconds of inactivity but why does the lens constantly "shutter off" in the middle of me adjusting things? its highly annoying. what purpose does shuttering off on its own serve?
any way to modify this?

-the canon 50mm f1.8 lens has a set aperture....so what then would be the purpose of being able to adjust the aperture in the camera's settings?

thanks i am trying to learn as much as i can and any replies would be appreciated
 
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mussonman said:
Lol, I never understood why Vloggers want high quality gear if there's nothing going on in the video besides a person talking to the camera.
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This is true. What is the content of your Vlogs? And is that all you need the lens and camera for? If your content is good you could get away with old phone cameras, take Toby Turners lazy vlogs for example, thousands watch that and it is extremely bad quality video...
 
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Look dude, there is a lot of different factors.

The distance between you and the background also has an effect on how "blurry" the background will be! Say you sit at 3 feet from your camera and your background is 3 1/2 feet from camera, there wont be any out of focus part.

However, if that distance is bigger, than there will be a lot more DOF.
 
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Zensteve said:
The f3.5 is as wide as your lens can open at one extreme, at the 18mm zoom setting. At the other end of the range, zoomed out to 55mm the aperture can only open to 5.6

Don't take my word for it. Turn on your camera, dial out to 18mm and set your camera to Av. Spin down to f3.5. Once you have that, zoom in to 55mm. You'll see the max aperture change as you turn.
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yes but what im saying is that i can adjust the f stop all the way to 22...shouldnt the max be 5.6? why is it able to go all the way to 22?
 
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Phil_UK said:
Look dude, there is a lot of different factors.

The distance between you and the background also has an effect on how "blurry" the background will be! Say you sit at 3 feet from your camera and your background is 3 1/2 feet from camera, there wont be any out of focus part.

However, if that distance is bigger, than there will be a lot more DOF.
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i am in a small dorm room. the size of the room is probably around the same size as the room in the video i originally posted...

with that said what kind of lens do i need?

the 18-55mm lens is not producing the look i want...i can get it to produce a clear image at "f8" but if i try to dial any further down everything becoms too blurry...if i try to dial up it gets too dark.

the 50mm lens i have (which i am going to return) produces the kind of result i want but only when i sit 6 feet away...i am looking for a lens where i can sit closer to my camera setup
 
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Phil_UK said:
Look dude, there is a lot of different factors.

The distance between you and the background also has an effect on how "blurry" the background will be! Say you sit at 3 feet from your camera and your background is 3 1/2 feet from camera, there wont be any out of focus part.

However, if that distance is bigger, than there will be a lot more DOF.
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Well, the background will appear more defocused if it is further from the plane of focus, but the depth of field will be identical.

videonewbie said:
yes but what im saying is that i can adjust the f stop all the way to 22...shouldnt the max be 5.6? why is it able to go all the way to 22?
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f/3.5 is the maximum aperture at 18mm; f/5.6 is the maximum aperture at 55mm. A smaller f/ number is a larger aperture, because the number is a fraction, just like 1/4 is larger than 1/22.

The minimum aperture is never really mentioned in the name of a lens because it generally doesn't matter: it's much easier to decrease than increase the amount of light coming into a camera.

videonewbie said:
i am in a small dorm room. the size of the room is probably around the same size as the room in the video i originally posted...

with that said what kind of lens do i need?

the 18-55mm lens is not producing the look i want...i can get it to produce a clear image at "f8" but if i try to dial any further down everything becoms too blurry...if i try to dial up it gets too dark.

the 50mm lens i have (which i am going to return) produces the kind of result i want but only when i sit 6 feet away...i am looking for a lens where i can sit closer to my camera setup
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Use the 18-55mm lens to work out what focal length you need. Or sit six feet away.

And then watch the helpful videos that knightly posted - at the moment it's like you're trying to write a novel before you've learnt the alphabet.
 
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videonewbie said:
the 18-55mm lens is not producing the look i want...i can get it to produce a clear image at "f8" but if i try to dial any further down everything becoms too blurry...if i try to dial up it gets too dark.
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I don't understand why it is 'blurry' unless it is out of focus. I often shoot with that exact lens at f3.5 and I just manually adjust the focus if I need to.

Could you post some footage of your 'blurry' footage?
 
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videonewbie said:
the 18-55mm lens is not producing the look i want...i can get it to produce a clear image at "f8" but if i try to dial any further down everything becoms too blurry...if i try to dial up it gets too dark.
Click to expand...

Dollars to donuts says you have the Movie Exposure setting set to automatic.

Did your camera happen to come with a manual, perchance? :hmm:
 
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mussonman said:
Don't blame a lack of proper use on the camera or the lens.
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im here to learn from people who know more than i do :)

That lens is perfectly fine, trust me
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it may be "fine" but the type of quality i want to produce is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eawg6khLKwg

from what ive read this kind of video is only possible with one of those $400 lenses with a focal length of around 20,25,30 etc. and a f stop of around 2 or lower....how would i get the same effect with an 18-55mm lens?

btw

screenshot20121204at311.png


can anyone tell what kind of lens he might have in this pic?
 
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It's pretty hard to tell what lens. He most likely has the one you quoted us earlier, as you said he tweeted that?

For the work you're doing I don't think you need that level of focus anyway.

I still think the 18-35mm can produce relatively similar focus in that situation.
 
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I really suggest you listen to what people are saying....

I have a T3i/600D and have got some really nice images out of my 18-55mm, forget about getting other lenses and master that one first, play with the settings, write down what doesn't work and what does and by process of elimination you will get there.
I am quite sure pretty much everyone at one point in their life has though if i just get this everything will work fine, it never does you have to get to knwo it, treat it well and learn from it
 
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