vlogging

Video has become the default way to share a life online, and vlogging is where most people start. A phone in your pocket is enough to begin, which is exactly why the format has spread so quickly. But there is a clear step up waiting once you move to an interchangeable-lens camera — cleaner footage after dark, genuine background separation, and a look that holds together when someone watches it on a television rather than a handset. This guide works through what vlogging is, the equipment worth buying first, how to film and publish sensibly, and how to choose a lens that matches the way you actually shoot.

What is vlogging?

Vlogging explained

The word is a contraction of “video blog”, and that is more or less what it is: a blog told in moving pictures rather than paragraphs. Where a written post relies on description and a handful of photographs, vlogging captures the thing itself — a morning routine, a weekend away, a recipe, a workshop project — as it unfolds.

The reason it connects is

Most of us reach for a phone when we want to film something, and phones have come a long way. Dedicated camcorders still have their place too. But if you have ever filmed a thunderstorm building over the Highveld and found that the footage looked flatter on screen than the scene did in front of you, you have met the ceiling of a small sensor and a fixed lens. An interchangeable lens camera lifts that ceiling. This guide sets out what the format gives you as a filmmaker, the scenes it handles best, and what to look for when you choose a lens for video.

Can you really shoot video on an interchangeable lens camera?

It is easy to think of an interchangeable lens camera as a stills tool that happens to record clips, but that is no longer a fair description. Current bodies have a dedicated video mode, and switching into it gives you high-quality recording straight away. Once you start configuring the body properly and adding lenses, filters, microphones and support gear, the same camera will